Celeriac

Just dug 4 beautiful celeraic from my garden - more than I've used in 4 years. How would you use them ?

Peel and chop one coarsely, then cook until tender in just enough salted water to cover along with a couple of chopped potatoes and a sliced apple and a couple of bay leaves. Pour off most of the water and bay leaves, mix in some cream and butter. Puree or run through a food mill, then season to taste and reheat. Top with chopped fennel greens or scallions. Nice with Chardonnay.

A number of my veggie autumnal one-pot type dishes (such as root vegetable & mushroom stew with cheese dumlings) include celeriac in them. Treat them as you would swede or turnips anywhere where you'd like a more 'celery-like' flavour. Unfortunately my other half doesn't like celery or celeriac, so I don't get to cook with it.

My Leith's Seasonal Bible says that celeriac is a traditional accompaniment to roast game, either roasted or mashed. It includes a recipy for aromatic pheasant with cumin mash. The cumin mash side of it is:

55g/2oz butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
675g/1 1/2 lb celeriac, peeled, diced and cooked until tender
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and cook until very soft. Add the cumin and fry over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes.

Mash the cooked celeriac. Stir into the onion and season to taste with salt and peper.

Serve with your roast game.

[Jenise]

Of course, you know all about remoulades and mixed mashes so I won't mention those, but here's a recipe we liked quite a bit that I pulled off of Epicurious some time back. I made it with chicken gizzards and a pair of drumsticks, but it's written for turkey giblets--good timing, no?


giblet and mushroom bread salad
Bon Appétit | November 2005

IngredientsGiblets (liver, neck, heart, and gizzard) from 1 turkey
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
10 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1/4 cup minced onion
1 garlic clove, minced

11 cups 1/2-inch cubes country white bread with crust (about 1 pound)

1 6-ounce package crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 cup 1/4-inch cubes celery
1/2 cup 1/4-inch cubes peeled celery root (celeriac)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 1/2 tablespoons Sherry wine vinegar

PreparationChop liver and transfer to small bowl; cover and refrigerate. Bring broth, neck, heart, and gizzard to boil in heavy large saucepan. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 1 hour. Strain broth into medium bowl; reserve. Remove meat from neck; place in small bowl. Chop heart and gizzard; add to bowl with neck meat.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Add reserved liver; sauté until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Add chopped neck meat, heart, and gizzard, 1 1/2 cups of reserved broth, and 1/4 cup oil. (Dressing can be made 2 days ahead; cover and refrigerate dressing and any remaining broth separately.)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Divide bread cubes between 2 rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over bread on each sheet; toss to coat. Toast bread in oven until golden brown, turning once, about 10 minutes. Transfer to large bowl.

Add mushrooms, celery, celery root, 1 tablespoon parsley, and oregano to bread. Bring dressing to simmer; remove from heat. Stir in vinegar. Pour dressing over bread mixture; toss. If desired, drizzle remaining broth by tablespoonfuls over bread mixture to moisten. Sprinkle remaining chopped parsley over. Let stand at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour.

[Jenise]

Here's another recipe, Christina, one I haven't tried but love the sound of and would surely love to do if, like you, I had these fresh from my garden. It's just a simple risotto, really, made from celery root and leeks, but it has the added jazz of a pesto made from the green leafy tops.

celery root risotto and pesto
Bon Appétit | December 2004

Prep: 25 minutes; Total: 45 minutes

Servings: Makes 2 main-course servings.

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Ingredients2 medium celery roots (celeriac) with leafy tops
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups chopped leek (white and pale green parts only)
3/4 cup arborio or medium-grain white rice
3 cups (about) low-salt chicken broth
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

PreparationPlace 1 1/2 cups (packed) celery root leaves and oil in mini-processor. Blend until leaves are minced. Season pesto to taste with salt and pepper.

Peel celery roots. Cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Cut slices into enough 1/3-inch cubes to measure 2 cups. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in celery root cubes and leek. Cover; cook until celery root is tender but not brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Mix in rice; stir 1 minute. Add broth; increase heat and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender and risotto is creamy, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Mix in 3/4 cup cheese. Season risotto to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide risotto between bowls; swirl some pesto on top. Serve with remaining cheese and pesto.

Wow, is this screaming for an earthy Burgundy or Rhone or what? And we just happen to have a can of gesiers in the larder that I was wondering what to do with...

My favorite recipe is here.

Cream of celery root soup with black truffles and foie gras.

When we went to France in '03, we often found celeriac on the plate when we ordered at a good restaurant. I think most often it was in the form of a puree, but at least once or twice it was made into "french fries."

I enjoyed eating it so much that after we returned I started buying it and cooking it more often. What a nice subtle flavor.

Frank

[Jenise]

Frank, welcome. And...fries? Never had them deep-fried--I take it, since you enjoyed them so, they didn't come out rubbery as I for some reason would instinctively imagine?

Think Dutch pea soup.

When we went to France in '03, we often found celeriac on the plate when we ordered at a good restaurant. I think most often it was in the form of a puree, but at least once or twice it was made into "french fries."
Frank

Celeri Remoulade is basically shredded celeriac in a Dijon mustard flavored mayonnaise dressing. Think cole slaw, but replace the cabbage with celeriac.

Frank, welcome. And...fries? Never had them deep-fried--I take it, since you enjoyed them so, they didn't come out rubbery as I for some reason would instinctively imagine?

Really good potato french fries have to be pre-cooked to tenderness before dunking in scalding hot fat for browning.

You just follow the same paradigm, get them tender and THEN brown them in hot fat.

I am sure I was following a recipe when I tried it but ??? I wonder where.

I grew used to seeing celeriac on the plate in various guises during that trip to France and really never encountered anything I didn't like. it was kind of an eating vacation. Hmm, I suppose it was in 2004...

http://tinyurl.com/2mmhec

Frank