Best Christmas present ever!
Tonight, I wanted to cook her something really special including her favourite vegetable, the cauliflower, and include a couple of things I've done recently that she really loved: celeriac remoulade and sauce vierge.
As if by fate, I found exactly the inspiration I was looking for on the internet and with only a little adaption (like more of it ...) was able to take a gourmet meal from a highly rated restaurant in West Wales and make it our dinner.
All the parts that make up this dish are easily done one at a time and then assembled at the end ...
First, the cauliflower - I used the central stalk and a couple of florets. Chop down and get it boiling.
Next, cube up some courgette, cucumber and tomato. This is our Sauce Vierge. Place into a frying pan with some olive oil, parsley and black pepper. Set aside - this takes only seconds to cook through. Have a wedge of lemon juice alongside for the final touch.
Next, the celeriac remoulade. Remoulade is a French cuisine sauce, not dissimilar to tartare. It should be tangy and spicy.
It's an easy one to make up - take egg yolks and whisk together with olive oil. Once emulsified, add a good squeeze of lemon juice and a teaspoon of cider vinegar, some black pepper and sea salt.
The sauce for the remoulade just wants to be sloppy; just sloppier than Hollandaise, and just pour it over celeriac cut into matchsticks. It wants to be sloppy so that it doesn't cook solid when it hits the warm celeriac.
Cut the celeriac into slices a couple of millimetres thick and then cut again into matchsticks.
Warm through in boiling water, drain and allow the fierce heat to evaporate off before pouring the remoulade over and folding through with some chopped dill.
Meanwhile, place a couple of salmon fillets into bouillon and drop in a tea bag! After a few minutes, retrieve the tea bag and allow the salmon to poach through, colouring up and soaking in some of the tannins for a curious flavour.
Okay ... nearly ready, so drain the cauliflower, pour in a little cream and blend it with a hand blender. You could be all Cheffy about it, get it really sloppy and pour out little pools from a squeezy bottle, or just drop blobs of it onto the plate using a tea spoon.
Switch on the hob under the skillet with the courgette, cucumber and tomato, and just as it is warming, squeeze in the lemon juice.
Ready to serve ...
Celeriac remoulade in the middle and the fish over the top.
Sauce Vierge around the outside with helpings of the cauliflower purée.
Garnish with a sprig of dill over a wedge of lemon.
