Butter Lettuce With Lardons And Poached Egg Recipes

WARM FRISéE-LARDON SALADE WITH POACHED EGGS IN RED-WINE SAUCE

Steps:

• Make sauce:
• Cook shallots in 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine, garlic, thyme, parsley, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and boil until reduced to about 1 cup, 25 to 40 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
• Meanwhile, cook lardons in a small heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned but not crisp. Drain on paper towels.
• Strain wine mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Return to saucepan, then stir in veal demi-glace and bring to a simmer.
• Stir together flour and remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter to make a beurre manié, then whisk into sauce and simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Add half of lardons to sauce and keep warm off heat, covered. Wrap remaining lardons in foil and keep warm on rack in lower third of oven.
• Cook eggs and toasts:
• Brush baguette slices with oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Toast in upper third of oven until pale golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Rub garlic on toasts.
• Meanwhile, fill a deep large skillet with 1 1/4 inches water, then add vinegar and bring to a simmer. Break 1 egg into a cup and slide egg into water. Repeat with remaining eggs, spacing them apart, and poach at a bare simmer until whites are firm but yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Make salad while eggs poach:
• Toss frisée with vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then with oil, and divide among 4 plates.
• To serve:
• Lift each egg out of poaching liquid with a slotted spatula and gently pat dry (still on spatula), then transfer to a toast. Season eggs lightly with salt and pepper and divide among salads. Pour sauce over eggs and sprinkle salads with remaining lardons.

FRISEE AUX LARDONS

Steps:

• For the dressing, saute the chicken livers until cooked through. In a blender, puree liver with oil, vinegar, and shallots. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. For the salad, saute the lardons in a medium saute pan over medium heat until crispy. Transfer with bacon fat into mixing bowl. Toss with frisee and enough dressing until coated lightly. Generously spread cheese on croutons. Serve salad in individual plates topped with 1 crouton.

FRISEE SALAD WITH LARDONS AND POACHED EGGS

Steps:

• Fill a large, deep skillet 2/3 full with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add white vinegar. Place frisee in a large bowl; set aside.
• Cook bacon, stirring occasionally, in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Remove bacon, reserving fat, and set aside. Add shallot to pan; cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add vinegar; bring to a boil, swirling to combine. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat. Add bacon.
• Break an egg into a small bowl; holding bowl just over simmering vinegar water, gently slide egg into water. Repeat with remaining eggs. Poach 1 to 2 minutes (longer for firm yolks). Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
• Return vinaigrette to stove to rewarm if necessary. Pour over frisee and toss gently to combine. Divide evenly among 4 serving plates. Use a slotted spoon to remove poached eggs, and place on the slice of white bread to drain. Top each salad with one egg. Season eggs with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

SORT OF FRISEE LARDONS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Cut each strip of bacon into 4 pieces. In a skillet over medium-low heat, cook the bacon until cooked all the way through but not crisp. Drain on a paper towel and reserve the fat for use in the Vinaigrette.
• Cut the loaf of bread in half and reach in beneath the crust to pull out 1 1/2 to 2-inch chunks of bread. Place the bread chunks on a baking sheet, drizzle them with the olive oil, and toss well. Toast them in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, until they're lightly browned, shaking the pan occasionally to ensure they're evenly baked. When the croutons are cool enough to handle, rub them with the garlic clove and set aside. In a huge bowl, toss to combine the radicchio, frisee, dandelion greens, toasted bread, and bacon.
• Place the eggs in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down the heat to a low simmer. Simmer the eggs for 5 minutes, then plunge them into a large bowl of ice water for a minute or so. Take them out as soon as they're cool enough to handle.
• Pour most of the Vinaigrette over the salad, and toss well to combine. Cut the top 1/2-inch off the eggs, and using a spoon, scoop them out of the shells in large spoonfuls into the bowl. Pile the salad onto 4 plates, and drizzle the remaining Vinaigrette over each.
• In a medium sized skillet over medium heat, warm the bacon fat (and olive oil, if necessary). Add the shallots and cook them for 2 to 3 minutes, until they just begin to sizzle. Whisk in the vinegar, salt, and pepper, and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the mustard, and cook another 30 seconds. Remove the vinaigrette from the heat, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.