This elegant first-course salad from Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook combines crisp-tender haricots verts with intensely flavored tomato tartare, red wine vinegar cream, frisée, chive oil and a finishing dusting of tomato powder.
Servings: 6
Source: Thomas Keller, The French Laundry Cookbook
Haricots Verts
Ingredients:
- 6 ounces haricots verts, trimmed
- Kosher salt
Instructions:
- Cut the beans into approximately 1-inch pieces.
- Blanch in generously salted boiling water until just tender, approximately 2–4 minutes.
- Immediately transfer to ice water.
- Drain thoroughly and dry before assembling the salad.
Tomato Tartare
The tartare is made from finely chopped tomato confit combined with minced shallot, fresh chives and balsamic vinegar.
For the tomato confit, peeled and seeded tomato “petals” are seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme and slowly roasted at 250°F for about 1½–2 hours. They should become concentrated and partially dried while retaining some moisture.
Finely chop the cooled tomato confit and combine with a small amount of minced shallot, minced chives and good balsamic vinegar. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
Red Wine Vinegar Cream
Lightly whip heavy cream until it begins to thicken but is still soft. Season it with red wine vinegar, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Just before plating, lightly coat the prepared haricots verts with the vinegar cream.
Chive Oil
Prepare a vivid green chive oil by blending fresh chives with a neutral-flavored oil until thoroughly puréed. Allow the mixture to rest so the flavor and color develop, then strain through cheesecloth without pressing on the solids.
Keep refrigerated until you're ready to plate the salad.
Tomato Powder
Ingredients:
- ½ cup finely chopped tomato pulp from a peeled and seeded tomato
Squeeze as much moisture as possible from the tomato pulp.
Keller's original technique spreads the pulp very thinly on parchment and dries it in the microwave on low power for approximately 30–40 minutes. Once completely dry and cooled, grind it very finely in a spice or coffee grinder. This produces about 1 tablespoon tomato powder.
GB Recipes Tip: I'd actually use a low oven rather than the microwave. Home cooks who've prepared this recipe have reported better control drying the tomato slowly in the oven, and it avoids the possibility of scorching the parchment or tomato.
To Assemble
- Toss tender frisée leaves very lightly with extra-virgin olive oil and kosher salt.
- Spoon or drizzle a little chive oil onto each plate.
- Place a small round of tomato tartare in the center. A 3-inch ring mold gives you the French Laundry-style presentation.
- Arrange the haricots verts coated in red wine vinegar cream over the tomato tartare.
- Form a small, loose bundle of dressed frisée and place it over the beans.
- Finish with a light sprinkling of tomato powder.
Tip: This is an ideal make-ahead dinner-party salad because the tomato confit, tomato powder and chive oil can be prepared in advance. The beans and final assembly can then be handled shortly before serving.
I think this one deserves a photo on GB Recipes that mimics Keller's elegant restaurant presentation—tomato tartare on the bottom, haricots verts stacked above it, frisée on top, tomato powder and vivid green chive oil around the plate.