The first time I had a Salade Lyonnaise was at a birthday lunch for my sister-in-law Kelly at Café Chloe (a cute little French restaurant here in San Diego) and I was instantly in love.  The combination of bitter greens (typically frisée), lardons (crisp bacon pieces), croutons and a poached egg tossed in a warm vinaigrette…c’est bon.

Then our friend Christine (of “Blanquette de Veau” fame) served it at a dinner party at her home.  Again.  C’est bon.  So when I saw that Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for a sandwich that was inspired by Salade Lyonnaise, I knew I had to make it.  She fries the egg, rather than poaching, and uses a little of the bacon grease to make the vinaigrette (oh my!) and adds crumbled blue cheese, all on a crusty ciabatta roll.  C’est très bon.  It’s a quick and easy and really delicious weeknight dinner.  Add a glass of white Burgundy, some pommes frites (aka shoestring French fries) and voilà…you’ve turned your kitchen into a little French bistro!

Fried Egg Sandwich with Bacon and Blue Cheese [Egg Sandwich Lyonnaise]

Makes 2 sandwiches

INGREDIENTS

2 ciabatta rolls

1 1/2 cups frisée (French curly endive), torn into-bite size pieces (I couldn’t find frisée either time I’ve made the sandwiches – I used a Spring mix once and arugula once…both were delicious)
1 bacon slice, preferably thick-cut (I actually used two slices!)
1 tablespoon minced shallot (from 1 small)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 to 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided
2 large eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Split your rolls and put them in to toast.

Place frisée in a medium bowl.

Cut bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch wide lardons. In a small heavy skillet, cook bacon over moderate heat, until pieces are crisp. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels, reserving bacon fat in pan. Add shallot to bacon fat and cook for one minute, stirring. Add red wine vinegar and let hiss and bubble for 20 to 30 seconds, then remove from heat and whisk in Dijon. Immediately pour hot dressing over frisée and toss with drained lardons, salt and pepper.

Remove rolls from toaster and divide bacon-frisée salad between each bottom bun. You’ll want to heap on more than seems feasible or needed, especially once you realize how tasty it is. Top each salad pile with half (2 tablespoons) of the blue cheese.

Reheat skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and swirl it to coat the pan. Crack one egg into the skillet, season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium. I like to cover the skillet with a small lid at this point, as it seems to help the egg cook faster and more evenly. In one minute, you should have a perfect sunny-side-up egg. However, I find that for this sandwich, to somewhat rein in the mess, it helps to then flip the egg for 20 to 30 seconds, until the yolk is still runny, but less likely to run right off your sandwich.

Remove the egg from the pan and place it on top of the bacon-frisée salad on the bun. Repeat with remaining egg and come on, what are you waiting for? Dig in.