The French Laundry: Salad of Hericot Verts, Tomato Tartare, and Chive Oil

Sorry about neglecting to post in a while, but have I been in a baking/cooking storm lately. As a matter of fact, the sweet aroma of my lemon macaron shells baking is wafting through my house at this very moment.

The highlight of this current baking/cooking storm has to be this beautiful salad I made out of Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry cookbook.

I am just awed and incredibly inspired by Keller’s work and the food at The French Laundry. For those of you that don’t know—The French Laundry is a very famous 3 Michelin Star restaurant in Napa Valley. It would probably be the meal of my life if I ever got to go. That being said, The French Laundry released a cookbook a few years ago with many of their recipes. I got it from the library the other day and was paging through it as I came across a small picture of one of the most beautiful plates I've ever seen.  I have never seen a picture of food and felt such an urge to create it.  I couldn’t stop staring at it as I thought, “If I die tomorrow, my only wish would be to create this.”

 I know. It sounds weird, and cheesy, and just plain odd that I felt such an urge, but it’s what I felt. Luckily enough, this Salad of Hericoverts, Tomato Tartare, and Chive Oil was one of the few recipes in the book where I would not be spending over $80 on the ingredients. I set off to work reading the recipe…twice…and spent the next two days preparing the dish--finally serving it with a meal of seared scallops and Thomas Keller’s ratatouille (the ratatouille will be posted soon!) 

I am so proud of how this dish turned out! I smile just looking at the pictures, haha. My only disappointment was not having enough time to get better photos because I was running late for work. The level of thought and layers of flavors that go into Keller’s recipes is just purely incredible. The chive oil—phenomenal, I’m still awestruck by how the chives produced such brilliantly green oil. The tomato tartare was so delicious and its acidity married perfectly with the creaminess of the hericoverts.  The frisee on top--the perfect crunchy texture to top the salad.

 Honestly, this dish is not too hard to make, and sooo worth it. Just prepare a few elements beforehand, and you can throw together the final dish in 30 minutes, tops.

You will need to make the tomato tartare, the tomato powder, and the chive oil beforehand. It is best to not make the tomato powder more than two days in advance or the flavor can dissipate over time.

Salad of Hericots Verts, Tomato Tartare, and Chive Oil

(makes 5-6 servings)

{ 6 oz hericot verts, ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths}

For the Tomato Tartare

{ ½ cup finely chopped Tomato Confit (about 24 pieces) /

1 ½ teaspoons finely minced shallot / 1 teaspoon minced chives /

½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar }

For the Tomato Confit

{ tomatoes* / extra virgin olive oil / kosher salt and fresh.ly ground black pepper / thyme sprigs }

*I used about 7 roma tomatoes—this may seem like a lot, but believe me when I say the pieces will shrink in the oven.

To Make the Tomato Confit:

  

Cut out the cores from the tomatoes and cut a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato. Drop the tomatoes into a pot of boiling salted water for a few seconds to loosen the skin. This will happen very quickly with ripe tomatoes. Immediately remove the totmatoes to an ice-water bath to cool.

Peel the tomatoes and cut them into quarters through the stem. Cut away the inner pulp, seeds, and any remaining ribs to leave a smooth “tomato petal”. Discard the seeds and save the trimmings to use in the tomato powder. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Farenheit. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Drizzle the foil with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Lay the tomato petals (inside of the tomato facing down) on the foil. Drizzle more oil over the tops of the tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top each pice of tomato with a small sprig of thyme.

Place in the oven for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until the tomatoes have partially dried but still have some of their juices. Discard the thyme and refrigerate the confit in a covered container, with the oil, until ready to use, or for up to 1 week.  

For the Chive Oil*

{ 1 packed cup chives cut into 1-inch pieces / about 1 cup canola oil }

*I cut the ratios of these ingredients in half because I did not want to make 1 cup of oil.

To Make the Chive Oil:

Use scissors to cut the chives into small pieces (chopping some herbs causes them to oxidize and darken). Place the chives in a strainer and run hot water over them for about 2 minutes to soften and remove the chlorophyll taste. Place half the herbs in a blender with enough of the oil just to cover. Turn on the blender to medium speed and allow the herbs to blend for a minute to begin the process. If the herbs aren’t turning freely, add slightly more oil so that they will. Turn the speed to high and continue to blend for another 2 minutes. If your blender has a hole at the top, remove the stopper to allow some air in. Check the oil occasionally. It will become slightly warm, but it should not get too hot, or there will be some loss of color. If at any point in the recipe, the machine or mixture overheats, stop the machine, remove the herb purée, and refrigerate until cool. Clean the machine, return the cooled purée to it, and continue to blend.

Add half of the remaining herbs to the machine and blend for another 2 minutes. Remove the purée to a container and refrigerate for at least a day to intensify the color; the purée can be stored for up to 1 week. Once strained, the oil will normally discolor in 2 days. It can be frozen for several weeks, however, with minimal loss of color and flavor.

Place a piece of cheesecloth over a container and secure with a rubber band or string. Place the purée on the cheesecloth and let the oil filter through for about an hour. Discard the cheesecloth and remaining purée—don’t wring out the cheesecloth, or you may cloud the oil. Depending on the amount you are making, and the size of the container, you may need to do this in batches. Store the oil in the refrigerator (or freeze it).

For the Tomato Powder

{ ½ cup finely chopped tomato pulp* (from a peeled and seeded tomato) }

To Make the Tomato Powder*:

*Below are the directions to make the tomato powder as written in The French Laundry cookbook. When I tried to make the tomato powder in the microwave  the first time however, sparks sounded and a small flame burst from the parchment. I don’t know if I just couldn’t figure out how to put my microwave on low power (this microwave is super old) or what, but I switched to making the powder in the oven. Just use bigger chunks of the tomato pulp, set the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and put the tomato in there for about 2-3 hours. Check to make sure the tomato is not burning to a crisp. After the tomato is dry enough that it can be ground to a powder, use a mortal and pestle and grind the tomato pieces. Discard any pieces that are not dry, or too burnt.

Squeeze the tomato pulp in a towel to extract any excess moisture. Line a microwave tray with a piece of parchment paper and spread the tomatoes on it in a thin, even layer. Microwave on low power for 30-40 minutes, or until the pulp is completely dried out but maintains its color. Let cool to room temperature.

Grind the dried pulp in a coffee or spice grinder until as fine as possible. There may be some pieces that do not break up, so when you feel the powder is as fine as it will get, sift it through a fine-mesh strainer, stirring with a spoon. Store in a covered plastic container.

For the Red Wine Vinegar Cream

{ 1/3 cup heavy cream* / 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar /

¼ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste, freshly ground black pepper }

*This is slightly too much cream—just use a little less.

Preparation and cooking of the final dish:

Blanch the haricot verts in boiling salted water until they are just cooked through, 2-4 minutes. (The key to blanching is a lot of salt in the water, and a rapid boil—the goal is that your water continues to boil when the vegetables are thrown in.) Immediately chill the beans in ice water, drain and dry on paper towels.

Tomato Tartare: Combine the tomato confit, shallot, chives, and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl. Refrigerate until shortly before serving.

Red Wine Vinegar Cream: Whisk the cream in a bowl set over a larger bowl of ice just until it thickens slightly and you can see the trail of the whisk in the bowl. Using the whisk, fold in the red wine vinegar and season with the salt and pepper to taste. Do not overbeat the cream, as it will continue to thicken when it is tossed with the beans.

To Complete: Plate a 3-inch ring mold on a serving plate. Squeeze (or spoon) a ring of chive oil around the inside of the mold. Place about 4 teaspoons of the tomato tartare in the center and use the back of a small spoon to spread the mixture so it fills the bottom of the mold. Gently lift off the ring mold and repeat with the remaining five plates.

Toss the beans with just enough of the cream mixture to coat them. Stack about ¼ cup of the beans in the center of each tomato disk, leaving about a ¾ inch border of tomato.

Toss the frisee with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.

For each plate, take about ¼ cup of the greens, twist it in the palm of your hand to make a compact bundle, and set the bundle on the stack of haricot verts. Sprinkle the top of each with a pinch of tomato powder.