Name: Rockpool Bar & Grill: House chopped salad
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 witlof leaves, thinly sliced; 30 gm (¼ cup) cooked chickpeas; 30 gm dried chorizo, cut into matchsticks; 1 jalapeño, seeds removed, cut into matchsticks; 2 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced; 1 small radish, thinly sliced; ¼ cucumber, seeds removed, cut into matchsticks; 2 radicchio leaves, thinly sliced; 1 spring onion, white part only, cut into matchsticks; 2 sorrel leaves, thinly sliced; ¼ fennel bulb, cut into matchsticks; 1 very small handful flat-leaf parsley, torn; 1 very small handful mint, torn; 30 gm grated Gruyère; Croûtons; 500 ml (2 cups) vegetable oil; 1 garlic clove; ¼ loaf white bread, crusts removed, cut into 1cm cubes; Champagne dressing; 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil; 1 tsp Champagne vinegar; 1 lemon wedge

“If this salad sat on the pass for five minutes waiting for other dishes before it could go out, it would get soggy,” says Perry. “The only way around this is table service. The salad is presented to the customer, dressed, tossed, then spooned onto a plate and served. It means my chopped salad is perfect every time.”

Ingredients

2 witlof leaves, thinly sliced

30 gm (¼ cup) cooked chickpeas

30 gm dried chorizo, cut into matchsticks

1 jalapeño, seeds removed, cut into matchsticks

2 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 small radish, thinly sliced

¼ cucumber, seeds removed, cut into matchsticks

2 radicchio leaves, thinly sliced

1 spring onion, white part only, cut into matchsticks

2 sorrel leaves, thinly sliced

¼ fennel bulb, cut into matchsticks

1 very small handful flat-leaf parsley, torn

1 very small handful mint, torn

30 gm grated Gruyère

Croûtons

500 ml (2 cups) vegetable oil

1 garlic clove

¼ loaf white bread, crusts removed, cut into 1cm cubes

Champagne dressing

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp Champagne vinegar

1 lemon wedge

Method

Main

1.For croûtons, heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over high heat and add the garlic clove to infuse the oil. To test if the oil is the right temperature, add a cube of bread; the oil should start bubbling but the bread should not colour too quickly. Carefully tip the croûtons into the oil (be careful as hot oil may spit) and cook, stirring continuously with a metal spoon, until golden. Strain and drain on paper towel. Season to taste with sea salt while hot. Makes 2 cups.

2.For Champagne dressing, combine the olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl, squeeze in the lemon juice and season to taste. Transfer to a sauce boat.

3.Arrange the witlof in a straight line on a plate. Next to that, arrange the chickpeas in a straight line followed by the chorizo, jalapeño, cherry tomato (slightly overlapping), radish, cucumber, radicchio, spring onion, sorrel, fennel and herbs, and finish with the grated Gruyère. Scatter over the croûtons.

4.Toss the salad in the dressing at the table and serve immediately.

, by Neil Perry, will be published in October by Murdoch Books ($79.99, hbk). In this preview, recipes have been reproduced with minor
style changes.
This recipe is from the September 2011 issue of
.
Notes

Neil Perry

Styling by Sue Fairlie-Cuninghame

Ingredients

Method

Main

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