Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Lonely Celeriac


Just look at that guy: indented, dirty, and plain off-putting -- like a pineapple gone horribly bad. I don't think there's a vegetable out there that's scarier looking than the celeriac in it's natural form; it's the ugly duckling of the food world... which makes me like it even more.

I remember seeing an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats where he spent an entire program on the celeriac, so I looked up the episode, found the recipe for his celeriac puree and tweaked it a bit to fit my food intolerances. With is subtle sweetness and earthy flavor, it's perfect for this time of year.


Celeriac and Potato Puree (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)

serves 4 as a side

1 head celeriac
1 large potato (I used an Idaho)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
5 cups of water
2 tablespoons milk (rice, almond, hemp...)

Cut the top and bottom off the celeriac and peel the celeriac (do no wash or it will get slimy and become difficult to peel) and cut into cubes. Peel the potato and cut into cubes.

Add the olive oil to a saucepan on medium heat and cook the garlic, celeriac and potato for about five minutes. Increase the heat to medium heat and add the water. Cook the potato and celeriac in the water for about twenty minutes. Drain, place back in pan, add the milk and puree with an immersion blender for about a minute. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

To keep with the Fall theme, you can even serve it in a hallowed out pumpkin (that's A-man in the back reading the paper).

5 comments:

Kate said...

Sounds tasty! Let's make it for Thanksgiving in lieu of straight mashed potatoes!

Emilia said...

This looks nice; the light in the second photo is especially pretty.

My dad made me eat raw celeriac when I was a child and I have been afraid of it ever since, but maybe it is good with potatoes? I could imagine that potatoes would make celeriac milder?

Jen said...

Looks good!! Did you go to class last night? I was exhausted, I went home and straight to bed. I'm sure Steve wasn't too pleased about that since he's leaving today... oh well. I sent him a text this morning.

Liz said...

Sound good sistah! The celeriac adds a nice flavor.

Thanks emilia! Coming from such a photo superstar, that means a lot :) The potatoes definately make the celeriac milder, you may now like it!

Thanks Jenny! I did make it and my legs still hurt. We did tons of kicks which was awesome. You were missed!

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