Ingredients
Directions
France is known worldwide for its cuisine and Périgord (Occitan), has gained its reputation for the quality of its gastronomy based on duck and goose products, such as confit de canard, foie gras and black truffles. Gizzard salad (Salade de Gésiers) is unquestionably one of their best specialty.
Duck or chicken gizzards (gésiers) are cut from the digestive tract of the animal. Similar to a stomach, the gizzard is used to grind up the foods the bird eats.
If leaving outside the EU, confit duck gizzards (vacuum-sealed and frozen) can be found online through some gourmet food stores. In the US, the East cost and Canada are known for having great duck products.
The right quality of ingredients matter in a successful salad. As mentioned in the video, try to avoid pre-washed bagged mesclun salad except perhaps for the arugula (refresh id cold water prior to use anyway). Do not wash salad under running water – it is a waste of time. Instead, fresh and trimmed salad should sit in bathes of room temp water until water comes out clean and then, the last bath in cold water to make it more crispy. Same for parsley!. then dry your salad using a salad spinner. When storing food in a ziplock bag, remove as much air as possible. Cleaned salad can be stored for up to 4 days.
Set a medium bowl on a kitchen towel (this helps keep the bowl steady while whisking). Slowly drizzle the oil in the vinegar while whisking continuously until the mixture is combined and blended well. Add salt, pepper, sugar and minced shallots. Use right away, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to a week.
Any french bread works for croutons. Avoid fresh bread though – it should be a couple of days old. Square of bread, cut into thick slices and rub them with garlic, then cut into cubes. Toss bread cubes in a fair amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toast croutons over the stove or in the oven until golden brown and crispy. Croutons can be stored in a sealed container or freezer bag in a dry storage for awhile. Pop them in the oven for 5 minutes or so if they have lost their crispiness.
Boil potatoes with a pinch of salt. After 25 minutes or so, drain and peel while still warm.
Slice out gizzards and set aside.
5 minutes prior to serve the salad, sautée gizzard in duck fat or butter, add minced shallots. Add sliced potatoes, season with salt and pepper and give a quick sautée. Turn off the heat and when ready to serve, deglaze the pan with drizzle of the vinaigrette. Add a pinch of cayenne if desired.
In a large pastry bowl, season salad generously with the vinaigrette. Transfer seasoned salad to salad bowls and top with the warm gizzard-potato mixture, toasted pine nuts and croutons. Quarter each hard-boiled egg in 4 and season them with salt and pepper. Arrange 3 slices per serving. Add more dressing and serve. Enjoy!