Sunday, September 19, 2010

Celery Root Rémoulade




Growing up in Napa, getting deli made salad’s from Vallergas Market was always a special treat to me. I was in love with their celery ‘roulle salad, that I recall once getting my hands on the recipe for when it came in one of their mailers, but I must not have stuck it in my cookbook, as it’s no where to be found. I also clipped along the way, the following recipe it was from a magazine, although I have no idea which one.


Celery Root Rémoulade
(from The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters)
1 medium celery root (about 1 lb)
1 tsp white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp crème fraîche
2 tsp Dijon mustard
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Cut away all the brown skin and small roots from the celery root. Rinse. With a sharp knife or mandoline, cut the celery root into 1/8-inch thick slices. Cut the slices into thin matchstick-size pieces. (This is called a julienne of celery root.) Toss with salt and white wine vinegar.Mix remaining ingredients together in a small bowl. Stir well. Pour over the celery root and toss to coat. Taste for salt and acid. The salad can be served right away or refrigerated for up to a day.

Variations
Add other raw julienned root vegetables, such as rutabaga, carrot, or radish, to the salad.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley, chervil, or mint.
Toss together with a rocket salad.
For the crème fraîche, substitute 1 egg yolk and whisk in 3 tablespoons olive oil.

To note – I made one of the variations, instead of the crème fraîche, I did the substitution of yolk and oil.

Chief Commentator said: He liked it, it would go great with fried chicken or fish and chips as a lighter side, and was reminiscent of coleslaw in that aspect to him. He enjoyed the lightness and was easy to eat with a fantastic crunch, although he seems to think most people wouldn’t really like it, because it does have a ‘root veggie’ taste to it.

I have to add, if you are going to make a lot of celery root dishes, buy a mandolin and use that. I love celery root, and I would make it much more often if I had one, because cutting the root up by hand is a royal pain.

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