When I was a young bride in Paris, my very French husband used to regularly take me to his favorite bistro. One of their specialties was the best tarte tatin I have ever eaten, and the other was their amazing prix-fixe appetizer trolley, overflowing with salads, various pâtés -- plain or en croûte -- pickled fish, etc...My favorite of these options was their delectable shrimp and mushroom salad with a lemon vinaigrette; a perfect and deceptively simple salad, whose whole was very much greater than a sum of its parts. I can eat an entire large bowl of this in one sitting; I find it addictively delicious.
I do make it -- as they did -- with poached shrimp, as illustrated above, but this salad is stellar if made only with button mushrooms, which is what I ultimately recommend. I hope to get a better photo next time. Mea culpa.
10 oz punnet white button mushrooms
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsps olive oil
1 Tbsp heavy or sour cream
Salt
Whisk the olive oil and lemon juice together in a salad bowl until emulsified. Whisk in the cream. Taste and add salt. You want a dressing that is tangy but is not overwhelmed by the taste of lemon juice. Add more olive oil if it is and an extra squeeze of lemon juice if it is not quite tangy enough. This dressing is not an exact science recipe as everything depends on the acidity of the lemons you have to hand.
Prepare the mushrooms. Remove the stems (you can save them and use them in mushroom soup.) Peel the mushroom caps carefully. Do not skip this "cheffie" step because you want the salad to be incredibly silky and this will only happen if you make this extra effort! Slice the mushrooms caps as thinly as you possibly can with your sharpest knife.
Should you wish to go the shrimp route, slice cooked shrimp lengthwise into thin strips and add to the bowl with the vinaigrette along with the prepared mushroom cap slices.
Toss well with the salad dressing. Wait 10 minutes and toss again before serving.
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