What's for dinner? Celeriac recipes from The Currabinny Cooks
Celeriac, Chives, and Cheddar
We are now well into November — a time that in many ways feels like an ending of things. The year is almost out and the festive season is about to begin. November is when the very last of the leaves fall and our evenings are stolen by darkness. We both love this time of year — the quiet before the storm perhaps. It is time to go for long walks among the bare trees on soft carpets of brown and amber leaves. Time to steal those last moments of reflection before the rush and bustle of Christmas hits us. In towns and cities, the crisp air smells faintly of firewood and everyone you come across seems to be rushing homewards. This is a good time to spend long, dark afternoons in the kitchen, with the radio on loud to keep you company. I feel like we get a lot of good experimentation done in these few weeks before Christmas.
Comfort in food comes from more than just eating. Time to play with great ingredients in one's own kitchen is something to be cherished indeed. Recently I picked up two very dirty, very ugly looking celeriac or 'celery root' as some call them. These tuberous monsters might look like ghastly triffids, but to me they are a thing of beauty. The beauty of celeriac lies, surprisingly and despite first appearances, in its subtlety of flavour. Celeriac does indeed have something of the flavour of celery, for they are just two varieties of the same plant. It is, however, far more gentle, more refined and altogether more robust. Besides the obvious savoury, vegetal, inexplicably rain-water-like flavour of celery, you also get a smoother, nuttier note, which pacifies and soothes the palette. This romanticising of celeriac is even more appropriate when you peel off its tendrils and muddy exterior to reveal the beautifully snow-like, crisp interior.
This deeply comforting gratin is just as unctuously delicious as one made with potato but it doesn’t have the same heaviness or stodginess. There is a rare and wonderful contradiction between comfort and lightness which celeriac possesses and this recipe perfectly illustrates. Use a good strong cheddar such as Derg or 15 Fields and don’t hold back on the chives.
Ingredients:
- One medium celeriac, peeled and cut into medium-thick slices
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 25g butter
- 250ml double cream
- 200g strong mature cheddar, grated
- Sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
- Good handful of chives, finely chopped
- Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
This is a great technique which really shows how uniquely versatile celeriac can be in the kitchen.
Searing the ‘steaks’ on a hot frying pan before transferring to a hot oven gives you deliciously satisfying results where you get an almost charred, crispy outside with a melt in the mouth inside.
- 1 celeriac, peeled and cut into thick slices or steaks (should get around 4 maybe 5)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
- A large bunch of parsley (50-60g)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of capers
- 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
- 120-150ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Make the salsa first as this can be done ahead and keeps well in the fridge. Crush the garlic cloves into a paste and place in a large pestle and mortar along with the parsley (leaves only), capers, mustard, red pepper flakes and lemon juice. Crush and grind the ingredients until you get a paste, add the red wine vinegar in a slow stream while you continue to mash and then transfer this mixture to a bowl or jar where you can add the olive oil which you can stir in slowly with a fork until everything is well combined and you have a nice runny green sauce. Taste for seasoning, it shouldn’t need any salt but if it does just a small pinch should do. A little more lemon juice can also be added if needed.
- Line a large oven tray with parchment.
- Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the celeriac steaks for around 4-5 minutes on both sides so as they develop a nice golden, brown colour.
- Transfer the steaks to the oven tray. Season generously with sea salt and black pepper and bake in the oven for around 35 minutes until cooked through.
- Serve hot from the oven with the salsa verde drizzled generously over them.
This might seem like a bit of a celery overload but it is actually when brought together in the same dish that you will notice how different celery and celeriac really are. They both compliment each other perfectly in this salad, one being bright and crunchy and the other being more mellow and gentle.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 medium celeriac, peeled and washed
- 4 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
- 1 small shallot, sliced very thinly
- Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tablespoon of capers
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Small handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped
- Small handful of celery leaves, finely chopped
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Using a vegetable peeler or a mandolin, turn the celeriac into very thin ribbon-like shavings. Place in a mixing bowl and squeeze over the juice of 1/2 lemon.
- Mix in the celery slices, shallot slices, lemon zest, capers, and around 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Mix everything together in the bowl so that every ribbon of celeriac is coated in lemon juice and oil.
- Place the contents on a serving platter or serving bowls and sprinkle the chopped parsley and celery leaves over them.
