Have you ever walked into the produce section and thought there was an alien invasion? Those knobbly, beige space rocks are Celeriac, more commonly known as celery root. Although it’s not the root of the celery you’re thinking of — they’re cousins. Now that you know what it is, what do you do with it? Boil and mash like potatoes or cube them and roast them like any other roasted vegetable. Today we’re mashing.
Want a creamy, comforting side that won’t send your blood sugar on a rollercoaster like carbohydrate and potassium-rich potatoes? Celery root’s got your back. Taste-wise? Imagine celery went to a nut farm but also decided to be ever-so-slightly sweet… basically the cool, understated veggie side you didn’t know you needed.
Arliano Update (Aggiornamento Arliano):
The renovation of our rental house is largely done – minus a bathroom door. Who needs privacy in the bathroom, anyway? Sorry soon-to-visit Mom and nieces, it’s a curtain for you! There was a screw up of door opening measurements — thankfully not our mistake, but one that will take another two months to manufacture and mount a new door. Now on to the fun part, furnishing and decorating. Husband Tom and I have been refurbishing a set of antique furniture that I mentioned in a previous post. With a little sanding and a lot of paint, the furniture set was well worth saving and not using as future firewood.
Garden-wise I’ve been begging the farmer who plows our fields to come and prep our soil. He insists it’s too wet to plow but mysteriously he has done his own field in eyeshot of ours. And he only plows a foot deep as opposed to the meter deep trench we just had dug, which was plenty dry (see photo). It’s a similar song and dance every year. I’m still not convinced we’ll have a garden this year due to the lateness of the planting season and the timing of a planned vacation. I’m still rooting for it, anyway, and I keep buying seed packets, nevertheless.
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Mashed Celery Root
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (1 kg) celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch (2 cm) cubes. NOTE: If you need to set the cubes aside for more than 10 minutes for whatever reason (let’s say the phone or doorbell rings, for instance), place the cubes into acidulated water so they do not begin browning. If you continue preparing the recipe right away, there’s no need to do this)
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup (118 – 177 ml) whole milk, half-and-half, or cream. The amount depends on what final consistency you want, firmer or looser.
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- Chopped chives or another soft herb as garnish
- 3 – 4 quarts of water or vegetable broth for boiling the cubed celery root
Directions
- Place the peeled and cubed celery root and the peeled and smashed garlic cloves into a large 4-quart pot along with water or vegetable broth. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce and simmer for 20 minutes or until you can easily pierce the tip of a knife all the way through a cube
- While the celery root cubes and garlic are simmering, gently heat the milk or cream just past room temperature and set it aside (I microwave mine for about 45 seconds in a ceramic cup)
- Drain the celery root cubes and garlic then place them back into the pot and add the heated milk or cream, the butter, salt and pepper (start with 1 teaspoon of kosher or sea salt and a half teaspoon of black pepper). Mash the cubes with a potato masher or use electric beaters (much easier and more consistent). Taste for seasonings and add more salt and/or pepper as desired. Add chopped chives or other soft herbs as a garnish
Greg Nelson Cooks 
This looks great — going to try it out
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