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.

Tomato Granite

I knew the day would come that I would find one that I hated. H A T E D. Well people, that day has come. I give you a recipe that I cannot recommend you make. But I am still listing it here, incase you are brave.

I love tomatoes. I love basil. I love Granite. This I didn't love. The tomatoes turned tart and akward. and the basil just sorta was blah. The chief commentator said it was the worst thing he ever had in his life. He said, he'd rather take a jar of Safeway chunky salsa and freeze it and eat it, then eat this again. Even the tomatoe eating kid didn't seem to like it.

The only positive thing we can say, was it had great texture. What a waste of good garden tomatoes.

This one came from the Napa Register, I'm guessing at least 20 years ago.

Tomato Granite

1 lb vine-rippened tomatoes (must be very ripe)

1 cup loosely packed basil leaves

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/3 cider vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2/3 cup V8

Core tomatoes and lightly score on one side. Plunge into boiling water for 10 seconds then transfer to ice water. Squeeze seeds out into a strainer, reserving the juice. Using the same boiling water, blanch basil for 15 seconds and transfer to ice water for 30 seconds or until ready to use. Combine all ingredients into blender, blend until smooth and freeze in your favorite ice cream machine. Return mixture to freezer in a bowl stirring every 10 minutes for about 1 hour until it is frozen and granulated. if you do not have an ice cream machine, combine all ingredients into bowl and place directly into freezer. Once the mixture is partially frozen, stir it every 10 minutes until it is frozen and granulated. serve as a refreshing first course or intermezzo between courses.

serves 6.

Asparagus with Mustard Dressing

To start out with such a knock your socks recipe I was a little afraid that my second go round might prove failure. I am happy to report that was not the case.

For those of you know me, you know my love affair with mustard. This has been a long standing love affair, which explains why there are countless recipes in my book with mustard as an ingredient.

I don’t know exactly where I got this one, but I have a pretty good idea it was either Cosmo, or YM or Seventeen back when they had recipes in them (maybe they still do?) judging from the typeset.

Asparagus with Mustard Dressing

4lbs Fresh asparagus, peeled and ends trimmed
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper.

No more than 4 hours before serving, fill a large saucepan ¾ full with water. Bring to a boil, add asparagus, and simmer for 3 minutes. Drain. Arrange on a serving platter. To make dressing, combine remaining ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shade vigorously, and pour over asparagus just before serving. Makes 8-10 servings.

Ok – so first off, I made ½ the recipe because there were two of us, but I wasn’t serving a starch. Secondly, although I did follow the recipe, I prefer my asparagus steamed in a couple of inches of water resting on a steamer. This method seemed to make the stalks less crunchy then I like them in texture.

Technical stuff:
Makes 8-10 servings (original portions) as a side dish

Difficulty: Easy

Time : Less than 15 minutes

Served with (beverage): Nothing. But would have been good with summer ice tea with lemon.

Reheat Well?: Didn't try it.

Served with: Parchment Fish (see next blog)

Comments: liked it. Matched the fish well. Light, Zesty sauce.
Things I'd do differently next time: I would use my typical cooking method, but keep sauce the same.

The Technical stuff part deux

Because Blogger doesn't let me put that many tags in one post!

General Tag words: (these I'm starting out with, we may add more later)

Type of dish: Entree; Appetizer; Salad; Side dish; Dessert; Beverage

Main Ingredients: Chicken; Beef; Lamb; Fish; Pasta; Veggies; Cheese;

Special Equiptment: Crockpot; Deep fryer;