Susan Boyle Vs. Celeriac

Here it is! The pulchritudinous and lovely celeriac. I have never grown this root vegetable, have never purchased it and consequently have never cooked or eaten it. Tonight, I went out on a cooking limb and I finally (and bravely I might add!) cooked this ugly, bad a$s looking vegetable. I am happy to report my findings  - celeriac is awesome! In fact, it is so food-life changing that I even had to look up a new word for beautiful that suited it and I have settled on pulchritudinous. Basically, celeriac has surprised me in the way that Susan Boyle surprised the judges and the audience on “Britain”s Got Talent”. No matter how many times we are told, collectively as a human race we ignore the old rule of “never judge a book by it”s cover”. As you can see from the above photo, celeriac is, well.. just plain scary looking. It is completely gnarly, bulbous and dirty! Never mind that dirt though, as you will just be cutting away all of the skin to reveal it”s wonderfully pale and fairly delicate inside. I should also take this moment to commend the first person that ever decided that this was edible, just what was that person thinking,I wonder? Tonight – being this my maiden voyage with this root,I decided to make a celeriac gratin. I was worried about what I was getting into, so as everyone knows, when in doubt – just add cheese! After cutting away the tough exterior, I used a mandolin and sliced the celeriac into thin slices, about the thickness of a dime and assembled the gratin. I really want you to try this root! I can only explain the taste as celery on steroids, but better. The texture is like a parsnip or a potato or somewhere in between the two. The taste is flowery, but also earthy, even peppery. It is a true delight and I am so happy I was able to move past any first impressions that I had of this undervalued and under used root beauty. Celeriac Gratin one big celery rootsalt and pepper to tasteolive oilfreshly ground nutmegone clove of garlic, grated1/2 teaspoon of chili pepper flakes1 and 1/2 cup cream3/4 cup of breadcrumbs3 slices of Swiss cheese Preheat oven to 375.Remove all skin from celery root. Slice celery root as thinly as you can. Place one layer in a casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper and add a drizzle of oil. Add next layer of celeriac and season again. In separate bowl, mix together cream, pepper flakes, salt & pepper and nutmeg. Toss in the garlic as well. Pour this mixture over the celeriac. Place the cheese over the top and then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs, season a little more if you like. Pop this in the oven for about 40 minutes, then put it under broiler for 5 more minutes to crisp it up a bit more. Eat! PS. Most commonly, celery root is used in soups and that may be another way you would like to try it. I picked this ”Harry-Potterish-Mandrake” up at the Stratford Farmers Market – but you can find it at any of our markets, and probably any grocery store – just make sure it is local! and.. for the record, I find Susan Boyle lovely and don”t see what all the fuss is about.  Read More