Crab and Pink Lady salad with hazelnuts and horseradish

This salad has the earthy, warm autumnal flavours of celeriac and celery brightened with fresh, crisp apple. It is light yet still creamy and substantial. You will need a mandolin or good knife skills as this salad partly relies on the right textures.

Credit: Sharyn Cairns

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 medium celeriac, approximately 350 g
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 tsp fresh horseradish (see Note)
• ⅓ cup mild extra-virgin olive oil
• 130 g poached crabmeat (see Note)
• 2 medium Pink Lady apples
• ½ cup Chinese celery, finely sliced
• 1 cup chervil, a little stalk left on is fine
• 40 g roasted and roughly crushed hazelnuts
• river salt and white pepper, to season

Standing time 20 minutes

Instructions

Using a knife, remove and discard the celeriac skin. Cut the celeriac into 5 mm slices, and then cut the slices into 5 mm batons. If you are using a mandoline, please be careful. Place celeriac into a mixing bowl with the lemon juice, add a good pinch of salt and mix to coat. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Place egg yolks in a small mixing bowl with the vinegar, horseradish and a good pinch of salt. Whisk to combine and continue whisking as you slowly pour in the olive oil. Once it’s all combined, add the crabmeat, use a spoon to mix and set aside.

Cut apples into batons, slightly thinner than the celeriac, almost matchstick width. Add to the softened celeriac and stir to combine. Strain off any excess liquid from the bowl.

Add the celery and the crab mixture to the bowl and mix well with a spoon. Taste for seasoning, then add half the chervil and give it a final gentle mix.

Spoon salad into a large shallow serving bowl and sprinkle over the remaining chervil and the hazelnuts. Serve immediately.

  

Notes

• If you can’t get fresh horseradish, substitute with hot English mustard.

• It is better to poach whole crabs and extract the meat yourself if you have the time and the patience. It’s a little more time consuming but ultimately more satisfying. You will need two small but full crabs to get enough flesh for this recipe.

Photography by Sharyn Cairns. Styling by Deborah Kaloper. Food preparation by Emma Warren. Creative concept by Lou Fay.

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This recipe is part of The Seasonal Cook: Apple column.

View previous The Seasonal Cook columns and recipes.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.