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French bean salad with foie gras

Do you remember French bean salad – a dish quite prominently featured in the 90s?

This version comes straight from the Kichechef cookbooks of the 90s, where the bean salad was served with pan-fried mullet. I’ve decided to swap the fish for foie gras – a bold choice, which was inspired by a recent restaurant visit, where I came across this very same dish and loved it.

It’s still a French bean salad — just more decadent and luxurious.

Find more retro recipes here in my recipe archive.

As part of Kichechef’s 50th anniversary, I’m going back to their 90s cookbooks to see which recipes still hold up today.

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Ingredients

Serves 2 as a side

250g French beans
40g foie gras

For the vinaigrette:
1 small shallot
1 tsp mustard
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil
A good pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper

Method

Peel and finely dice the shallot and put into the vinegar while preparing the beans.

Trim the beans and cook in salted boiling water for 5-8 minutes until soft.

Drain and cool under a running tab of cold water.

Pull the beans lengthwise in two.

Make the vinaigrette: add the mustard to the shallots and vinegar, together with the olive oil and a pinch of sugar. Season with salt and pepper, seal with a lid and stir until emulsified.

Pour the vinaigrette over the beans and toss to combine.

Arrange the beans on a serving platter.

Cut the foie gras into dice and arrange over the beans. Sprinkle with a bit of fleur de sel and pepper and serve.

(Reinterpretation of Paul Eischen’s recipe)