Roquefort Salad With Warm Croutons And Lardons Recipes

Steps:

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• Put a large frying pan on a high heat, and once hot, add a good couple lugs of olive oil.
• Cut your bacon into thick 1/2-inch/1 cm lardons, and add to the pan. Fry, stirring occasionally, for around 3 minutes, or until you've got a good bit of colour on the bacon and a lot of the fat has rendered out. Turn the heat down a little and add your bread to the pan, making sure you spread the croutons out so they take on some colour. Fry for another 3 minutes, or until they've sucked up all the wonderful flavour and are lovely, crisp, and golden.
• For the dressing:
• Put the extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and a good pinch of salt and pepper into a clean jam jar. Put the lid on and give it a shake, then have a taste and make sure you've got the balance right. Cook's Note: You want it to be slightly too acidic at this stage, as you'll get quite a bit of saltiness from the bacon and French dressings tend to be quite sharp.
• For the salad:
• Once your dressing is made, get everyone around the table so they're ready to tuck in as soon as the salad is ready. Put your lamb's lettuce (mache) on a big platter, tear in the radicchio, then pour over that wonderful, thick dressing. Scatter over most of your walnuts and chives and all the croutons and lardons. Quickly mix it all up with your clean hands so that every single leaf is coated.
• Use the tip of a knife to crumble off little nuggets of Roquefort and let them fall straight on to your salad. Finish by scattering over the rest of the walnuts and chives from a height, and tuck in!

Steps:

• To Prepare the Sweet Garlic: Place the garlic and milk in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, and bring the milk to a boil.
• Boil for 3 minutes.
• Remove from the heat.
• Discard the milk, reserving the garlic.
• Combine the sugar and butter over medium heat.
• Add the garlic and cook until the cloves are soft and lightly caramelized.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Set the sweet garlic aside.
• To Prepare the Croutons and Bacon: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a skillet until it is crisp but not dry.
• Remove from the heat and place the bacon on paper towels.
• Pour off all but 3 to 4 tablespoons of the rendered bacon fat.
• Add the cubed bread to the pan and toss to coat.
• Season with salt and pepper and transfer the bread cubes to a baking sheet.
• Bake for 5 minutes, or until they are lightly browned.
• Set aside.
• To Make the Dressing: Mix the shallots, mustard, and vinegar together.
• Gradually whisk in the olive oil until the liquid is well blended.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Set aside.
• To Serve: Tear the chicory leaves into small pieces.
• Place them in a serving bowl and set aside at room temperature.
• Heat the bacon in a small, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add the croutons and then the dressing.
• Toss for 2 seconds, pour it over the salad greens, and toss thoroughly.
• (Don't overcook the dressing or the mustard will lose its flavor.) Serve the salad on individual plates, topped with crumbled Roquefort cheese, sweet garlic, and freshly ground pepper to taste.