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)



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
[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.




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