I love mushrooms. So if a recipe comes along with mushroom, some cream, some crunchy bits, I’ll have to try it. This makes quite a refreshing starter course, and you can make it look fancy without much effort. What more is there to ask for?

Ingredients for the mushroom salad

- 4 cups sliced mushrooms (about 12 oz)
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces (about 10 walnuts)
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup scallions, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
- 8-12 lettuce leaves

Preparation

- In a large bowl, mix the mushrooms, the walnuts, sour cream, scallions, lemon juice, salt and pepper
- you can refrigerate for up to a couple hours, but it will taste better if you mix everything just before serving
- Serve in individual bowl, with a couple lettuce leaves forming a nest for the mushroom mixture

Inspired from Jacques-Pépin in “Fast food, my way”

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When I was a kid, back when I lived in France, the only time when I would have Celery Root Remoulade (pronounce “ray-moo-lad”) would be at the school “cantine” (that’s french for Cafeteria). My mom never made that dish, and I was always looking forward to have some when the school would serve it.

Celery root picture from manthatcooks’ photostream

Growing up, Celery Root was the sort of thing I thought was growing in cans, or at best, in glass jars, and most convenient of all, I figured that this was something that was growing like grass, in little stick like things. Little did I know that in fact celery root remoulade is made from an actual root, and can be described as anything but pretty looking (see picture on the left side). It can be quite unsightly, and even intimidating for some. But in fact, it is fairly easy to clean and prepare, and best of all, is very very tasty!

To prepare the root, just wash it thouroughly under cold running water to remove any dirt and bugs. Then select the biggest and heaviest knife you have. You’ll want to use the weight of the knife to help you cut through it. First remove the whole outside skin to reveal the white root (somewhat yellowish for some). You’ll also want to remove as much of the darker bits as you can without wasting too much, not that they are necesarily bad, but just won’t look as nice in the finished dish. Then cut the root in large chunks to prepare for the shredding.  To shred it, I use a mandoline as I think that’s what works best, but if you don’t have one, or are too afraid to cut yourself, you can use a food processor. The goal here is to shred the celery root into small sticks of about 2 inches long, and maybe 1/8 square.

Once everything is shredded, the rest is quite simple.

Servers 4-6 as an appetizer.

• One celery root, shredded (see above). Comes out to 10-12 ounces
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
• 1/4 dijon mustard
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup red wine vinegar depending on your taste
• salt, pepper to taste
• a small cornichon, or some parley for garnishing

Total preparation time (including the shredding): about 30 minutes.  Maybe a bit more the first time around.
Put the shredded celery root into a large bowl (the large bowl makes it easier to mix everything without making too much of a mess). Add all the ingredients, and then mix till you have a smooth, almost milky looking sauce that coats the celery root evenly. And that’s it!

I like to let it rest and marinate a bit in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but if you can’t wait, that will be quite tasty already, so go ahead!

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This recipe also uses artichoke hearts. The preserved ones come in 3 kinds: in water, brine or oil. I prefer the ones prepared in brine as I think the added acidity works well for this recipe. If you are lucky enough to be near San Francisco, you can find the best marinated artichokes I’ve had at Molinari Deli. If you are up to it, you could prepare the artichokes yourself, and you should check how to trim an artichoke to get you started. However this will significantly increase the time required to prepare this recipe.

To prepare the prawns, you have several options. You can buy them peeled and deveined, or you can do it yourself. It is not that hard. One method you can use is to do it with the Shrimp Butler. At around $30, it may sound expensive, but when you factor in the cost difference to buy the prawns ready to use, this will quickly pay for itself. A more low-tech approach is to use special scissors, or an Endurance Shrimp Peeler & Deveiner. Last resort, is to do it using your fingers after you’ve cooked the prawns. Only problem of doing it after they are cooked is that they won’t look as good, but will taste just the same though.

Here’s how to prepare the Prawn Salad with Arugula:
Per person, for a main dish (for 4 people, multiply everything by 4):

Salad

• 5 medium to large Prawns, peeled and deveined
• 6 kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half
• 3 small tomatoes (small cluster tomatoes work best)
• 2 artichoke hearts
• 1/2 ounce goat creamy goat cheese
• 1 ounce Arugula

Dressing

• 1/2 table spoon lemon juice
• 1/2 table spoon extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: 20-30 minutes

Remove the pits from the olives, and slice them in half, wash and rinse the tomatoes, and cut them in small chunks (remove as many seeds as you can). Cut the artichoke hearts in 4. Dice the goat cheese if it is creamy enough, otherwise crumble it.

Wash and rinse the arugula. Save a few olives and artichokes pieces that you can use later to garnish the plates. Mix everything else in a large salad bowl.

To prepare the dressing, mix the lemon juice, the olive oil, salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly.

Up to this point, everything can be prepared ahead of time. The last step is to cook the prawns in a small frying pan. Put some olive olive oil in the pan, heat it up over medium heat. When the oil is hot, put the prawns, add some salt and pepper and cook the prawns a few minutes on each side till they have a nice orangy color.

When the prawns are done, mix the dressing with the salad, and serve immediatly. You can server as an appetizer or an entree by varying the quantities.
Enjoy!

Related Articles:

• Asparagus au gratin
• Deviled Eggs
• Marinated Mushrooms
• Crab Souffle
• Scallops with Butter and Lemon

© Pascal for Home Recipes, 2006. | Permalink | 2 comments

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