Lyonnaise Salad? No That's Sally's Endive Salad With Citrus and Warm Bacon Dressing!

Salads have always been an important part of the menus in my restaurants. People sometimes want something lighter to eat. The people of the new millennium have gotten away from the "Meat and Potatoes" diet of the past and its related health problems. Salads are a delicious way to eat healthy. Well, they were until cooks start adding warm bacon dressing, lardoons, steak, cheese, lobster and other calorie laden and high cholesterol items to them. 

Salads have a long history. The earliest evidence of salads comes from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia where people mixed raw vegetables with oils and vinegar. The word salad is derived from the Latin "Salata" which means "salted things". In ancient Greece and Rome, people would mix raw vegetables with brine, vinegar, oil and sometimes honey. 

The word salad has evolved to include a lot of different things that are mixed with a dressing or seasonings, such as potato salad, pasta salad, tuna salad, Caprese salad, Waldorf salad, Quinoa salad... You get the idea. There are a lot of things on menus and in cookbooks called salad. Today we are going to talk about salads made with greens. In particular, greens from the Cichorium genus which includes Endives and Chicories.  

The picture at the top of the page is a Lyonnaise Salad. I have been involved in a lot of restaurants. As the chef in some of them, I was responsible for the menu. Chefs in putting together a menu will take traditional dishes and tweak them by adding or subtracting ingredients or preparation methods. They sort of make a dish their own. I added to the classic Lyonnaise Salad. I called this salad Sally's Breakfast Salad because it has Bacon, Egg, Orange and Toast in it. It is basically a Lyonnaise Salad with the addition of other endives, orange segments and zest. We live in Florida and it is known for its citrus. On the menu, it was listed as "Sally's Endive Salad With Citrus and Warm Bacon Dressing". 

I have had "Endive Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing" on several of my restaurant's menus but it was not like the dish I served at the Crazy Conch Cafe. Endive is low in calories and rich in vitamins, especially vitamin K, vitamin A and folate. Its slightly bitter taste pairs well with citrus which was one of the reasons I added citrus to the recipe. 

Salade Lyonnaise is a classic French dish originating from the "Bouchons" of Lyon, a city in southeastern France long regarded as the gastronomic capital of France. Bouchons are unique to Lyon and have a long history tied to the city. They were originally simple eateries that served hearty, affordable meals to silk workers in the 19th century. Bouchons are small, cozy, and casual often with a rustic and informal ambiance. They focus on traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, which is rich, flavorful, and comforting. They don't serve other traditional French dishes like a bistro would. 

I first came across this salad in my travels to New York City, California and in France. I was intrigued by it because of the poached egg on top. I had never seen or heard of that before. Then I tasted it and wow. The combination of the bitter greens, rich bacon, poached egg and vinegary dressing is fantastic and indeed a classic. 

This salad appears under many names on various menus. I have seen it as, Salade Lyonnaise, Endive With Warm Bacon Dressing, Frisée aux Lardons, French Bistro Salad, Frisée Salad with Poached Egg and Bacon, Salade du Bouchon and Salade à la Lyonnaise avec Croûtons Dorés. All pretty much the same salad.

All these salads have Frisée, Bacon and a Vinegar based dressing. Of course, because chefs will be chefs there have been some variations. Some have included chicken livers, some have croutons, some have the poached egg, some use balsamic vinegar, some use red wine vinegar, some use sherry vinegar, some use a Dijon mustard vinaigrette for the dressing, some use a warm bacon dressing with the bacon fat as the oil, some use pancetta for the bacon, some use ventreche as the bacon, some use smoked slab bacon, some add chopped shallots in the warm dressing, some add other greens, the variations go on and on. 

The classic recipe calls for Frisée, Lardons, Poached Egg, Croutons, Salt & Pepper, and a Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette. This recipe is definitely a winner. Sometimes the rendered bacon fat is used in the vinaigrette and sometimes it's used to make the croutons. The French don't like to waste anything. Especially something as tasty as bacon fat. 

I made some changes to this classic recipe. I added Belgian Endive and Radicchio to the Frisée. They added bitterness, color, nutty flavor and a hint of sweetness. I made the croutons from a baguette using just the crust and cutting them into rectangular "mouillettes" with a rusk like texture. I added orange segments and the zest from the oranges, to give it more of a Florida feel. I changed the dressing into a sweet and sour warm vinaigrette using bacon fat, olive oil, diced shallots, red wine vinegar, sugar, and any juice from the orange segments. Breakfast salad? Oui! 

Sally’s Endive Salad   

1 - Small Baguette                       2 - Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ - Lb. Thick Sliced Bacon         2 - Heads Frisee
2 - Heads Belgian Endive           ½ - Head Radicchio
2 - Medium Navel Oranges          Salt and Pepper to Taste
3 - Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar         1 - Tbsp. White wine Vinegar
4 - Grade A Large Eggs               2 - Tbsp. Diced Shallots
1 - Clove Garlic                            2 - Tbsp. Granulated Sugar

 

Take baguette and slice in half longwise. Remove the insides and reserve for another purpose. Cut garlic clove in half and rub the inside of each side of the baguette. Brush inside of baguette with olive oil and arrange on a sheet tray. Toast until brown and crisp. Cut baguette into 3” x 1” croutons. Set aside to cool.

 With a vegetable peeler remove zest of the 2 oranges with the least amount of pith as possible. Cut zest into a fine julienne and set aside. Cut away the peels from the oranges, leaving no white pith. Holding them over a small bowl, segment the oranges, catching any juices. You should have at least 20. Wash lettuces, break apart, spin dry and wrab in paper towels.

 Fill a saucepan two-thirds full with water. Add the white wine vinegar and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Break each egg into a cup and slide one at a time into the water. Poach the eggs until the whites are set, about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

 Place bacon in the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove and cut into ¼” lardons. You can use slab bacon for this and slice it yourself or buy thick pre-sliced bacon. Place a 12” skillet on medium heat and add the bacon to the pan and cook until crisp. Remove and drain. Leave bacon fat in pan, add shallots, stir, then add sugar. Allow sugar to melt, then deglaze pan with red wine vinegar. Add olive oil and stir to mix. I also add any juice from the orange segments.

On each chilled plate arrange 4 spears of endive in a fan, top with torn frisee and radicchio. Scatter 4 orange segments and 4 croutons. Sprinkle with reserved lardons. Top with the warm bacon dressing. Then place one poached egg in the center and sprinkle with the orange zest.