LEARNING TO LIVE WITH CROINERS
Channel: slobomotion
Date: 26/12/2013

Digital video recording, comments and annotations copyright 2013 Lisa B. Falour, B.S., M.B.A.
cutecatfaith.com
Dailymotion:  LisaFalour
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Sorry, but that title is a reference to some cool indie music my Parisian husband likes.

This is salade de crosnes and I hope I'm spelling that correctly!  This is one of the few Parisian dishes I've found in almost 20 years here, and I've written two food columns and been a chef's assistant in Paris.  Besides blanquette de veau, there aren't many actual francilien dishes!

500 g small potatoes, waxy type
500 g crosnes
1 spoonful flour
coarse sea salt, such as fleur de sel
1.5 kg fresh mussels
10 cl dry white wine
1 head of celery
some fresh tarragon
8 tbsp olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 spoonsful of sherry vinegar (I use rice wine vinegar)
1,300 kj/310 calories per portion

Takes about an hour to prepare.

Boil the potatoes with a few grains of salt as long as it's not a stainless steel pot.  If it is, keep salt away from your pot!

Rub down the crosnes with a damp tea towel and brush them with a vegetable brush.

Boil about 20 minutes in a non-reactive pot (glass is good) with a spoonful of flour.

Drain, cool.

Beard the mussels in cold water and tap sharply any which are open.  If they don't close they are dead -- throw them OUT.  Boil water, add the mussels, cover, cook -- they will open -- any which do not must be discarded.  Peel and slice the potatoes and put them in a bowl.  Glass is best (it's non-reactive, and plastic is toxic).  Pour the white wine over, allow to sit and cool.  Prepare the celery -- string the ribs out if need be, use stalks and a few leaves.  Chop finely.  Combine ingredients and drizzle over olive oil, salt, pepper and the vinegar.  This is okay to eat still warm but otherwise, serve it cold.  This dish can also be done with black salsify.