Saturday 2 February 2013

A celebration of celeriac.

Until a couple of years ago, I'd never tried celeriac. Then one arrived unnanounced in a veg box.... we tried it tentatively.... and were HOOKED.

Which is as well, because the one in last week's veg box was massive! I wish I'd taken a photo of it before we started to use it. Here is what I've made from it:

Sunday

Potato and celeriac waffles - I've already blogged about these


Monday

Celeriac, apple and raisin salad from River Cottage Veg Everyday  - he suggests adding Puy Lentils as an optional extra, and you can find the same recipe but including the lentils here  - just omit the lentils to get the recipe I used. Whereas the waffles  made use of the creamy texture of the cooked celeriac, this brought out the best of its fresh zingy flavour and crunchy texture when eaten raw.

 
Wednesday
 
Celeriac gratin with cinnamon and onion confit from Indian Spice by Reza  Mohammed
 

Oh dear, what can I say? I've made creamy celeraic gratin many times. I've cooked celeriac with spices, I've cooked it with onions. But onions AND cream AND spices? Well, it just didn't work for either of us. To me, it had crossed the border between fusion food and CONfusion food. Sorry, Reza, I love you dearly but I won't be cooking this again. Ever.

Saturday

Still a good chunk of celeriac left, so I made Nigel Slater's Bacon and Celeriac soup  from The Kitchen Diaries II  - a classic comforting bowl of soup for a chilly day!


I've only had this book 24 hours and am alreay inspired to cook from it - but I must make sure I set aside time to settle down and  read it from cover to cover. His books are intended to be lingered  over and inspired by, not just workhorse recipe books to be followed slavishly. This time I did follow it to the letter, partly because I happened to have exactly those ingredients and partly because I wasn't feeling very well and my imagination had deserted me, but I'll use this recipe as a basis  for other soups in future. Maybe carrots would combine well with the celeriac, or a hint of citrus?

As this last recipe is from a Nigel Slater book, I'm linking to "Dish of the month"  at Farmersgirl Kitchen and A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate


And as for that celeriac - there is still enough left  to make a remoulade or roast in chunks with some potatoes and parsnips.

 

4 comments:

Susan said...

Thats lovely, I think Janice made the same recipe in January. I am ashamed to say i have never cooked with celeriac ever! I must remedy that. Thanks for taking part and glad you are as taken with the book as I am. Hope to see you next month?

Janice said...

I love celeriac, it has such a subtle taste but is quite different from anything else. I'm delighted that you have go a copy of the Kitchen Diaries II and will be cooking along with us for Dish of the Month. Now I need to get a copy of Kitchen Diaries 1

Unknown said...

I love celeriac and cook with it regularly during the winter. I quite often make a mash with celeriac, carrot and swede or roast it in chunks with sweet potato wedges. I don't have Nigel Slater's book but I keep hearing so many good things about it that I think I might have to get a copy.

Galina Varese said...

I'm not the biggest fan of celeriac, I think it's truly an acquired taste. Saying that, I cooked it only yesterday, making the roast celeriac and potatoes, slightly crushed, with garlic cloves etc. It was quite nice