Erica De Mane

Recipe below: String Bean and Potato Salad with Gently Pickled Shallots and Marjoram

This is my slightly evolved version of an Italian-American summer classic, the string bean and potato salad with red onion that my family, and everyone else’s Italo Americano family, made for summer cookouts (we didn’t even call them barbecues back then). It’s especially good served alongside grilled pork sausages flavored with fennel. Follow that with grilled corn and then peaches in red wine, and you’ve got a perfect summer meal.

The beauty of this salad lies in its simplicity, but of course I had to go complicate things, although, in this case, I don’t think wrongly. The raw red onions this usually includes are fine, but I felt a little brightness wouldn’t hurt—just a little—so I worked out a gentle pickling method for shallots. You could use the same method for red onions, but I’m always drawn to shallots’ complexity, and I went with them. What keeps the pickle from being too aggressive is rice wine vinegar. Don’t be tempted to substitute regular white wine vinegar. That would throw the balance off. And, going ahead with my update of this classic, I included fresh marjoram in place of the dried oregano that most of my paesani reach for. Live and learn, or live and unlearn, depending on your point of view. Anyway, I’m really happy with how it came out.

Happy summer cooking to everyone.

String Bean and Potato Salad with Gently Pickled Shallots and Marjoram

(Serves 4)

For the gently pickled shallots:

4 medium shallots
½ cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
A dozen or so fennel seeds
1 tablespoon coarsely ground sea salt

Also:

5 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into medium cubes
¾ pound string beans, trimmed and cut in half on an angle
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil, the best you have
Salt
Black pepper
A few large thyme sprigs, the leaves chopped
About 6 marjoram sprigs, the leaves chopped

To make the gently pickled shallots: Peel the shallots, and trim off their ends. Cut them in quarters lengthwise, and pull them apart so they fall into pieces. In a medium-size saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, fennel seeds, and salt. Add about ½ cup of water, and bring it to a boil, letting it bubble about a half a minute, just until the salt and sugar dissolve. Put the shallots in a shallow bowl, and pour the vinegar mix over them. To keep them submerged I usually cover them with a small plate. Let them sit until cooled. Now you can either leave them in the bowl with plastic wrap pressed against them, or transfer them to a jar with a lid. In any case, leave them in the refrigerator overnight, so they can develop flavor. I find they stay fresh and good for only about 4 days, so I make small batches and make sure to use them fairly soon.

To make the salad: Put the cubed potatoes in a medium-size saucepan, and cover them with cool water. Bring to a boil and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain them. Set up another pot of water, and bring it to a boil. Add the string beans, and blanch them until tender but still firm, about 4 minutes. Drain them, and run cold water over them to set their green color.

Put the warm potatoes in a shallow serving bowl. In a small bowl mix the mustard together with the rice wine vinegar. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil, and pour the liquid over the potatoes, gently mixing it in.

Add the string beans and a palmful of the pickled shallots. Season everything with salt and black pepper, and add the thyme and marjoram. Drizzle with another tablespoon or so of good olive oil, and toss everything gently, trying not to break up the potatoes. Serve right away, or at least soon.