This fisherman's salad recipe comes from the busy port city of Ostend. It combines smoked herring fillets with a tangy white bean salad.
Ingredients
1 pound dried Great Northern beans or any white bean, soaked for 12 hours in plenty of cold water (see Note)
1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise, preferably homemade (page 315)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
½ cup finely minced fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 hard-cooked egg, peeled
4 smoked herring or kipper fillets, cut crosswise into ½-inch strips
3 ounces cooked and peeled gray North Sea shrimp or smallest shrimp available (optional)
- Drain the beans and place them in a medium-size Dutch oven. Add enough cold water to cover the beans by at least 5 cm and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover partially, and cook until tender, 1 to 2 hours depending on the age and size of the beans. Drain and let the beans cool.
- For the dressing, mix the mustard and mayonnaise in a small bowl. Stir in the onion, garlic, and all but 1 tablespoon of the parsley .
- Toss the beans together with the dressing and season to taste with salt and pepper. Be a little skimpy with the salt because the herring is salty.
- Cut the egg in half and separate the white from the yolk. Mash the egg yolk and white separately with the tines of a fork.
- Spoon the bean salad in the centre of a serving platter. Arrange the herring strips over the beans and sprinkle with the mashed egg yolk, mashed egg white, and the remaining 1 tablespoon parsley. Decorate with the cooked shrimp if using.
Serves 4
Note: You can save time by substituting two 500 gram cans of white cannellini beans. Drain and rinse them well in cold water.
