All right, today we’re doing celery root and potato puree. And I promise, it tastes way better than the sauce. It doesn’t look good though. That is one ugly vegetable. That is the root of the celery. It is ugly, it is nasty looking but it has a really unique flavor and you are going to like it if you try it.
So here we go, we’re going to cut off the bottom and the top. All right, it’s very tough, it’s almost like trimming off a turnip. So be careful, don’t cut yourself, cut off the top and bottom, all right. And we’re going to go around it just like your peeling a pineapple or a butternut squash if you saw that demo, just go around with your knife and take off that really thick skin. Now, don’t lose too much of the flesh here. It is like kind of a spotted brown color just beneath the skin, you don’t have to worry too much about that. So, that is my trimmed up celery root. I am going to cut it in half. In each half, I’m going to cut into six pieces. So, cut it in half, half again and then thirds, all right. Now, this will oxidize, meaning it will start to turn brown for being in the air. So, what you want to do is have your little pot of water ready, so it’s cold water; throw it in there, I’m going to cut up this other one.
And everyone is looking for alternatives now to the old mashed potato and we’re using cauliflower and things like that, this is a really nice option. Now, if you wanted to, you could cook that just like that, mash it and use the rest of the recipe I’m going to show you but I really think half potato, half celery root is a great compromise, all right. I like the texture, the potato adds little more starchiness, a little more I don’t know just a little richer. So, I’m ready to go half potato, half celery root, so that was two resets that I quartered. So, that is just about 50/50 celery root to potato. And again, obviously not in exact science, all right so about a tablespoon and half of salt. I like the salt when I boil my starches versus salt in at the end.
So after 20 minutes, my celery root and potato because we’re about the same size, they cook about the same time, so 20-25 minutes, they were tender. I drained it very well. We don’t want to need extra water in here and just like the mashed potato demo. I want you to give that a mash with your mashers without any other ingredients, okay. So, give that five or six or seven mashes first, then we’ll start to add the delicious ingredients. All right, so we got that broken up. Now, if you’re going make meat celery root, here is the deal, I need some butter, all right. So, we’re going to put a half a stick of butter. We’re also going to add a little bit of nutmeg, just a couple if you’re using a fresh nutmeg, I hope you are, just a three or four shavings on there. If you're using from the jar, it’s maybe 16th of a teaspoon, just a touch. People won’t even know it’s there.
In fact, we’re going to add a little more to the top. That’s some white pepper, about a half of a teaspoon and I’m going to put in a teaspoon of salt. And again, this is just from experience, if you want a salt in just at the end, I know that’s going to be good so I threw in at this point. Now with the butter and the spices in there, we’re going to mix that in, all right. And we’re just going to make sure it’s all mashed. Now, don’t be afraid to leave a few chunks, all right celery root doesn’t have to be a really, really smooth puree, better underwork than overwork like most things in cooking. So, I’m going to smash that until it’s fairly smooth but again, a few little chunks of the celery root here and there are not going to scare me.
Now, here is an ingredient that is going to be totally optional, all right. I am going to switch to a spatula and I’m going to add about an ounce of heavy cream. Now I said optional, that is optional for you not for me. For me I’m putting it. All right, so I’m going to just gently fold in there cream and again I’m using a spatula, I don’t like to overwork this stuff, it gets you know, it could get pasty, same deal like with mashed potatoes, I probably said that before and at that point I was done with this recipe.
Now, when I served it, I piled it up in a big old bowl and I did a very, very fine grating of the nutmeg again, just attempt, just three or four grains on the top. And again, this is mostly for aroma even more than flavor, you’re not even really going to taste it that much but it does give it a really beautiful earthy, nutty kind of aroma to the dish. And what this side dish is perfect with is very rich decadent meat. I served this with a—of beef, I did with chocolate and cinnamon, hope you saw that demo. This is great with things like barbeque, grilled meats, things that are really, really heavy and rich. This because of its earthiness, because of that celery root is just a great, great contrast.
So, I hope you give this a try. It is unusual but it is very delicious and enjoy.
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