The Dish: Caesar salad with a twist from Rivertown Taps in Phoenixville, Pa.

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. (WPVI) -- We are heading to Rivertown Taps in historic Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, to make a classic fan favorite, Caesar salad.

And when they say "taps," they mean it.

There are dozens of drinks, beer and beyond, on tap at Phoenixville's first self-serve drink tap wall.

"Phoenixville has always been a very beer-centric town, and we're beer-centric people, so we wanted to have a really curated selection," says Chef Owner Lewis Leiterman. "We have 36 drinks on tap."

Just grab a charge card, choose your glassware and choose your own adventure.

"You pay for whatever you pour by the ounce," says Leiterman. "You can pour as much or as little as you like."

The building dates back to the 1800s, and Leiterman made sure to preserve pieces of that history, while bringing something super fresh to the strip.

"We make pastas from scratch," he says. "We extrude all of our own pastas in house. We do all of our fresh-filled pastas all by hand. We make all our own breads. Everything that's in here is from scratch."

The mission includes a commitment to locally sourced food.

Today, we're making a house favorite: the Caesar salad - with a twist.

"I hate chasing croutons around a salad, like, the fork never kind of sticks into it," says Leiterman. "We still wanted that crunch factor, like the classic crouton, but different. What we did was we took some of our old bread and we kind of toasted it up and made a coarse panko texture."

It's becomes a universal crouton that makes its way throughout the salad.

"We like to feature seasonal vegetables in our Caesar salad, just for a little bit more flavor and nutrition," says Leiterman.

He grills up some nice asparagus, and then adds some protein.

"I love a soft boiled egg on a salad to add more sustenance to a salad and a little bit of heartiness to it," he says.

The build starts with a mix of greens, like red romaine and red watercress.

The dressing gets a gourmet kick.

"We do a black garlic and truffle Caesar," he says. "We don't like to overdress it. My pet peeve is those thick Caesar dressings."

Add the asparagus to gently warm the salad, shave on some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, add the soft boiled egg and finally, the breadcrumbs.

Rivertown Taps Caesar Salad

Caesar Dressing

Ingredients

• 2 anchovy fillets

• 2 black garlic cloves

• 2 ounces fresh lemon juice

• 1 egg yolk

• Tellicherry black peppercorns, toasted, to taste

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• 18-24 ounces blended oil

• Salt, to taste

• Cold water, to adjust consistency

Equipment

• Immersion blender

• 1 quart deli container or similar tall container

• Small sauce pot

• Sheet tray

• Food processor

Method

1. Grind peppercorns to the desired texture.

2. Add peppercorns, egg yolk, garlic, lemon juice, and Parmesan to a tall container and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

3. Slowly add oil to thicken and emulsify the dressing. Adjust consistency with 1 tablespoon of water at a time if needed.

Soft-Boiled Eggs

4. Use fresh eggs from a local farm or trusted source.

5. Bring water to a rolling boil and prepare an ice bath.

6. Cook eggs for 6 minutes.

7. Immediately transfer eggs to the ice bath to stop cooking.

Garlic Breadcrumbs

Ingredients

• 1/2 loaf sourdough bread

• 5 tablespoons butter

• 2 ounces garlic, minced

• 2 ounces shallot, minced

• Zest of 2 lemons

Method

8. Cut stale sourdough into 1/2-inch cubes. Alternatively, use coarse Panko.

9. Process into coarse crumbs in a food processor.

10. Toast at 350F for 8-12 minutes.

11. Cook butter with garlic and shallots until aromatic.

12. Toss breadcrumbs in garlic butter and toast again at 350F for 5-8 minutes, until golden.

13. Add lemon zest.

14. Top the salad with the breadcrumbs.

Serving Suggestions

Recommended greens: Red Romaine, Ruby-Ro Mini, and Red Watercress.

Seasonal addition suggestion: grilled asparagus.