As the spuds are cooking, season the duck breasts well on both sides and place in a second, non-stick pan, fat-side down. Place on a low heat and, as the fat renders from the breast, baste all the while. After 10 minutes or so, the fat still attached to the breast should be a pleasing golden colour and the meat should still be soft, but not raw to the touch. Take off the heat, flip the breasts over and rest in a warm place for at least 15 minutes or longer until required for the rest of the dish. Fry the lardons gently in a little of the rendered duck fat until cooked, about 5 minutes, then keep warm. Slice the lambs’ tongues in half lengthways and warm gently in a small pan with the tongue liquor. Shred the duck confit and warm gently on a plate in the oven for 5 minutes.
To assemble the salad, everything needs to be ready and at the correct temperature and you need to work quickly to prevent the finished salad from becoming cold. Warm the plates (no need to be hot, just warm). If using the quail eggs, fry gently in a little butter without turning; season and keep warm. Slice the duck breasts thinly and add to a large, ideally warmed, mixing bowl. Add the French beans, potatoes, garlic, shallots, tongues, lardons, duck confit, croûtons, frisée leaves and herbs. Phew! Season the whole lot well with salt and pepper and, using your scrupulously clean hands, mix well with a little vinaigrette. The trick here is to use the vinaigrette sparingly, as too much dressing will result in a greasy and unappetising salad.
Place a teaspoon of the sweet mustard dressing on each plate and spread out in circular fashion with the back of the spoon. Take a handful of the warm salad and place neatly on top of the mustard dressing. Try to do this quickly and with a lightness of touch. At the same time, ensure that each guest gets a lamb’s tongue and a fair share of the other goodies. Finally, top with the crisp prosciutto and a fried quail egg – hopefully still warm.
Mastering the making of salads, particularly complex warm ones such as this, is one of the stiffest tests for any cook and truly sorts the men from the boys in my opinion. It is helpful to remember that one of the most important ingredients in salads is air. Try to get ‘lift’ and lightness, both when mixing all the ingredients and, importantly, when presenting on the plate.
Endive, pear and Roquefort salad with mustard and walnuts
This is a great classic salad and easy as pie. (Although, I must point out, no pastry is involved.) Any salty blue cheese will fit the bill here, but the great French aristocrat is undoubtedly the best. In a similar vein, other nuts can be used. Hazelnuts and almonds are both delicious and in September the fresh milky-white cobnut would make a welcome seasonal appearance.
Serves 4
4 endive (chicory)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g Roquefort cheese
1 large ripe pear, peeled, quartered and cored
30g roasted walnuts, roughly chopped
walnut oil
Cut off the core end of the endive and separate the leaves. You will need to remove more of the core end in order to separate the leaves towards the centre of the vegetable. Discard the outer yellowy-green leaves – you should end up with 8–10 leaves per person. Place the leaves in a large glass bowl and season with a little salt and pepper. Add a good glug of mustard dressing and, with scrupulously clean hands, mix the leaves and dressing together gently but thoroughly.
Transfer the dressed leaves to four plates. Crumble the Roquefort over, which will adhere pleasingly to the sticky endive. Slice the pear quarters thinly and divide between the plates, then scatter on the walnuts. Drizzle with a little walnut oil and serve.
Green bean salad with shallots, prosciutto and crackling
In the unlikely event that you have leftover crackling from your Sunday pork roast, this is a good way of using it up. Alternatively, cadge or buy some scored pork skin from your butcher and make crackling by simply salting liberally and roasting until the desired level of crispness is reached. This is a beautifully simple and delicious salad at any time of the year.
Serves 4 as a starter
250g fine green beans
salt and ground black pepper
crackling, finely chopped so that it resembles coarse breadcrumbs
freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 large shallots (or 1 large banana shallot), peeled and very finely chopped
4 very thin, freshly cut slices of prosciutto (sliced from a deli counter, not the pre-packed stuff)
Very easy. Boil the green beans in copious amounts of salted water until cooked, and then refresh in iced water. Drain and reserve at room temperature. Place in a mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper and dress with a good slug of vinaigrette. Add a handful of the crackling ‘crumbs’ and the parsley and shallots. Mix together and check the seasoning.
Place a slice of prosciutto on your board and spoon the green bean salad generously on top. Roll up the ham around the beans and repeat with the rest of the ham and salad. A little balsamic vinegar and olive oil is good with this, but may add an unwanted look of dribbly, dinner-party pretention to proceedings. Sweet Mustard Dressing is also good and you could add a few crackling crumbs to the plate as well.
Beetroot and ricotta salad with lamb’s lettuce, anchovy, orange and walnuts
I very much like beetroot in all its many shapes, colours and sizes. There is little to distinguish in taste between the different lovely colours, in my opinion, but the variety of hue is welcome in the drabber autumn and winter months, during which these root vegetables proliferate. Soft cheeses go well with beetroot, especially the lactic, undemandingly less-strong sorts such as mozzarella, mild goat and ricotta. The saline poke of the anchovy also combines nicely with these ingredients and the orange tang seems to bring it all together in a pleasing, citrusy kind of way.
Serves 4 as a starter
4 medium-sized red beetroots, or 2 golden and 2 red beets, washed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200–250ml good-quality olive oil
about 12 walnuts
250ml freshly squeezed orange juice
1 heaped tsp grain mustard
1 lemon
8 anchovies
250g best-quality ricotta
1 punnet or bag of lamb’s lettuce, washed thoroughly
1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 bunch of fresh chives, finely chopped
Set the oven to 175°C. Place the unpeeled beetroots on a large piece of foil and season well with salt, pepper and a generous slug of olive oil. (Aromatics such as garlic, fresh thyme and bay leaves can be added at this stage if liked, but as the beets will be later skinned, these additions are of minimal use unless used in disproportionately large quantities.) Bake for about 1 hour. The exact timing rather depends on the size of the beetroots – a skewer inserted into the centre will reveal whether they are done; it should slide in and out without any resistance. As soon as you can handle the hot beetroots, slide off the skins and discard – clean rubber gloves