Celeriac remoulade

 
A French classic to be savoured as a side-dish or as a starter as part of a crudité platter and makes perfect use of an under-used vegetable.

Choose from capers, parley or gherkins (or any combination of all there), to add flavour and a pretty hint of green. 

Serve four as a side dish

Ingredients:

1 celeriac

Juice of one lemon

For the remoulade sauce:

2 eggs yolks

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

120ml olive oil (good quality if you can)

Salt and paper

To serve (all optional – just choose your favourite (s))

2 tsp capers, drained

2 tsp finely chopped flat parley

5 gherkins, drained and finely chopped

4 tsp of peanuts, finally chopped

Method

Use a sharp knife to carefully peel the celeriac and remove the knobbly outer surface. Put one litre of cold water and half the lemon juice in a large bowl. Cut the celeriac unto thin julienne strips (or use a blender) and put immediately into the lemon water to prevent discoloration. Soak up for up to one hour.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and add the remaining lemon juice. Drain the celeriac and add the boiling water. After one minute, drain and cool under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels.

To make the remoulade, whisk the egg yolks, vinegar and mustard together in a bowl. Add the oil, drop by drop from the tip of a teaspoon, whisking constantly until the mixture begins to thicken, and then add the remaining oil in a very thin stream. Season and, if necessary, thin with a little water.

Fold the celeriac strips into the remoulade and chill for 2 – 4 hours. Stir in the finely chopped optional ingredients if using and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts before serving.

 

My tips

You can of course use shop-bought mayonnaise!

The Celeriac will discolour and brown as soon as it is peeled and sliced, so either use it straight away or soak in water with lemon juice added, for up to 1hour before using.

Goes beautifully with a BBQ as a side dish including Merguez!

I use celeriac in many ways including celeriac chips and celeriac mash. Celeriac will add extra depth of flavour to many meals.