Sunday, June 22, 2008

Waldorf Salad

Joanna from Joanna's Food is hosting this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging and it's about time that I re-visited that gnarled beast of a vegetable - Celeriac (or Celery Root)


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High in dietary fibre, Celeriac also contains Vitamins C and B6, Folate, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid and Riboflavin along with Calcium, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Sodium and Zinc.

It may well be winter here but I'll be using this celeriac to make a Waldorf Salad. While the original is a mix of apple, celery, walnuts with a mayonnaise based dressing this dish is based on Shannon Bennett's version from his book My French Vue where celeriac is used as a replacement for celery.


Waldorf Salad ©

Waldorf Salad
[Serves 6]

1 small celeriac
1 green apple
100 grams walnut pieces
½ lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard
6 quail eggs

Prepare the Celeriac and Apple:

Peel the celeriac, cut it into thin slices and then cut these slices to form long juliennes. Place the celeriac into a bowl and drizzle over with a little lemon juice to stop it from oxidising.

Peel and core the apple and proceed to slice into a similar sized julienne. Add this to the celeriac sticks and toss.

Make the dressing:

In a small bowl, place the mayonnaise and mustard along with the remaining lemon juice. Stir well to amalgamate, taste and then season with salt and pepper as desired.

Cook the eggs:

You might notice that my quail egg is square - This hasn't been cut after cooking, I've actually cooked the eggs in a small square cutter.

Place an oiled non-stick skillet over a low heat and when the the pan has heated, add your square cutters if using. Carefully break each egg into a cutter - the pan should be hot enough that the egg white sets quite quickly. As soon as the white is set, take the pan off the heat and cover with a lid to complete the cooking. This time off the heat should also cause the white to pull away from the cutter, enabling an easy removal.


Assemble the Salad:
Add the dressing to the celeriac and apple sticks along with the walnut pieces - toss to combine and divide the mixture between 6 small dishes. Top each with the quail egg and serve at once.


Waldorf Salad ©


Serve with some good crusty baguette and you've got an instant starter.

15 comments

  1. Celery Root is one of my favorites! I usually just make céleri rémoulade but this recipe looks tangy and delicious. Yum!

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  2. AnonymousJune 22, 2008

    I've never had this before. Looks good. Quail eggs, too? Oh my! Never had those either. ;-)

    Paz

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  3. AnonymousJune 23, 2008

    Quail eggs are something I would love to try but never have.

    Looks good.

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  4. I love this modern Waldorf ... and thanks for all the nutritional info to remind us why we should be eating a variety of veg

    Joanna

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  5. AnonymousJune 23, 2008

    Beautiful salad! I don't get celeriac where I live, but just looking at this makes me happy.

    And making eggs in a square cutter - what an idea!

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  6. Thanks for reminding me that it makes great salads! I usually just buy it in winter to add to stews then forget it for the rest of the year.
    Love your square egg!

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  7. Love the square quail egg, Haalo!

    I still haven't gotten round to using celeriac...thanks for the reminder.

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  8. Thanks Loulou - indeed celeriac remoulade is a classic dish!

    Thanks Paz - quail eggs are just too cute!

    Thanks Coffeepot - apart from the size, they aren't too different to chicken eggs - they make a good scotch eggs too!

    Thanks Joanna!

    Thanks Simran!

    Thanks Katie - I might try the square cutter on a chicken egg next, then it will fit perfectly on square bread!

    Thanks Nora - it's the season for celeriac!

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  9. A square quails egg - how cute :)

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  10. I have never tried celeriac - or quail's eggs for that matter. Very intersting! I love waldorf salads, they make me think of Peter Rabbit.

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  11. Thank Y!

    Hi Natashya - hope you get to taste both soon!

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  12. I've never cooked with or eaten celery root, so when I saw some at the grocery a couple of weeks ago I got one. Meant to make a gratin with it, but after a nearly broke a peeler on it, I tried slicing it and it was completely woody all the way through. I guess summer is not the time to be buying it.

    I'll try again come winter.

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  13. That's a shame Kitt - maybe you were unlucky with the one you got because they do seem to be in season in summer as well.

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  14. AnonymousJune 29, 2008

    I've never used celeriac before. Thanks for the very informative post.

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