Crustacean Filled Salad

Crustacean Filled Salad

Salads don't always have to include salad greens as long as there are other vegetables and a salad dressing in the mix. Most often, meat, poultry or seafood is the highlight in the salad more than the greens itself. In this recipe by Chef Jean Andre Charial of the L'Oustau de Baumaniere restaurant, crayfish, prawns and butterbeans form the core of the salad. It is a colorful salad, with a rosy pink from the vinaigrette bisque, red from the diced tomatoes and orange from the chopped carrots.

The white beans, tossed in mayonnaise, stand out in its creamy appearance while flecks of dark from the truffles and green from chopped chives complete the salad's rainbow hues. Instead of tossing the salad ingredients as is traditional, the diced tomatoes dressed in olive oil are layered with the cooked white beans so that their flavors and textures remain distinct with every bite. Use other types of beans like cannellini, navy beans or white beans if you can't find butterbeans.

At the heart of this salad of course are the seafoods. Also known as Dublin bay prawn or Norway lobster, and sometimes Scampi, langoustine is a popular crustacean in Europe but not widely consumed in the United States and Canada. It might easily be mistaken as a lobster because of the similarity in body shape but the langoustine is slimmer. Buy them as fresh as you can at the fishmonger's. In case the langoustine is not available, you can just substitute it with other seafood such as lobster, crayfish or prawns. Other recipes are available at Gourmandia.ca.

To get more flavors out of the langoustine, Chef Jean Andre Charial makes a splendid sauce out of its shells and heads. This is then added to the vinaigrette made of red cherry vinegar and olive oil. The salad dress is then poured into the vegetables and seafood. To provide an interesting counter-texture, the juicy langoustine tails are fried in olive oil. With a crusty bread on the side, this French-style salad is best served with a glorious glass of Sancerre or Chablis.

Ingredients

1 bunch basil
½ lb. carrots
2 tomatoes
12 prawns
2 oz. pine nuts
2/3 oz. truffles
3 2/3 lbs. butterbeans
mayonnaise with a shallot
Court bouillon:
1/3 lb. celery
½ lb. carrots
1 garlic head
1 onion, thyme, laurel, pepper, salt

Vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons rapeseed oil
1 tablespoon mustard
3 tablespoons Xeres vinegar
alt, pepper
3 spoons olive oil
5/6 cups crayfish reduction

1. Prepare the langoustine. Separate the body of the langoustine from the tails and take off the shells. Set the meat aside. Meanwhile, extract the essence from the shells by crushing it with a pounder or pestle. Catch the extract in a bowl.

2. Prepare the langoustine sauce. Cook the crushed head and shells on a saucepan with a little drop of olive oil. Add the carrots, onions, and leeks. Add the red wine and fish stock. Cook for half an hour. When the sauce is reduced, pour through a strainer on a bowl. Set aside for use in the salad dressing.

3. Make vinaigrette using the cherry vinegar and olive oil (one spoon of vinegar for three spoons of olive oil). Mix the dressing with the langoustine juice and season with salt and pepper.

4. Prepare the other vegetables. Toss the diced tomatoes in olive oil and set aside. Toss the white beans in mayonnaise and shallots and set aside. Fry the langoustine tails in olive oil and place on napkin or paper for oils to be absorbed.

5. Assemble the salad Use circular mold to make a layer of the tomato, followed by the beans, and a piece of langoustine on top. Pour sauce around the dish and place bits of the remaining langoustine around. Sprinkle truffles and decorate with diced carrots and chives.