Thursday, January 04, 2007

Truffled Chanterelle, Celery Root and Potato Gratin

Here is a version of the recipe that Sean demonstrated with some of my sidenotes worked in.

2 cups peeled, sliced celery root (sliced roughly two/three credit cards thick)
2 cups sliced Yukon Gold potatoes (sliced roughly two/three credit cards thick)
A couple big glugs of extra virgin olive oil to coat the pan
2 cups sliced leeks, white section only
1/2 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, picked and minced
1 cup gold chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (heidi note: I love mushrooms so I added more, chanterelles are $18.99/lb. here, so sometimes I supplement them w/ other kinds of mushrooms)
2 cups light stock
1 1/2 cup cashew or almond cream (See below - I used cashew)
1 cup homemade bread crumbs (see below)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon truffle oil (Sean likes black)
Blanch the celery root and potatoes in a large pot of salted water until al dente, about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add the leeks and garlic and swat until soft. Stir in the nutmeg and theme; cook for 1 minute.
Add the blanced celery root and potatoes along with the mushrooms. Stir gently. Add the stock and cream. Bring to a simmer and cook until the stock and cream reduce a bit, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables and cream mixture to a gratin pan or casserole dish. Bake in a 375F oven until the celery root and potatoes are creamy soft, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the gratin from the oven. Sprinkle evenly with the bread crumbs, parsley, and truffle oil just before serving.
Serves 4-6.
Cashew or Almond CreamI think there was a typo in the handout for the cream portion of the recipe. Here's the ratio of liquid to nuts that I used.
1 cup raw cashews of blanched almonds
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 cups of hot water
Salt to taste
Let the nuts soak in the hot water a bit if you have the time (while you are prepping the other ingredients). Add the nutritional yeast and blend until smooth -it might take a minute or two. The mixture should be the consistency of heavy cream, if you need to thin it out a bit add water a little at a time.
Seasoned BreadcrumbsStale bread, crusts removed, sliced and toasted
Garlic, minced and crushed to a paste
Extra-virgin olive oil
Crush bread in a food processor or with a rolling pin. Sift off the finer bread dust, reserving the larger crumbs.
Fry the garlic in olive oil until golden. Add the crumbs and stir to coat evenly with the oil. Fry until the crumbs are lightly golden. Transfer to a plate and let cool.