Currabinny Cooks: Stop thinking of celery as a background flavour - it is a star ingredient

The 'hidden' ingredient in soups, sauces and stocks is worth a starring role in dishes such as celery and celeriac salad with caesar dressing or celery soup or a creamy baked celery

Try this delicious Celery and Celeriac salad with Caesar dressing. 

Celery is one of the most important ingredients for building flavours in Western cooking. A stick of celery is one of the founding ingredients in a whole host of stocks, soups, broths, sauces and preserves. Celery is also sometimes a huge nuisance. A recipe invariably will usually ask for a single stick of celery, but you have to buy a whole bunch (if you want it to be fresh). This leads to almost a whole bunch of celery often being left at the back of the fridge for days on end until eventually, it becomes so soft and floppy you just have to throw it in the compost bin. The problem with celery is that it can become quite an overpowering flavour when used too liberally. Its importance in stocks and soups is as a subtle background savoury flavour, green and fresh. Too much celery and your stock becomes overly herbaceous.

I used to dislike the greenness, the vague saltiness and the herby overtones of celery.

Growing up I associated it with being stringy and bland. I think my coming around to celery started with my love of its cousin, the celeriac, which is a sort of gnarled root-like version of celery with a sweeter, more gentle flavour. Eventually, I grew to crave the clean, crisp, intensity of a stick of celery. There is something to celebrate with celery beyond as a background flavour. These recipes hopefully show how you can buy a bunch of celery and definitely use the whole thing. There are many ways you can make celery the main event in a dish without it being too overpowering or desperately boring.

We have never grown celery ourselves but it apparently isn’t too challenging. It must be sown in trays first and then transplanted — but beyond that, just have good fertile soil and water generously and you shouldn’t have too much trouble. It is ready to harvest simply when it looks big enough to eat.

Baked celery

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This is the perfect recipe for transforming a bunch of celery into something altogether more luxurious, delicious and decadent

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 10 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• Bunch of celery, trimmed and washed

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

• 2 bay leaves

• 6 peppercorns

• 250ml milk

• 60g butter

• 40g flour

• 80g Parmesan

• Small handful of parsley, chopped

• 100g pancetta, cubed

• 60g fresh breadcrumbs

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Ideally use an oven-proof casserole dish which can also be heated on a hob. Arrange the celery stalks neatly in the dish and cover with just enough water to cover them. Add the sliced onion, peppercorns and bay leaves and place over a medium high heat on the hob.

3. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down so that it is just gently simmering. Poach the celery until tender — this could take up to 25 minutes.

4. Make the breadcrumbs by blitzing some good quality bread.

5. Use a knife to check that the celery is cooked through and then pour off the poaching water into a measuring jug along with the bay leaves and peppercorns.

6. Fry off the pancetta in a separate pan until nice and crispy.

7. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour stirring continuously until you get a biscuit-coloured paste. Pour in the milk and whisk over a medium high heat for around 10 minutes until just starting to thicken, Pour in the reserved poaching water and continue to stir for another five minutes until you have a runny but thickening sauce.

8. Pour this over the poached celery stalks along with the pancetta. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs, parmesan and parsley over them. Place in the preheated oven for around 40 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.

Celery soup

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Simple, clean, restoring and deeply comforting, celery soup is an indulgent way of using up some leftover celery

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of celery, trimmed and washed, finely diced

• 1 large or 2 medium-sized rooster potatoes, peeled and finely cubed

• 1 medium onion, finely diced

• 80g butter

• 1 litre chicken stock

• Small handful of dill, finely chopped

• 150ml double cream

• Sea salt and black pepper

• Vegetable oil

Method

1. Place a large saucepan on a medium-high heat. Melt the butter along with a little drizzle of vegetable oil and then add the onion and celery, allowing it to soften in the bubbling melted butter for around five minutes or so before adding the potato.

2. Season well with salt and pepper. Stirring often, cook the vegetables for a further five minutes and then place the lid on the saucepan. Cook for a further two minutes and then add a litre of hot stock to the pan.

3. Turn down the heat to a simmer and leave to bubble for around 15 minutes until the potato is well cooked through. Check for seasoning throughout the cooking.

4. Take the soup off the heat and blend well with a good stick blender until velvety smooth.

5. Check the seasoning, stir in the double cream and chopped dill and then check the seasoning again. Serve in deep bowls and garnish with a little reserved celery leaf if you wish.

Celery and celeriac salad with caesar dressing

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This is a celery on celery, crisp, crunchy, lemony, refreshing salad cut with a gloriously rich and tangy classic caesar dressing and topped with nice chunky croutons

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Half a small celeriac, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

• 4 sticks of celery, cut diagonally into bite-sized pieces, leaves reserved

• Half a ciabatta loaf, cut into large bite-sized chunks

• 1 lemon

• 1 garlic

• 1 large egg yolk

• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

• 4 oil-preserved anchovy fillets

• Freshly-cracked black pepper

• 120g Parmesan

• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the celeriac matchsticks and celery pieces in a bowl and squeeze the juice of half of your lemon over them. Leave aside.

2. Make the dressing by bashing together the anchovies and garlic in a pestle and mortar until you get a paste. Scrape into a medium-sized bowl and add the egg yolk, mustard and the juice of the other half of your lemon. Whisk vigorously to combine and then continue to whisk as you pour in around 4 tablespoons of olive oil so you have a thick emulsified sauce.

3. Thin out with another tablespoon of water and check for seasoning. Stir in 70g grated parmesan and set aside.

4. Place the pieces of ciabatta in an oven proof dish and drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle a little sea salt over them. Place in the oven to crisp up for around 10 minutes.

5. Arrange the celery and celeriac in a large serving bowl and top with the warm chunky ciabatta croutons. Grate the remaining parmesan over this and drizzle the caesar dressing generously. Lastly, garnish with the reserved celery leaves, roughly chopped.