Henry Harris: Salade Lyonnaise

Extracted from The Racine Effect by Henry Harris (Quadrille, RRP £40) Photography © Sam Nolan

There are certain salads that are always a satisfying pleasure – Greek salad and Caesar salad are such examples – and a salade Lyonnaise is in that club. When selecting the frisée, choose the one with the biggest heart of pale yellow leaves, as they are the most tender and have a pleasing bitterness compared to the dark outer leaves, which can be too strong. Buy an unsliced piece of bacon, too, as that will provide you with more meaningful cubes when diced – wispy strands of sliced bacon just aren’t the same. The lardons should be a similar size to the sourdough croutons.

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Method

Prepare the frisée by first separating the leaves and discarding the very dark ones, then washing and drying them. Place the leaves in a salad bowl and add the shallot and croutons.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the lardons for 3–5 minutes until they brown but do not become crispy or crunchy.

While the bacon is cooking, bring a shallow, wide pan of well-salted water to a gentle simmer to poach the eggs. Time is not on your side at this point, but focus will bring success. Crack each egg and gently slip them into the water, then poach them for about 3 minutes, or until the white is set and the yolk is warm and runny.

The moment the eggs are in the water, remove the bacon pan from the heat and pour out the excess rendered fat, then add the mustard dressing and water to the pan and use a spoon or spatula to work everything together. Scrape this out over the frisée salad, toss it together and divide between plates.

Use a slotted spoon to lift each egg from the pan and place one on top of each salad. Serve immediately.