Roasted Chanterelle and Leek Salad with Pears and Pecans

While I was visiting Montréal last week, I visited a restaurant called DNA.  The atmosphere was wonderful and the service excellent!  They had the most beautiful orange decor, but more importantly the food was delicious! 

I ordered some delicious pappardelle pasta scattered with local mushrooms including chanterelles.  It was delicious and earthy due to the flavorful mushrooms. 

I had every ambition to try and recreate the $30 plate when I arrived home, and I even found some locally grown chanterelles at the market, but my day had other plans.  Instead of putzing with home made pappardelle today I visited a local winery, St. Croix Vineyards for some wine tasting.  Of course I ended up buying wine there, as well as some late harvest riesling vinegar. Being that it was a warm day, and that I was feeling a bit lazy in the dinner department, I decided that the chanterelles would be lovely in a salad also using some of that vinegar that I had bought.  So I roasted some chanterelles (as well as a bit of crimini mushrooms which are more affordable) and some leeks and tossed them with some ripe d'anjou pears and toasted pecans for a delicious salad! 

I dressed it with a riesling maple walnut dressing with a bit of thyme and voila!  Deliciousness!  It wasn't a good day for pasta anyhow, and the salad paired perfectly with some dry riesling I had also picked up today.  Maybe I will make pappardelle when the weather chills out a bit, but for now this salad did the trick to showcase the chanterelles!  If you have access to them you should try making it yourself!

Roasted Chanterelle and Leek Salad with Pears and Pecans

Serves 2

1 large leek, sliced

10 chanterelle mushrooms, halved if large
10 crimini mushrooms, halved
olive oil
1 large D'anjou pear, sliced
1/2 cup toasted pecans

1 large head leaf lettuce, washed and torn into bite sized pieces

Dressing:
2 Tbsp walnut oil
2 Tbsp riesling vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp honey dijon mustard

2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.  Toss mushrooms and leeks with just enough olive oil to coat, and spread out on baking sheet.  Roast in the oven until tender and starting to brown at edges, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature, then add to a large bowl along with the pear, pecans and leaf lettuce.  Whisk dressing ingredients together, then pour over salad and toss well.  Serve!

Spring Allium Chevre Filo Rolls

Some people are afraid of onions and garlic...I am definately not one of them, and have never been onionphobic!  Yes, they may be quite...aromatic, but that is part of the beauty of them!  I don't care if I have onion or garlic breath...it is well worth it for the deliciousness I enjoy while alliums! I love the wide variety you can get of alliums in the spring...leeks, ramps, spring onions, shallots, I love them all! 

So I was thinking it would be wonderful to make a delicious appetizer on Easter using them! I decided that they would be delicious wrapped in crispy filo dough along with something creamy.  I had a bit of chevre that I thought would be perfect with the alliums.  So I sauteed some leeks, shallots and ramps, along with some garlic a quadruple whammy of alliums, and added a bit of lemon for freshness.  I combined them with pecorino romano for a bit of saltiness, and the creamy chevre. 

It was a very tasty filling, but even tastier when wrapped in crispy filo brushed with olive oil!  They were delicious warm, the filling gooey and oozy, filled with the savory deliciousness of alliums!  They were a wonderful accompaniment to my Easter spread! 

If you love onions and garlic as well you should definately try these while the spring alliums are at their most abundant!  If you don't, well don't let  the fact that these have onions and garlic detract you, as they are cooked and therefore much more mild.  The filo is actually not difficult to work with either as long as you are gentle!  Hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and here is the recipe for the delicious rolls if you would like to try them!

Spring Allium Chevre Filo Rolls

Makes 10

Filling:
1 cup leeks, thinly sliced
1cup ramps, leaves and bottom part, thinly sliced
1cup shallots, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 Tbsp lemon zest
16 oz chevre (soft goat cheese)
2 oz shredded pecorino romano cheese

about 3/4 cup olive oil (for brushing
10 sheets filo dough
sea salt

In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil, and add leeks, ramps, and shallots.  Saute until tender, about 5 minutes, then add garlic and saute about a minute more until fragrant.  Let cool slightly, then add to a bowl with sea salt, pepper, lemon zest, chevre and pecorino romano.  Mix until well combined.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with foil.  Lay out sheets of filo dough, and cover with plastic wrap (so it doesn't dry out, since you will be using a sheet at a time.  Place olive oil in a bowl.  Lay out one sheet of filo, and brush it with olive oil.  fold in half like a book.  Brush with olive oil and place 2 Tbsp filling about 1 inch from the bottom, in the shape of a log about 3 inches wide.  Fold in each side over the filling, and brush the top with olive oil.  Roll up egg roll style, and brush with olive oil.  Place on baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining 9 rolls.  Sprinkle with sea salt, and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden and heated through.  Keep a close eye because they brown quickly!  Let cool slightly before serving. 

Roasted Potato and Celeriac Salad with White Truffle Oil

Celeriac is like the ugly stepsister of the veggies...it looks like a tangled mess of roots and I have to admit the first time I came across it I had no idea what it was and was rather intimidated.  I now know that it is delicious when peeled and thinly sliced to go raw into a salad or roasted and pureed eaten like mashed potatoes. 

It was funny, the other week I was picking some up, and a cute guy who happened to be standing next to me in the produce department picking up some beets said to me, "What the heck is THAT?"  I explained to him what it was but he still seemed skeptical about how tasty it could be.  However he still asked for my advice on how best to prepare the beets, as he was buying them for the first time.  I should have gotten his number...oh well.  Back to the celeriac, I thought it would be wonderful roasted with some potatoes in a warm salad along with some leeks.  I figured all of the earthy flavors  would be friendly  and delicious with one another. 

 

The veggies would have been delicious simply roasted with olive oil and seasoned with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper, but I tossed them in a truffle oil vinaigrette, further adding to the earthiness, and deliciousness of the salad.  I still thought it needed something to finish it off so I shaved some pecorino romano over the top and sprinkled a few toasted pine nuts.  It was amazing!  The crisp on the outside tender on the inside veggies were full of flavor, and the truffle oil set them off.  The salty pecorino romano was a perfect match for the earthy vegetables, and the pine nuts added a nice toasty crunch!  So much for the celeriac being an ugly stepsister, it is awefully delicious!  Here is the salad recipe if you would like to try some!

Roasted Potato and Celeriac Salad with White Truffle Oil
Serves 4

1 large celeriac, cut into large cubes
3 cups baby potatoes, cut into 3rds
2 large leeks, thickly sliced
olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme, or 1 Tbsp fresh
1 Tbsp white truffle oil
1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
2 oz shaved pecorino romano cheese

Preheat oven to 475 degrees, and line a baking sheet with foil.  Toss celeriac, potatoes, and leeks with just enough olive oil to coat, and spread out on sheet.  Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until tender and browned at the edges.  Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.  In a small bowl, whisk together thyme, truffle oil, 1 Tbsp olive oil,  lemon juice, garlic, sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.  Place veggies in a large bowl, pour dressing over, and toss to coat.  Place on a serving plate, and sprinkle with pine nuts and pecorino romano.