Adam Handling shares his recipe for ‘Mother’, a salt-baked celeriac made with truffled cream cheese and soft dates
Serves 8
For the salt-baked celeriac:
• 1 celeriac
Method
1 Clean the celeriac, making sure there is no mud on it.
2 Sprinkle generously with salt.
3 Bake at 180˚C for 2 hours (160˚C in a fan assisted oven).
4 Once baked, leave to cool and then peel off the skin and thinly slice the flesh.
For the cream cheese:
• I x 280g pack Philadelphia original cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon Truffle Oil
• Pinch of sugar
Method
1 Whip cream cheese with a touch of truffle oil.
2 Season, and add sugar.
For the roast dates:
• 8 dates – stones removed
• 20g butter
Method
1 Place the butter in a small saucepan and slowly heat up the dates.
2 Once heated, chop each date into smaller chunks.
For the yolks:
• 8 eggs
Method
1 Soft boil 8 eggs in their shells for 4 minutes.
2 Place in ice cold water until cold.
3 Peel the eggs and discard the whites.
4 Keep yolks to one side.
To garnish
• Granny Smith apple, peeled and julienned
• Fresh Truffle
Method
1 Season the sliced celeriac in salt and the butter from the dates.
2 On the centre of a plate, add a spoonful of cream cheese, then place the egg yolk on top.
3 Place the celeriac over the cheese and yolk to hide it – if you fold it on itself and layer it, it gives the dish a nice height.
4 Grate truffle directly onto the dish.
5 Dot on top and around the celeriac with the date pieces and julienned apple strips
6 Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Recipe courtesy of chef Adam Handling.
Find The Wordrobe’s interview with Adam here