Garden Kitchen

New potatoes and lettuce

(Photo LOF : New potatoes and lettuce)

Consider the following syllogism : 
Major premise : All lettuce like water,
Minor premise : No potatoes like water 
Conclusion : All lettuce like potatoes...
....Well something like that.

In other words : Friends of our ennemies can be our friends - especially sautéed.

Take it from the beginning : Spring lettuce Reine de mai - Rainha de maio – is a shy sort, yet she has a weakness : showers. A good watering and she almost sings.
Last night, at last, we got a good hard rain. So for lunch - lettuce.

New potatoes even more than older potatoes hate water. At LOF we peel them (not always) a quick run under the tap, dry them and then cook them in a skillet with a small amount of olive oil and nothing else.
Just a touch of salt after they are ready and have been blotted to remove excess oil.
New potatoes cooked this way are crispy, light, almost breaded.
Just what you want to accompany a lovely spring lettuce.

Don't forget the garlic in the vinagrette.
(Photo LOF : Lettuce : Reine de mai)

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Mesclun

(Photo LOF : don't use garlic with mesclun)

The question is : was Mesclun  (mesclun = mixture) invented by seed companies to get rid of the rest of their seeds? Or is it an ancient salad created by monks from Nice that couldn't grow a full row of lettuce? or an italian import ?
Marc Meneau puts it in the category of "new born" salades and serves it with a vinagrette with balsamic vinegar, fresh coriander and zests of grapefruit confit (candied grapefruit peel).

A few opinions :
- a good mesclun is made with young salad leaves.
- a good mesclun has different textured leaves, that are crunchy - cressonnette du Maroc is crunchy even young,  purslane, mizuna  or bucks horn plantain , "la frisée" with is a type of curly chicory… or ice plant are all good.
- a good mesclun should have a touch of bitterness, wild rocket, garden rocket, dandelion leaves or trevise from italy…
- there are no flowers in mesclun, its a mix but not a bouquet
- at LOF we don't like young spinach leaves in the mesclun (or in any salad : tasteless vegetable blotting paper)

Is mesclun like truth ? Does a perfect, universal, eternal mesclun existe ?
Is mesclun perpetually changing? Is it - to each his own?
Mesclun generally has lettuce (including loose leaf lettuce Lactuca sativa var. crispa), chicory, scarole chicory, and aromatics like rocket and chervil.  Its worth working on the aromatic elements.
Mesclun with basil, mint or dill - voila technological innovations that go well with almost anything from mashed potatoes to cold meats.

How to grow mesclun : mix before or after it sprouts ?
Before: sow a mixture and cut it as soon as its 7cm high. Mix you own seeds or by a mixture Delbard's is well done. 
After : make your own mix with young plants from the cold frames before they are planted out. Heres how to play on the grand piano of salads : sow 15-20 rows of different varieties and compose your mesclun according to what you are serving.

(Photo LOF - mesclun)

The dressing : Like Madame de Pompadour - when the dress is sophisticated no need to add jewelry and a complicated coiffure. No garlic, no mustard. 

(Photo LOF - The grand piano)

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