OLIVE OIL-POACHED SQUID SALAD LE BAL CAFÉ

SOURCE: JANE SIGAL. BISTRONOMY: RECIPES FROM THE BEST NEW PARIS BISTROS.

In its first incarnation, Le Bal Café ran under the management of self-taught French Anglophile baker Alice Quillet and English chef Anna Trattles, two culinary trendsetters who are revolutionizing Parisian dining culture with sourdough loaves and craft coffees. The earliest menus offered by the café bistro, based its “all-homemade” concept from Fergus Henderson’s St. John’s Bread and Wine in London, where Anna had previously worked, and this warm winter salad made the doctrinal influence of British Slow Food all the more evident by tenderizing the squid, potatoes, celery, and fennel in olive oil over low heat for almost an hour. Combining long poaching time and mild temperature allows the flavors enough chance to properly blend and absorb into the shellfish and vegetables and absorb more intensely to complement the zesty tangs of capers and preserved lemon.

Ingredients

1 cup/240 mL extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon/8 gram mixed pickling spice

2 cup/104 grams finely chopped onions

1 cup/110 grams finely chopped celery ribs

1 medium fennel bulb, cut lengthwise into eighths and cored

1 strip of lemon OR orange peel

Salt to taste

1 1/4 pounds/550 grams small squids, cleaned of their entrails and beak and stripped of their purple membranes

1 1/2 cups/350 grams peeled and sliced potatoes

1 cup/240 mL dry fruity white wine, preferably a Sauvignon Blanc

2 celery heart ribs, thinly sliced diagonally

1/4 cup/8 grams celery leaves

2 tablespoons/15 grams drained capers

3 tablespoons/45 mL freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon/12 grams finely chopped preserved lemon peel

Fleur de sel

Specific Equipment

Medium-sized enamel cast-iron casserole equipped with a lid

Cheesecloth

Twine

Fine-mesh strainer

Large salad bowl

Serves 4

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C.

2. Pour olive oil into a medium-sized enamel cast-iron casserole set over moderate heat. Sauté in the garlic for 2 minutes or until the garlic cloves have turned light brown.

3. Pack the pickling spice in a cheesecloth and tie the bundle with a kitchen twine. Stir the bundle into the casserole and toast lightly for 30 seconds. Stir in the onions, celery, fennel, and lemon or orange peel and season with salt. Cover the casserole with its lid and sauté over moderate heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the onions have softened but not browned.

4. Stir in the squid and potatoes and pour in the wine. Bring to a simmer and cover the casserole with its lid. Transfer the casserole into the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the squid bodies are tender and have curled up.

5. Remove the casserole from the oven and discard the pickling spice bundle. Drain the contents onto a fine-mesh strainer set over a large bowl, reserving 1/2 cup/120 mL of the cooking liquid.

6. Transfer the squid, potatoes, fennel, and celery into a large salad bowl. Toss in the sliced celery heart ribs, celery leaves, capers, lemon juice, preserved lemon and the reserved cooking liquid. Serve the salad in individual shallow bowls and season with fleur de sel.