It sounds more than a bit artful, doesn't it, the "composed salad". "Composed? By Beethoven, I suppose?" says you, sceptically. But trust me, a composed salad, in all its glory, can be not merely harmonious, but positively symphonic. I discovered this some years back, visiting the brilliant American food writer Richard Olney, at his home in Provence. Olney has long been not merely the finest writer on the subject, but revered also as being the finest exponent of the composed salad. And so, at a table on his little terrace, under the shade of a vine which filtered the scorching Provencal sun, it proved to be. He used frisee lettuce, basil leaves, soft-yolked cooked egg, sliced tomatoes, sliced garlic, a brace of herbs and the crowning glory of hyssop flowers scattered on top. The dressing was made with his own, home-made wine vinegar and light Provencal olive oil.
And it was extraordinary, despite being, by Olney's own standards, almost restrained in its number of ingredients. And the key element of a composed salad such as this is its ability to be completely sinuous in terms of flavour, its ability to assimilate all the flavours into a complete unity. Furthermore, composing multiple ingredients which harmonise together elevates the salad into a complete meal, and I know of no other meal so perfect for eating outdoors, as we hungrily seize our meagre sunshine allowance over the course of the summer.
Here is Olney himself writing about the composed salad, in his book Ten Vineyard Lunches "... ". . . the peppers are torn into strips and thrown into the bottom of a salad bowl with onion rings, to macerate in vinaigrette, the salad servers crossed above them to keep the vinaigrette out of contact with the other elements: a variety of green, leafy things including basil and bitter, peppery greens and green beans, parboiled, drained, cooled till tepid (not refreshed and tossed atop). Garnishing the salad are sections of tomato and hard-boiled egg . . . When hyssop is in bloom, its ultramarine flowers are scattered over the eggs and finely chopped hyssop leaves over the rest; nasturtium blossoms often lend their peppery flavour and flashes of hot colour."
It sounds beautiful, and it is beautiful, and the thing to remember about the composed salad is that it can be made from anything, just about. You can't mix meat and fish leftovers harmoniously, of course, so don't imagine it is just a dumping ground for what is in the fridge. But with scraps of leftover chicken, maybe some Puy lentils mixed with peppers, or reserved broad beans, with slices of Sunday's lamb left in the marinade to pick up the flavours of the dressing, then you can do almost anything and transform the salad into a complete meal. Best of all, this food talks of sunshine and summer, easy work and lazy days, and the chance to sip some wine and kick back.
We begin with one of the great composed salads, the Caesar, and I have to confess that this version, from Stephanie Alexander's book, The Cook's Companion, has made me addicted to Cos and Romaine lettuce. The very second I see them in a shop, I buy them, bring them home and make this salad. It is stupendous.
Jenny's Caesar Salad
3 eggs
1 rasher streaky bacon, sliced or cubed
olive oil
2-3 slices sourdough bread, crusts removed
2 Cos lettuce hearts, washed and well dried
6 anchovies, cut into strips
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
Dressing:
1 teaspoon sea salt
three-quarter teaspoon freshly- ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed to a fine paste
quarter teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons tarragon or red-wine vinegar
half cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 egg
Mix all dressing ingredients together in a screw-top jar. Shake well and set aside. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and boil eggs for four minutes exactly.
In a frying pan, fry bacon in a little oil. Remove from pan. Cut bread into 1 cm cubes and fry in bacon fat, tossing to crisp. Remove from pan and drain on kitchen paper.
Peel eggs and cut into large chunks or quarters. Arrange lettuce leaves on a platter. Drizzle with dressing. Turn leaves in dressing and scatter on egg, anchovies, bacon, croutons, cheese and parsley. Eat at once.
I have never forgotten Richard Olney's composed salad, nor have I ever forgotten the first time my wife cooked this brilliant salad idea from Paul Bertolli's book, Chez Panisse Cooking. We ate it sitting outside a little cottage in west Sligo, drank some Chateau de Sours white, and time stood still.
Bertolli's recipe specifies salt-packed anchovies, but good quality anchovies in oil are suitable. He also cooks his lamb, but if you have thin slices of left-over leg of lamb, I think it is almost more perfect.
Lamb Salad with Garden Lettuces, Straw Potatoes and Garlic Sauce
half boned lamb loin (12 oz) tender loin included (3 oz)
2 large handfuls of very young lettuces (rocket and rocket flowers, frisee bronze leaf, ruby red leaf, Romaine)
Verona chicory
dandelion greens
garden cress
2 large eggs
4 salt-packed anchovies (8 fillets)
6 tablespoons clarified butter
8oz golden chanterelles, thickly sliced
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil
2 Russet potatoes (1 lb)
Nasturtium petals
Remove and discard all fat, skin, and sinew from the boned lamb loin. Wash and spin-dry the lettuces and refrigerate. Put the eggs in a pan and cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat, and let the eggs sit in the hot water for eight minutes. Drain off the water, cool the eggs under cold water, then peel them.
Fillet the anchovies and soak them in several changes of cold water for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt one tablespoon of the clarified butter in a saute pan, add the chanterelles, and salt and pepper them lightly. Cook until all the water they release evaporates and the mushrooms are slightly crisp and mahogany coloured. Transfer to a small bowl. Drain the water and pat the anchovies dry with a paper towel. Cut them into eighth of an inch-thick strips and toss in about a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil.
Peel the potatoes and cut them on a mandoline, or by hand, into fine julienne strips. Put the cut potatoes in a large bowl and cover them with several changes of cold water until the water is clear and no longer milky. Let them soak for one hour.
Garlic sauce:
one-sixth cup neutral-flavoured oil (peanut or vegetable)
1 egg yolk
1 clove garlic, peeled
half teaspoon Champagne vinegar
salt and pepper
half teaspoon water
In a small bowl, whisk the oil into the egg yolk, drop by drop at first and then, as it thickens, in a more steady, thin stream until all of it has been added. Pound the garlic clove in a mortar, add it to the egg and oil and whisk in the seasonings and water. You should have a smooth, pourable sauce.
Vinaigrette:
2 shallots, finely diced
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
half teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano
half teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Combine the shallots, vinegar, herbs, a little salt and pepper and mix well to dissolve the salt. Stir in the olive oil.
Drain the potatoes and spin them dry in the lettuce spinner. Melt four tablespoons of the clarified butter in a well-seasoned eight-inch steel saute pan or nonstick pan.
Warm the butter until it sizzles when you touch a potato to it. Add one half of the straw potatoes to cover the bottom of the pan, salt and pepper the layer, then add the other half and salt and pepper it.
Compress the potatoes lightly with the lid of a pan or spatula. Cook the potatoes for about five to eight minutes. Keep the heat high enough so that you hear a gentle sizzle. (If the heat is not high enough the potatoes will not brown and crisp).
Several times during the cooking move the pan back and forth. The potatoes are ready to be flipped when you see browned compacted edges and the aroma changes from steamy to nutty.
To flip the cake, place a flat lid over the pan and invert the pan.
Carefully slide the cake back into the pan. Continue to cook the cake another eight minutes or so, until it is thoroughly browned and crisp on the second side. When it is done, transfer it to a plate and place it in a warm oven.
After boning, the lamb loin and tenderloin are each sauteed in one piece so that they retain their juices during cooking. The tenderloin is a much more tender muscle and cooks in less time.
Salt and pepper the loin and tenderloin on both sides and saute them over high heat in the remaining one tablespoon clarified butter to medium-rare. This should take about eight minutes for the loin and five minutes for the tenderloin. Turn the pieces often so that the lamb browns but does not toughen on the surface.
Let the meat rest in a warm spot for five minutes. Reserve the juices.
Assembling the salad: Have six large plates ready. Combine the lettuces and Nasturtium petals with the mushrooms and dress with the vinaigrette.
Add any juices from the lamb to the salad as well. Construct each salad in a similar way: lay down the lettuces and mushrooms to cover the bottom of the plate.
Slice the lamb thin and arrange it among the lettuces. Lay strips of anchovy on the lamb slices and drizzle a little garlic sauce over the meat. Break up the potato cake in six rough pieces and add a piece to each plate (the potatoes have a nice look if broken up by hand).
Chop the eggs coarse and sprinkle all over the top of the salad. Grind a little black pepper over each plate and serve.
There isn't anyone on the planet who doesn't love a good chicken salad, with punchy, up-front flavours that knock you out and console you at the same time. Here is one of the great cliched salads, and none the worse for that. It's an idea by Sarah Leah Chase.
Classic Chicken and Grape Salad
3 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, poached just until tender and cooled to room temperature
5 ribs celery, coarsely chopped 1 1/2 cups seedless green grapes, cut in half
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 cups (or as needed) Hellmann's mayonnaise
Cut the chicken breasts into three-quarter to one-inch chunks, removing and discarding any tendons as you go along. Toss the chicken, celery, and grapes together in a large bowl. Season with the thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Bind the salad with the mayonnaise. You will need to use a lot of mayonnaise to make the salad very moist and creamy.
Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and refrigerate covered at least one hour before serving. This will make six to eight servings.
One of these days, someone will write a book on just how contentious a salad the Salade Nicoise is. Purists argue about every aspect of its composition, and especially as to whether it should contain any cooked ingredients. This recipe, which uses only raw vegetables, represents the purist school and was given to Claudia Roden by Catherine-Helene Barale, a Nicois e restaurateur. Good quality ingredients are the key to making this as good as it can be.
Salade Nicoise
10 medium-sized tomatoes, cut into quarters
Salt
1 garlic clove
1 large cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
200 g (7 oz) very young broad beans or baby artichokes, thinly sliced (optional)
2 green peppers, thinly sliced
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
12 anchovy fillets cut into pieces
A 250 g (8 oz) tin of tuna, flaked
125 g (4 oz) black olives
3 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and thinly sliced
Dressing:
90ml (31/2 fl oz) olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 basil leaves, finely chopped (optional)
salt and pepper
Sprinkle the tomatoes lightly with salt and let their juices drain. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub the inside of a bowl or large serving dish. Arrange all the ingredients decoratively in the dish. Combine the dressing ingredients, pour over the salad and then serve.