The Thomas Keller Challenge: Green Bean and Potato Salad

Okay, so it’s been a while since the last Thomas Keller Challenge. My apologies. I don’t know if this will continue to be a weekly series, but it will continue occasionally. (And keep on the lookout for a special Thomas Keller vs. Frank Stitt Challenge guest post on Wade on Birmingham in August.)

LSU Purple figs from Petals from the PastAnyway, I bought the beautiful LSU Purple figs you see at left from Petals from the Past at the farmer’s market on Saturday (That’s really the name of the variety), and wanted to use them in a Thomas Keller recipe. His Green Bean and Potato Salad with Mission Figs and Iberico Ham sounded like a good one.

Chef Keller apparently has a thing for green bean and potato salads, and this one was better than the other one. Once you get around his complicated instructions, it’s actually a pretty easy recipe: a salad of blanched green beans, boiled potato slices, walnuts, figs, radishes, and ham or prosciutto with a very simple red wine vinaigrette.

Instead of the haricots verts called for, I used some more Chinese long beans from my CSA farm, and because I couldn’t find radishes anywhere, I used turnips. (What magical land does Keller live in where figs and radishes are in season at the same time? Oh yeah, California.)

The key to this salad is its balance of flavors and textures. It’s got salty ham, sweet figs, sour dressing, crunchy walnuts, creamy potatoes, and crisp green beans. My only objection is that it’s awfully stingy with the figs. Four figs in a recipe that’s supposed to serve six? Ha! I used eight figs in a half-recipe.

Green Bean and Potato SaladAs a main course with this, I spread a combo of mustard, horseradish, and dill on some salmon pieces, let them sit for 15 minutes or so, and sauteed until just cooked. It helped at Publix had wild Alaskan sockeye salmon on sale for 10 bucks a pound. (Go take advantage if you get a chance.)