Endive, Pear and Roquefort Salad With Mustard Verjus Vinaigrette

A Combination of Bitter and Sweet, Crisp and Creamy

• Servings: 4.

This recipe is based upon a favorite salad that's been on the menu at Demarchellier, a neighborhood French restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side.  Their salad is made with apples but I love adding sweetness by instead using ripe pears.

Bitter spears of Belgian endive are combined with slices of juicy, ripe pear and dressed with a simple mustard vinaigrette and crumbled bits of creamy Roquefort cheese.  If you prefer you can also use another creamy blue cheese like Cashel Blue, a splendid Irish farmhouse cheese, or Fourme d'Ambert from the Auvergne region in France.

In addition to a classic vinaigrette dressing, we've included a version that uses verjus, an unfermented tart grape juice that has a slightly sweet resonance, making it a perfect match for a salad that includes fruit.  To learn more about verjus, see the link to our article.

Only make this salad if your pears are ripe, juicy and sweet.  Otherwise you'll totally miss out on the magic combination of bitter, sweet and tangy flavors.

Ingredients

• 4 heads Belgian endive, leaves separated
• 2 ripe Bosc or Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and cut into 3/8-inch slices
• 1/2 cup crumbled Roquefort or other creamy blue cheese
• 1/3 cup Mustard Vinaigrette or Mustard and Verjus Vinaigrette (see below)

Directions

1. Arrange this salad in individual servings by placing the spears from a head of Belgian endive on four salad plates. Place about 8 to 10 leaves on each plate, depending on the size of the endive. If the leaves seem too large you can slice them the long way or else in thick horizontal pieces.
2. Arrange the slices of pear among the pieces of endive. Use about 1/2 of each pear for each serving.
3. Scatter crumbled pieces of the cheese on top of each plate and drizzle about 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette over the salad.
4. Serve immediately.

Mustard Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon good Dijon mustard (Maille is a good brand)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons canola oil

1. In a small bowl combine the vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper and with a fork or small whisk, stir until the salt has dissolved and mustard has combined with the vinegar.
2. Add the olive oil and canola oil.  Gently whisk with the fork to emulsify the dressing (or mix everything in a glass jar and just cover and shake)
3. Add to your completely prepared salad that's already in a salad bowl, and using salad servers, gently but thoroughly toss your salad to let the dressing cover everything.

Mustard and Verjus Vinaigrette

1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon verjus
1 teaspoon good Dijon mustard (Maille is a good brand)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons canola oil

1. In a small bowl combine the vinegar, verjus, mustard, salt and pepper and with a fork or small whisk, stir until the salt has dissolved and mustard has combined with the vinegar and verjus.
2. Add the olive oil and canola oil.  Gently whisk with the fork to emulsify the dressing (or mix everything in a glass jar and just cover and shake)
3. Add to your completely prepared salad that's already in a salad bowl, and using salad servers, gently but thoroughly toss your salad to let the dressing cover everything.