I was really surprised at how many of you knew that last Week’s What Is It Wednesday was celery root.
And I was even more surprised at how many of you had tried it before. I have never had celery root that I know of.
This was kind of an impulse buy. I made a quick stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things and saw this in the produce section. I instantly knew it would be fun for my family to try and that it would be a good item for a What Is It Wednesday.
After I bought it and brought it home though, I had no clue what I was going to do with it. I did some online searching, and looked it up in a few food encyclopedias that I have, and found that it is often cooked either with or similar to potatoes.
Several recipes I found had you cooking and mashing the celery root like potatoes. I had mashed potatoes on the menu plan for the week, so I decided to give the celery root a try, mixed with potatoes.
The celery root smelled a lot like celery, but it tasted a lot like cauliflower to me. Several others in my family agreed. We also found the texture a bit odd. More crunchy and chunky than a potato.
I am thinking that I did not choose the best way to cook this. I think it probably would have been a lot better roasted on high heat with a few other vegetables. If I buy it again that is how I will cook it.
For those of you that enjoy celery root, what is your favorite way to cook it?
I dice it into 1/2 inch cubes and boil it until it is a little softer but not mush. Chill it and eat it as a salad drizzled with dijon mustard vinagrette. I fell in love with celery root eating it like this as a first course in Paris. Yum!
Melissa, Thanks so much for sharing this info! I look forward to trying celery root like that. Like Lynn, I have never had it before.
I use this with mashed potatoes : recipe:
4 yukon potatoes peeled and cubed
11/2 # celery root,peeled and cubed
3 T butter
1/3 c sour cream or plain yogurt at room temp.
4oz.mascarpone, Ital. style cream or reg. cream cheese at room temp.
1/2 t. salt
freshly ground pepper
bring pot. and cel rt. in a pot cover w/ water.boil reduce heat, simmer until tender about 20 min.drain save 1 c.of water
add butter and reserved water to pot and mash. add sour cr.mascarpone, salt and pepper, and stir well. Enjoy!