June 2025
Chicken caesar salad recipe
Thomas Straker, founder of acclaimed London restaurant Straker's, shares some of the delicious seasonal recipes included in his new cookbook Food You Want to Eat (Bloomsbury Publishing, £25). Perfect for the home cook, they use trusted techniques and quality ingredients with a chef's balance of flavours.
Issy Croker
It is a well-known dish, but not like this, as freshly roasted chicken is the key to this classic salad. I know you may think that 120°C/fan oven 100°C/mark ½ is too cool an oven temperature for the second half of the process, but I do this on purpose when I am roasting a chicken. The initial super-high temperature gives the bird a good colour, then the second low heat is to ensure it doesn't overcook. It is important to remember that the oven will still retain residual heat, so it will actually be running hotter than the temperature on the dial while it cools down.
