SERVES 4
This is a gourmet dish created by Yotam Ottolenghi and well worth the effort.
Ingredients
2 celeriacs, whole roasted and then each cut widthways into 2 ½ cm thick steaks
75ml olive oil
Flaked sea salt and black pepper
Café de Paris Sauce
110g unsalted butter, cut into 2cm cubes
1 small banana shallot 25g, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
½ tsp medium curry powder
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tbsp baby capers
2 tbsp chives, finely chopped
2 tbsp tarragon leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp thyme leaves
110ml single or whipping cream
2 tsp lemon juice.
METHOD
Heat the oven to 170c, fan. Scrub a large celeriac, 1kg plus, and trim off the knobbly root base. Pierce the celeriac skin with tip of a fork at least twenty times. Place on a baking dish and rub well with 75ml olive oil and salt. Roast for 2.5 to 3 hours, basting every 20 to 30 minutes until brown and oozing caramel.
Put the first seven ingredients for the sauce and ¼ teaspoon of flaked salt into a small saucepan on to a medium heat. Cook for about six minutes, swirling the pan until the shallots have softened and the butter has melted and become golden and caramelised. Add the capers, herbs and a very generous grind of pepper and continue to cook for one minute, then remove from the heat.
Turn the oven to its highest grill setting. Whilst this heats up, take the whole roasted celeriac and cut widthways into 2½ cm thick steaks. Brush the steaks with their cooking oil and celeriac caramel and arrange, spaced apart, on a large, parchment lined baking tray big enough to fit the slices in a single layer. Make sure there is no overhanging parchment that could burn. Grill the steaks on the top shelf of the oven, until they are golden brown on top, 6-8 minutes. Turn the oven off, keeping the tray warm until you are ready to serve.
Return the sauce to a medium heat and gently cook for a minute, then add the cream and lemon juice. Swirl for another 2 minutes or until warm but don’t mix it too much; you want the sauce to be split, not emulsified.
Pour the sauce on to a large platter with a lip and arrange the celeriac steaks on top (or plate individually with some sauce poured on top and the rest served alongside) Sprinkle the steaks with a little flaked salt and black pepper and serve.
