Celeriac

I keep seeing Celeriac all over FoodTV lately.



The other day at the grocery store, on one of the little end shelves in the produce department, there were several celeriacs. (weird... my spell check doesn't like the plural version!) Celeriac, also known as Celery Root sounded like a fabulous fall food! I grabbed three!



What to make?

This is my own little personal cooking challenge. Find a new ingredient and use it.
(I still have a challenging bag of Chana Dal waiting to be made into something!)

I found a Tyler Florence recipe that sounded like the perfect dish!

Celery Root and Potato Mash with Horseradish
2 celery roots (about 1 1/2 pounds each), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
I needed 3 celery roots to get to 3 pounds
3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt, plus kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon grated fresh or prepared horseradish
I used 2 HEAPING tablespoons horseradish
Chopped fresh chives, for garnish
Extra-virgin olive oil

Place the celery root and potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water; add a teaspoon of salt. Bring to boil over medium heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the celery root and potatoes are very tender. Drain the water from the vegetables and pass them through a food mill or a ricer into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the cream, butter, and horseradish until the cream is absorbed and the mixture is smooth. Season with kosher salt and pepper and garnish with chopped chives. Drizzle with a healthy dose of olive oil and serve.

Ok.... first to peel the celeriacs/celery roots.

They are hard gnarly things!


This part was NOT easy. I don't own and have never really used a paring knife; however, I think it was definitely the tool I needed for this task.



First I cut off the top... it kinda reminded me of a pineapple.

I tried using a veggie peeler. Sometimes it worked ok, on slightly smoother sections. I was afraid of cutting them down to nothing with Tippy (my favorite chef knife) Also Tippy ironically has no tip... which made digging out little weird parts not so easy.

So I peeled and hacked and scraped...


Ewww... the bottoms of the root part have gnarly coarse hair like a coconut!




Finally... peeled and cut into cubes.


Raw, it tastes kind of nutty and celery-y


And into the pot with the much easier to peel and cut potatoes.


Let me just add... the recipe calls for celeriac & potatoes to be cut to the same size. But you really need to cut the celeriac much smaller than the potatoes, because it took MUCH longer to get tender.

Drain the veggies. I don't have a food mill or a ricer so I tried to hand-mash them.



Add butter, cream and horseradish.


I enjoy hand-mashed potatoes. I like some lumps. But the celeriac is a different texture, so I used the handmixer.


There were still some lumps but much smaller.

That's it!

Garnish with Olive Oil & Chives


Even though I had a lot of trouble preparing this, with the peeling and the mashing, I really loved the texture. It was very creamy, with some soft pleasant lumps.

The flavor was awesome! Even with all of the extra horseradish, it wasn't over powering at all. It was creamy, celery-y, buttery, nutty with a bit of the kick from the horseradish! Total YUM! Jon really liked it too!

I served it with Pork Tenderloin and Roasted Broccoli.


Bob of course, didn't even try it. Tawny doesn't like celery. Since she slept through dinner, she didn't know what it was. To look at it, it just looks like mashed potatoes. So I heated up a plate for her when she woke up. I did mention there was horseradish and she likes that. She took one bite and looked at me. Then asked what it was. I told her Mashed Celeriac & Potatoes with Horseradish. I thought if I didn't say 'celery root' she might not be instantly put off. She replied, "Celery Ass??!!!!" YUCK!!!!!!!!! I said no... celerIAC... Ok... not a winner in Tawny's book. But she doesn't like celery and it really does have a strong celery flavor. (She did LOVE the pork tenderloin, even though every time I tell her I'm making it, she's says she doesn't. She always likes roasted broccoli)

I did love this, but probably won't make it again, unless we're having company or I cut down the recipe drastically, because this makes a lot.

I think I'd like to try celeriac roasted or maybe in a stew next!

Oh yeah...

Dear Santa,
I've been very very good this year. And I know I said that I didn't want anymore knives for Christmas, but I think I've changed my mind and would really really love a 6in Wusthof Classic Chef Knife and a 3in Wusthof Classic Paring Knife. Please browse through my blog and let me know what kind of cookies you'd like me to leave out.
Love,