Description
A classic french salad, bitter frisée is paired with salty lardons, a poached egg and a simple vinaigrette. I find the addition of maple syrup to be a welcome touch, as the subtle sweetness helps mellow the acidity of the vinegar. Although this dish may remind us of breakfast, I strongly believe this simple salad can be enjoyed at any time of day!
Ingredients
-One hundred grams of lardons (pancetta or bacon cut into cubes are good substitutes)
-Frisée Lettuce (Curly endive)
-Two tablespoons of maple syrup
-Six tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
-One tablespoon of dijon mustard
-One egg
-Roughly three tablespoons of neutral oil (I used avocado oil)
-Salt and pepper to taste
-White wine vinegar
Instructions
Bring maple syrup, apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard up to room temperature, especially if they were in the refrigerator. Tempering the ingredients will prevent the fat from the lardons from solidifying when we make our vinaigrette.
Put the lardons in a cold pan and turn the heat to medium heat. Cook until crispy, reserve the rendered fat and set aside.
3. Mix Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar and maple syrup into a mason jar. In a bowl, mix fat from lardons and neutral oil together. Add the oil to the mason jar, close the lid and shake until emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste (do note that lardons are salty by nature; therefore we should be conservative with the quantity of salt we would like to add) .
4. Fill a saucepan with water, bring to boil and reduce to medium-low heat and add a splash of vinegar (roughly two tablespoons).
5. Crack the egg into a cup.
6. Use a whisk to stir the water in a circular motion in order to form a vortex. Add the egg and cook for three minutes before setting aside. Ideally the egg white will be slightly firm and the yolk should be runny.
7. Toss frisée, lardons and vinaigrette in a bowl.
8. Top the salad with our poached egg and enjoy!
