Celeriac, Apple & Hazelnut Salad
Celeriac the unknown vegetable! the fact is that the wonderful thing about celeriac apart from its knobbly, ugly but so beautiful appearance, is that it is a very versatile vegetable that can be healthy or homey, used in soups, salads or bakes. Celeriac’s homey flavour shines through, bringing a delicious depth and often used through the year!
INGREDIENTS
100g hazelnuts, roasted, skins removed and roughly chopped
150g garlic aioli (store brought or homemade)
2 tsp grain mustard
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Juice of ½ lemon
Maldon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 large celeriac, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored cut into fine matchsticks
2 Tbsp nigella seeds, toasted
A large handful of flat leaf parsley springs
METHOD
Slice the leeks thinly, keeping them round, then separate the sliced rounds so you have rings. Cook them in butter, until they are soft. Don’t fry them they don’t want any colour, but they want to melt and become soft. Once cooked reserve.
Lightly butter a shallow baking dish or pan, place the fish in it, single layer if possible, and pour over the milk. Add the bay leaves, peppercorns and a very fine grating of nutmeg. Place over a moderate heat, turning it down just before the milk boils. Leave to simmer gently for 5-10 minutes, until the fish is opaque, tender and just cooked.
Turn off the heat, remove the fish and strain the liquor and reserve.
Flake the fish into medium size pieces.
Melt 50g of butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook until the flour is cooked out, stirring almost constantly with a whisk for about 5 mins. Then pour in the strained cooking liquid from the fish, stirring over a moderate heat till smooth. Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes stirring often. You want a smooth creamy sauce.
Then fold in the fish, herbs and season.
VARIATION
Watercress leaves is an amazing substitute instead of parsley.