Salade lyonnaise. An exercise in simplicity. Nothing more than some greens tossed in a bit of French vinaigrette, a poached egg and some bacon.
Doesn’t sound like much. But when the yolk, bacon and greens come together in your mouth… Special.
This salad hails from Lyon, France. Arguably the food capital of France, Lyon has contributed many classics to French cuisine. Traditionally, it’s made with frisée or baby chickory.
Frisée is not always easy to find, so I’ve done it here with baby greens. Not quite the same but still very good. If you can get your hands on frisée, use it.
Salade Lyonnaise is supposed to be served with lardons. Lardons are much lighter tasting than North American bacon. Blanching the bacon quickly in a bit of water cuts the smoke and is a pretty good approximation of lardons.
I’ve covered off a couple ways to poach eggs, conventional and sous vide. Either way, salade Lyonnaise is a great salad.
salade lyonnaise
Ingredients
- 6 cups frisée
- 4 large or extra large eggs
- 6 slices good quality bacon
- French vinaigrette – recipe link in the instructions below
Instructions
- Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer. Blanch the bacon for about 30 seconds by placing the bacon in the hot water. Drain.
- Pan fry the bacon until cooked but not overly crisp.
- Cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Make the vinaigrette
Traditional poached eggs
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of white vinegar.
- Reduce heat to bring the water down until barely simmering.
- Break the eggs into individual small bowls.
- Stir the water in a circular motion – you are making your own little whirlpool
- Carefully but quickly submerge the egg in the water and remove the bowl.
- Cook for three minutes. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and season with salt.
- Use your eyes. Barely simmering is subjective. If the egg doesn’t look cooked it probably isn’t.
Sous vide poached eggs
- Bring your sous vide to 145F.
- Cook the eggs in their shells at 145F for 45 minutes.
- Bring a saucepan to a boil and then reduce the heat to bring the water to a gentle simmer.
- Crack the egg against your counter. Peel off enough shell to be able to pour the eggs into individual small bowls (one per egg).
- Carefully but quickly submerge the egg and bowl in the simmering water. Remove the bowl.
- Poach for about 1 minute. You just want the white to set up a bit more. You don’t want to continue to cook the yolk. Remove the egg from the water with a slotted spoon and season with salt.
Make the salad
- Salt the greens and toss the greens in the vinaigrette and distribute onto 4 plates.
- Sprinkle bacon over the greens.
- Top with a poached egg and a bit of fresh ground pepper.
salade lyonnaise
Ingredients
- 6 cups frisée
- 4 large or extra large eggs
- 6 slices good quality bacon
- French vinaigrette - recipe link in the instructions below
Instructions
- Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer. Blanch the bacon for about 30 seconds by placing the bacon in the hot water. Drain.
- Pan fry the bacon until cooked but not overly crisp.
- Cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Make the vinaigrette
Traditional poached eggs
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of white vinegar.
- Reduce heat to bring the water down until barely simmering.
- Break the eggs into individual small bowls.
- Stir the water in a circular motion - you are making your own little whirlpool
- Carefully but quickly submerge the egg in the water and remove the bowl.
- Cook for three minutes. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and season with salt.
- Use your eyes. Barely simmering is subjective. If the egg doesn’t look cooked it probably isn’t.
Sous vide poached eggs
- Bring your sous vide to 145F.
- Cook the eggs in their shells at 145F for 45 minutes.
- Bring a saucepan to a boil and then reduce the heat to bring the water to a gentle simmer.
- Crack the egg against your counter. Peel off enough shell to be able to pour the eggs into individual small bowls (one per egg).
- Carefully but quickly submerge the egg and bowl in the simmering water. Remove the bowl.
- Poach for about 1 minute. You just want the white to set up a bit more. You don’t want to continue to cook the yolk. Remove the egg from the water with a slotted spoon and season with salt.
Make the salad
- Salt the greens and toss the greens in the vinaigrette and distribute onto 4 plates.
- Sprinkle bacon over the greens.
- Top with a poached egg and a bit of fresh ground pepper.
There’s nothing like a classic American potato salad. Something about the creamy potatoes, eggs and mayo just make it perfect for a backyard barbecue. Or with fried chicken. This is the best potato salad I know how to make. And I know a few…
This is my kind of comfort food. Probably because I love BBQ. And I love fried chicken. And I love potatoes. So not a big surprise.
But I don’t like just any potato salad. I’m actually pretty picky. Don’t like it pre-fab from the grocery store. Not crazy about it at most casual restaurants.
Usually don’t want anything to do with what they serve at fast food joints. But I love this stuff for a reason. It’s just really, really good.
This is my best potato salad
Best. That’s a very big claim. Too big really. And it’s very subjective. I love a good French potato salad. Potatoes with grainy mustard and bacon can be fantastic.
So maybe it’s not the best there is but it’s up there. There’s just something about it that works. Works very well.
I can’t take much credit for it. This is America’s Test Kitchen all-American potato salad with a couple small glebekitchen touches. More eggs. Lots more. And leave out the celery seed. That’s it. But it makes a difference.
If you want to make really good potato salad, it’s going to be a bit more work than tossing potatoes with some mayo and chopped onion. Sorry. It’s not hard but there are a few extra steps.
Pickle juice is why this works
Pickle juice is the secret ingredient. Pickle juice and ball park mustard. It’s different. Crazy even. But it’s critical. Drizzle warm potatoes with pickle juice and mustard. Let it sit to allow the potatoes to absorb the flavours.
Sour cream is the other twist. Full fat sour cream. Don’t wimp out. Cook to impress. Nobody needs to know.
Just serve it up and take the compliments. Nobody is going to die because they had a few extra calories at a party. I’m pretty sure anyway. At least I hope not.
Best potato salad? I think so.
Old school? Maybe.
Tasty? Definitely.
Try it and let me know what you think.
