Wild Herb Salad with Confit Egg Yolk and Spelt Bread

Wild Herb Salad with Confit Egg Yolk and Spelt Bread
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Wild Herb Salad with Confit Egg Yolk and Spelt Bread

This is a salad with a difference. Rebecca Clopath's recipe is dressed with apple cider vinegar and hazelnut oil dressing and is served with confit egg yolk, wild leeks and her homemade spelt bread.

For the spelt bread

Ingredients (4 servings)
20 g sour cream
300 g brown spelt flour
300 g water, lukewarm
550 g semi-white spelt flour, plus extra to dust
20 g fresh yeast
200 ml water
14 g salt

Preparation:

  • Start the bread the day before you want to serve the salad.
  • In a mixing bowl, combine the sour cream, the brown spelt flour and the lukewarm water and leave to rest for 1 hour.
  • When the time is up, add the semi-white spelt flour, yeast, water and salt then mix to form a dough.
  • Knead the dough for about 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface, adding water and flour if needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  • Let the dough rest for 12 hours, covered with a clean damp cloth or plastic wrap. 
  • After that time, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough again and shape it into a round loaf.
  • Brush the surface of the loaf with a little water and let it rise for another hour. 
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  • Bake the bread in the middle of the oven at 180°C for about an hour, until nicely browned and the bread sounds hollow when turned over and tapped on the base. 
  • Remove the bread and leave to cool on a rack.

For the wild herb salad and apple cider dressing

Ingredients (4 servings)
225 g wild herbs (e.g. dandelion leaves, wild garlic, wild rocket, etc)
40 g onion, finely chopped
100 ml apple cider vinegar
200 ml hazelnut oil
  • Gently mix the wild herbs and onions in a mixing bowl.
  • For the dressing, combine the vinegar and oil in a bowl, whisking well to amalgamate. Dress the salad just before serving, giving the dressing a good whisk first.
  • Note: you may not need all the dressing. Store leftover dressing in a sealed jar in the fridge.

For the confit egg yolk

Ingredients (4 servings)
1 egg yolk
500 g clarified butter
  • Heat the clarified butter in a small saucepan until it reads 75°C on a digital thermometer.
  • Gently add the egg yolk to the pan and cook in the butter for 30 minutes. Regularly check the temperature of the butter to make sure that it remains at an even 75°C.
  • At the end of cooking time, gently remove the confit yolk using a slotted spoon. 

For the wild leeks and to serve

Ingredients (4 servings)
40 g wild leeks
20 g browned butter
  • Fry the leeks in browned butter until crisp.
  • To serve the salad, arrange the wild herb salad decoratively on a plate. Place the confit egg yolk to one side and arrange the wild leek all around.
  • Serve with the spelt loaf.
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