(French: Salade a la Bressane)
Ingredients for 4 people:
- 2 salad heads
- 1 pound (500g) poultry (chicken, duck or goose) livers.
Duck or goose livers are best, but if they are not available
you can use chicken livers.
- 7 ounces (200g) bacon pieces (known in France as
'Lardons').
- 8 eggs
- 16 cherry tomatoes or 4 medium-sized ordinary tomatoes
- salad dressing (see traditional salad dressing recipe)
Recipe:
• Separate the salad into individual leaves. Wash and then shake off the
excess water (if you have a salad spinner, that is even better).
• Place the leaves on the plates (each person gets a prepared salad plate,
rather than serving themselves from a communal salad bowl).
• Hard-boil the eggs (about 8 minutes). Then peel and quarter them. Place on
top of the salad leaves.
• While the eggs are boiling, cut the tomatoes and place them on top of the
leaves. Cherry tomatoes should be cut in half, ordinary tomatoes should be
cored and cut in quarters.
• Fry the chicken livers in a small amount of oil (just enough oil so that the
livers don't stick to the pan). Place them on the salad.
• Fry the bacon pieces in a non-stick pan (without oil) on medium-high heat
until they are crispy. Discard the fat and distribute the cooked bacon bits
over the salad.
• Serve immediately. The salad dressing should be placed on the table so each
guest can add themselves.
Notes:
There are a number of variations of this recipe. The key ingredients are: salad,
poultry (chicken, duck or goose) livers, eggs, tomatoes, and a suitable dressing.
Some variations of the recipes may have additional ingredients (such as maize /
corn).
Unlike some recipes, the exact amount or ratios of the ingredients in this recipe are
flexible. You can have more or less of any of the individual ingredients, depending
on individual preference.
This dish is intended to be served hot. So, once you start to cook the livers and
bacon, you need to ensure that the guests are ready to sit at the table, so that
when everything is ready the salad can be served before the livers and bacon
become cold.
If you don't have a package of 'lardons', you can take ordinary bacon and cut it into
small pieces (about a half-centimeter cube) to make the bacon pieces.
As this recipe has both meat (livers) and eggs, it makes a very substantial salad. If
your guests are not big eaters or if you have a multi-course meal planned, you may
wish to reduce the ingredient amounts. Otherwise, your guests may not have
enough appetite for the remaining courses!! Alternatively, you can increase the
amounts and make the salad the main course (I personally like to do this when I
feel like a quick and relatively light meal).
This recipe is from the Bresse region of France (in the south of Burgundy). The
Bresse region is known for its fowl, in particular for its chickens, which are
considered the best in France (they have their own AOC !!) and probably the best
in the world. The Bresse chickens are so important to this region of France, both in
financial terms and gastronomic pride, that the chicken is the symbol of this area.
Consequently, it is not surprising that the local salad features both chicken livers
and eggs.
As people and things specific to the Bresse region are known as 'Bressane', the
salad is known as Bressane Salad (in French: 'Salade Bressane' or "Salade a la
Bressane').
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