Marron, roasted walnut, avocado and pear salad

Marron is the Southern Forests at its most quietly extravagant, and this salad has the good sense not to get in its way. Walnuts, pear, avocado and a candied garlic verjuice dressing sit around the marron rather than over it.

It asks for a bit more care than most things we put up here. It earns it.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup walnuts
• 6 cloves garlic
• extra virgin olive oil
• 4 x 300 g live marron
• ¼ cup salt
• 400 ml verjuice
• 80 ml walnut oil
• 2 handfuls salad greens that include bitter varities
• 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced (optional)
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 2 sml pears, thinly sliced
• 1 sml bunch fresh dill, the tips plucked from the stalks
• freshly cracked black pepper

METHOD

1. Dry roast the walnuts in a 200 degree celcius over for 20 minutes until just brown then transfer to a dry towel. Gather the corners of the tea towel together and rub the skins away from the walnuts. Transfer to a coarse sieve to seperate the skins from the roasted walnut. Reserve to the side.
2. Blanch garlic cloves in boiling water before peeling. Using a simmer mat, gently warm the garlic in enough extra virgin olive oil to just cover, until the cloves just start to turn a warm blond colour. Leave to cool before removing the garlic and reserving the olive oil for another dish.
3. Place the live marron in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes until the marron no longer moves but it not yet frozen. Bring a large stockpot of water to the boil and add the salt. Gently put the marron in the boiling water, cover immediately and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the pot and plunge into iced water. Twist and pull the head away from the tail. Using kitchen scissors cut up the middle of the inside of the tail and ease the flesh away from the shell. Pull back the flap from the top of the meat and gently remove the alimentary canal. Slice the marron meat in halves.
4. In a shallow pan, simmer the verjuice until reduced by half. Add the marron halves to just warm then remove with a slotted spoon reserving to the side. Whist the garlic cloves and walnut oil into the warm verjuice.
5. Compile the salad by scattering the salad leaves on a platter, topped with the celery slices, marron halves, sliced avocado and pear.
6. Drizzle over the dressing and garnish the roasted walnuts, fresh dill tips and freshly cracked pepper.

A dish for when you want the whole region on one platter. Nearly all of it — the marron, walnuts, pears, avocado and dill — comes out of the Southern Forests.

Recipe by Sophie Zalokar, photography by Craig Kinder, as featured in Food of the Southern Forests by Sophie Zalokar. Shared courtesy of our friends at the Southern Forests Food Council.