Salad Nicoise
Salade Nicoise
(Serves 8)

4 medium new potatoes
1 lg. head lettuce, bibb, leaf, romaine
2 regular-sized cans tuna (drained) *
1 small cucumber (peeled sliced)
3-4 tomatoes (cut into wedges)
1 onion (sliced into thin rings)
32 or so Nicoise olives (see sidebar)
1/3 C vinaigrette
8 anchovy fillets (halved)
4 eggs (hard-boiled, cut into wedges)
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Vinaigrette
1/4 C lemon juice
1 clove garlic (crushed or minced)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
pinch each, dried basil, oregano, thyme
pinch sugar (optional)
1 C olive oil

Boil potatoes, cool, and cut into chunks. Use Rinse and dry lettuce leaves. In a large salad bowl, combine all vegetable ingredients (including olives) and toss well.

Combine all vinaigrette ingedients in a jar and shake vigorously to blend. Pour about 1/3 C of the vinaigrette over salad, toss, and arrange anchovies and eggs on top. Serve with a loaf of crusty French bread.

* Canned tuna is fine, but if you like, use 12 oz. grilled fresh tuna instead.

Tips & Glossary: French

Bouquet Garni: (boo-kay gar-nee)  bundle of  herbs tied together with string or wrapped in cheese cloth square; usually parsley, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Flavor is released during long cooking.  Remove before serving.

Chervil: (sher-vil) related to parsley but has a delicate anise flavor. Long cooking kills flavor, so add at the last minute.

Cornichon:  (kor-nee-shon) teeny-tiny pickle, served with pates & smoked meats; found in specialty food stores.

Fines Herbes: (feen-airb) mix of finely chopped herbs: parsley, chives, tarragon, & chervil. Not as strong as a bouqet garni. Buy it at most grocery stores.

Fromage: (fra-mahj) Cheese!  The French eat more than any nationality, 45 pounds per year; and the country makes more cheeses than any other country, about 400. The three great pedigreed French cheeses are:
• Brie (East of Paris)
• Camembert (Normandy)
• Roquefort (Southwest   France, from sheep’s milk)
There are also wonderful lesser-known cheeses:
• Beaufort (Rhone Alps, hard,   yellow Gruyere-type)
• Chevre (Loire Valley, soft,   goat’s milk)
• Comte (Alps region, hard,    yellow Gruyere-type)
• Emmental (Alps region,   “Swiss” cheese with holes)
• Gruyere (hard, yellow   cheese—originally French,   now most is Swiss)
• Tomme (means “cheese”;   soft, many varieties, all   from skim milk)

Herbes de Provence:  (airb-duh-pro-vonce) mix of dried herbs, usually thyme, rosemary, marjoram, basil, & bay leaf.  Can be found at most grocery stores.

Mutarde: (moo-tard), mustard. Most famous:
• Dijon ( from the town in Burgundy)
• Meaux (from Meaux, east of Paris; whole-grained; made by Pommery).

Nicoise Olive:  (nee-swaz- oh-leev) small, purplish-black olive with a mellow, nutty flavor; used primarily in Salade Nicoise. The Picholine variety is a green, medium-sized olive with a light, nutty flavor.

Roux: (roo) paste-like mix of melted butter and flour, into which liquid is gradually added.  The basis of every classic French sauce. 
Basic Roux: 1 part butter to 1 part flour.  Melt butter and add flour, stirring vigorously, till it becomes a paste-like consistency. At this point, add slowly whatever liquid your recipe calls for.