A classic French salad, by way of Manhattan: Salade Frisée aux Lardons

Crisp, pleasantly bitter frisée is dressed with a simple vinaigrette and topped with bacon and a poached egg for this classic French starter inspired by a recent visit to New York. Recipe below.

What is it with the French and salads? Granted, they do most food things well, but salads are an example for me of why their more complex dishes are so transcendent. It is because even the simplest things are treated with respect and done just so.

Several years ago, Marion and I were in Paris. Suddenly famished one afternoon, we stopped for a quick lunch at a frankly nondescript sidewalk cafe—the kind of place charitably described as “this will do”—along Rue de Passy. We ordered quiche and salad, expecting an okay slice of the former accompanied by a miserly handful of mixed greens. What arrived at our table were generous slices of quiche, each teetering atop an abundant salade composée.

go-to-the-recipeEven more impressive than the volume of the salad was its beauty. There were tender peas, mushrooms, slices of beets, carrots and onions, olives, fresh herbs, lardons, a halved hard cooked egg and possibly some other things I’m forgetting now. All, as the name dictates, carefully composed on the plate.

French restaurants in America seem to get salads too. Especially in New York, from my admittedly limited experience. From my first visit there years ago, I remember a small salad that accompanied my lunch. I can’t even tell you the name of the SoHo bistro, but I can still see and taste the simple plate of mixed greens barely glossed with a perfectly balanced vinaigrette. More recently, Marion and I had an endive and blue cheese salad with walnuts at one of our favorite New York spots, Lucien, that inspired my own take on it. This delicious, visually impressive salad never fails to impress when we serve it.

And so it was a couple of weekends ago, when we had dinner with our friends Gloria and Jeff at Cafe Cluny in the West Village. Everything was wonderful that night. The frisée salads aux lardons we shared as starters were our signal that it would be. The intimate restaurant is known for tweaking and elevating classic bistro/brasserie fare. This salad included the frisee, lardons and a still warm poached egg, of course, but it also featured Fourme d’Ambert, an ancient French cheese dating back to Roman times. We ate many delicious things this visit, but I knew I would be trying some version of this salad.

Frisée, or curly endive, has a pleasant, mildly bitter flavor, much less pronounced than that of its relative, Belgian endive. And its pale, feathery leaves give it an otherworldly appearance. When shopping for frisée, Epicurious says to “choose frisée with crisp leaves and no sign of wilting. Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to 5 days. Wash just before using.”

For the lardons, some recipes recommend pork belly. I went with the more readily available bacon most use. For the dressing, some recipes do a vinaigrette that incorporates the rendered bacon fat. To me, this runs the risk of letting the bacon take over. I made a Sherry Dijon Vinaigrette with minced shallots. Any simple vinaigrette will do, but don’t use a creamy dressing—the egg yolk adds plenty of rich creaminess to the finished salad. And speaking of eggs…

If you want to make salade frisée aux lardons, you have to poach some eggs. For the record, the poached egg in the photo above is the first I’ve ever made. Also for the record, its yolk was intact until I intentionally broke it to add its beautifully runny yellowness to the shot. From stories I’d heard about egg poaching disasters, I was somewhat intimidated by the idea—and was prepared to go through a number of eggs before I got a photographically acceptable one. Turns out, it was easy.

Especially if you have some help. After reading advice from various sources, I came up with some great tips and fairly straightforward directions. Many of them came from Deb at Smitten Kitchen. She pretty much never fails, does she? If you follow the directions below, you should do just fine. Need extra reassurance (and pictures)? Check out what Deb has to say.

Salade Frisée aux Lardons
Serves 2

2 medium heads frisée, about 1/4 pound
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon minced shallot
2 slices extra thick bacon
distilled white vinegar
2 large eggs—the fresher, the better

Prepare the frisée. Rinse the heads thoroughly. Tear enough of it for two salads into smallish bites and spin dry or pat dry with paper towels. You won’t use all of your frisée, and that’s fine—the rest can be added to mixed greens to liven up another salad. Regarding bite sizes, no single piece of frisée should be so large that you wonder how you’ll get it in your mouth. I hate seeing big shards of greenery in a salad that force you to cut them up or attempt to cram them whole into your gob, smearing dressing all over your chin. Seriously. Place washed and dried frisée in a salad bowl and set aside.

Prepare the vinaigrette. Combine olive oil, mustard and sherry vinegar in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and whisk until emulsified. Whisk in shallot and set aside.

Prepare the lardons. Slice bacon crosswise into 1/3-inch wide strips. Place in a single layer in a cold, large nonstick fry pan. Cook over medium heat, turning frequently, until crisp. Drain on paper toweling.

Assemble the salad. Toss frisée with vinaigrette. Divide between two salad plates. Sprinkle some of the lardons over the salads—use your eye here to determine a good amount. Whatever is left is for the cook to nibble on while poaching the eggs.

Poach the eggs. Do this at the very last, so the eggs are still warm when served. Again, use very fresh eggs—these poach best. Break the eggs into individual ramekins or small bowls (this will give you much better control than if you try to show off and pour them directly from the cracked egg shells). Heat about 1 inch of water in a medium nonstick skillet over medium flame. Do NOT bring the water to a boil. You don’t even want it to truly simmer—you just want it hot. When bubbles begin to coat the bottom of the pan, reduce heat to low.

Add a splash of vinegar to the pan. The acid helps hold the eggs together. Using a spoon, stir the water in the pan around the edges to create a gentle whirlpool in the center. Holding the ramekin close to the surface of the water, pour an egg into the center of the whirlpool. Let the egg cook undisturbed for about 30 seconds. If you get any flyaway tendrils of egg white, gently push them back toward the egg with a spoon. Cook the egg until just set, 3 to 4 minutes (4 worked best for me). Using a slotted spoon, transfer the egg to a folded paper towel on a plate. (If the egg is sticking to the pan, gently free it with a spatula.) Cook the second egg and transfer to its own folded paper towel.

Serve the salads. Carefully lift each egg in turn from its paper towel and place it atop a salad. This is a total hands-on step. Season with a little salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

14 thoughts on “A classic French salad, by way of Manhattan: Salade Frisée aux Lardons

  1. Wonderful post. I love Frisée aux Lardons — so many great flavors going on here. And I agree about not using the bacon fat as part of the dressing — too much. I’m no expert on poaching eggs, but one thing I’ll do if I’m serving them to company is I’ll poach them ahead of time. Cool and refrigerate, and when ready to serve slip them into barely simmering water for a minute to warm them. Poached eggs aren’t as fragile as they look, so they’ll hold up to gentle handling. Anyway, really outstanding post. I’ve been thinking about making Frisée aux Lardons lately, and you’ve really whetted my appetite!

  2. I often put hard-boiled egg wedges in salads but never thought to use poached. Probably because all my attempts at poaching have failed. Thanks for the lesson. Have been craving eggs benedict lately too. Frisee always looks so nice too!

  3. Thanks, Kitchenriffs! I love the tip about reheating pre-poached eggs. With this particular recipe, the first egg was plenty warm for the salad, even after poaching the second one before serving both. Also, your mojitos look terrific—I’m looking forward to your Summer Sippin’ Series.

    Randi, the runny egg yolk adds such a lovely silkiness to this salad. Marion has even topped individual servings of a vegetarian pasta dish with fried eggs and gotten the same creamy effect. And I agree about the frisée—to me, it almost looks like some exotic sea plant or creature.

  4. One of my very favorite recipes, whether in France or New York or at home (but we have real problems finding good frisée)!

    We use cubed pancetta in place of the lardons and make the vinaigrette with a fair bit of anchovy and Dijon.

    We’re living on salads these days. Helps to clear out the fridge, and the possibilities are endless. And it’s summer!

  5. Pancetta is a great idea, Mellen! On a side note, I keep meaning to try something with pork belly, but my only reliable source for it here is a Korean hypermarket in the suburbs, and we’re rarely out that way.

  6. I so agree about French salads. I’m a salad nut. I probably eat 300 a year at least and all with vinaigrette . I’ve been leery of frisee (thinking bitter), but your salad is so fresh, colorful and inviting (with egg) it’s something I want to add to my collection.

  7. Angela, the bitterness is really so mild. Nothing like radicchio, for instance, another relative of frisée. That I can only enjoy mostly in small bits, mixed in with other lettuces and greens. But frisée is lovely on its own. I hope you’ll give it a try.

    Aw, thanks, Altadenahiker!

  8. I cannot wait to try this recipe myself and go to the Cafe Cluny!!! So happy to be catching up with all of your exploits!

  9. Evi, we had quite the impressive list of “exploits” this visit. One standout was the New York City Dance Parade, the second time we’ve seen it. But we had lots of wonderful quiet little New York moments too, like popping into the rare china-crammed Bardith, Ltd. on Madison Avenue and Tender Buttons on East 62nd, eating a late lunch at the bar at Danji and even visiting Grant’s Tomb. And then there was seeing all our friends (and sadly, missing a few).

    I hope you do try it, May! The runny egg does something wonderful, becoming part of the dressing, really.

  10. I love me some frisee. I love me some poached eggs. And lardons. So, I know this salad is a go in my book. And that tip that kitchenriffs provided for reheating the poached eggs is a winning tip, too.

    Hey, have you ever eaten oeufs en meurette? That seems like another dish you’d really enjoy. So good.

  11. This salad was a favorite when we lived in Lyon, and I know it as Salad Lyonnaise. One addition that I love are croutons. I use cubes from day-old French or Italian bread, dry them in a medium oven for a while, then quickly brown them in the rendered bacon fat (which they absorb, of course, so be judicious.) Add these to the salad and you have toast, bacon and eggs on a salad! We call it our “breakfast salad.”

  12. Christina, oeufs en meurette (poached eggs in red wine) is a new one on me. It sounds classically French from the various recipes I’ve seen and delicious. But it also sounds like many ingredients and many steps to end up with a poached egg, no matter how glorious. But then an attitude like that is why I will always be an okay home cook and not a brilliant chef.

    Rick, what a great idea to toast croutons in the bacon fat—and what a fun story. Thanks!

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