Liège Salad with Green Beans

Beans

1. Liège salad needs good-quality ingredients. I use freshly frozen green beans, which are always available.

   

   Green beans are traditionally steamed, but many cooks simply boil them or even fry them. To my taste, boiling in water is enough.

2. Boil the chopped green beans in lightly salted boiling water with 1 tsp of sugar (5 g) for 3-4 minutes. After boiling, quickly rinse the beans with ice water and drain in a colander. This way the pods keep their wonderful green color. The beans will be fully cooked yet still tender enough, al dente.

   

Bacon and potatoes

1. Bacon can be replaced with a few slices of meaty pork belly. Smoked or salted bacon is fine too. You can take large potatoes, but then you will have to cut them into pieces. It is easier to boil small potatoes and use them whole in the salad.

2. Fry the bacon. Cut the bacon or pork belly into strips or sticks, across the layers of meat and fat. If the belly has bits of cartilage, you can remove them or leave them in, as you like. Heat a frying pan over medium heat, no oil needed. When the pan is hot, fry the bacon or pork belly until it has a nice golden crust. Some of the fat will render out and stay in the pan; do not pour it off. Shake the remaining fat off the pork slices or blot them with a paper towel.

   

3. Boil or bake the potatoes. Small potatoes can be boiled in their skins. I prefer to bake them in the microwave, which is faster. Just pierce each potato with a knife so the steam does not burst it while it bakes. Small potatoes take 7-9 minutes. Let the potatoes cool slightly and peel them.

4. Fry the potatoes in the pork fat left after cooking the bacon. As soon as the potatoes start to turn golden, they are ready. In my opinion, this way of preparing the potatoes makes Liège salad especially tasty.

   

Salad leaves and dressing

1. In bistros the salad is usually served on ordinary plates. At home we use large hemispherical bowls.

2. Put half a bunch of slightly bitter endive or frisée leaves in the bottom of each bowl. They are easy to recognize by their finely cut, feathery sprigs.

   

4. Make the dressing. It is very simple. You can use ordinary prepared mustard or Dijon with mustard seeds. For two servings of salad, mix 1-1.5 tsp of mustard (5–8 g), 1 tsp of wine vinegar and 3 tbsp of olive oil in a bowl or cup. Whisk well with a fork so the ingredients combine evenly. Mixtures of different vinegars are often used in the dressing to add aroma to the salad.

   

5. Toss the beans with the bacon and dressing. In a bowl, combine the still-warm boiled green beans and the fried bacon. Add only a little salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir the beans and pork together.

   

   Pour the prepared dressing over and toss again.

   

Serving

1. Divide the salad among the bowls. Put 2-3 boiled potatoes, fried in the leftover pork fat, into each, and top with the mixture of bacon and green beans. The salad is ready to serve. You can sprinkle it with a pinch of finely chopped parsley if you like.

2. Add sausages or poached eggs if you like, and serve. These are the most common additions to the salad. Sausages are boiled or fried, whichever you prefer. Poached eggs should be made when the salad is ready: put the soft egg without its shell on the salad right away and cut it in one place with the tip of a knife so the yolk runs a little. Quartered hard-boiled eggs and shallots are also often added. Serve the starter immediately, while it is warm and has not started to cool.