September 21, 2017 - This Week's Box Contents, Featuring Celeriac

Cooking With This Week's Box

As we dive into this week’s box, we’ll start with our featured vegetable of the week which is green top celeriac!  This week’s newsletter features two different types of ways you can use your celeriac, one is raw and the other is cooked.  The Sesame Chicken Celeriac Salad (see below) is a main entrée salad that is very easy to make and will travel well for lunch the next day if you have leftovers.  If you’d prefer to make something warm, you might want to consider making the Celeriac, Potato and Apple Puree (see below).  This wasn’t my original plan for a recipe, however we had the opportunity to dine at Harvest Restaurant in Madison, WI last Sunday at their special 17^th Anniversary Dinner. Chef Jon served a delicious celeriac and potato mash.  I had stumbled over this recipe over the weekend and once I sampled some of the apple from this week’s fruit box I decided the combination of celeriac, russet potatoes and apples was on the list for this week.  This puree will make a delicious accompaniment to any pork dish, grilled beef, duck or roasted chicken.

If you choose to make the Sesame Chicken Celeriac Salad, the recipe calls for chicken breasts.  If you are making the salad this week, you might as well use a whole chicken.  You can take the breasts off and cook them for the salad and then use the thighs and legs to make Jamie Oliver’s Tender and Crisp Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes & Basil. The recipe calls for 4 chicken quarters to serve 4 people.  If you’re using just one chicken you’ll have to cut the recipe in half and your yield will be for just 2-3 servings.  This recipe can be made with some of the tomatoes in this week’s box as well as garlic and basil from your herb garden.  Serve this with cannellini beans, mashed potatoes or pasta.

At the dinner last Sunday, we had another delicious course that included halved grape tomatoes served with an herbed buerre blanc sauce.  While I’m not going to get that fancy this week, I was inspired to take make this recipe for Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad.  Of course we’ll use the grape tomatoes, cut them in half and marinate them in vinegar, herbs and oil.  This can be served as a salad on its own or use it as a condiment to top off seared salmon, grilled steak or serve it on top of a bowl of lentils or cannellini beans. 

Well, sweet corn season is coming to a close but we still have a few ears to enjoy!  This week I’m going to cut the kernels off the cob and use them, along with one of the tomatoes, to make this Tomato, Basil & Corn Pizza.   The recipe calls for baking it in the oven, but you could put this on the grill too for a little extra smoky flavor.  I always like peppers on my pizza, so I’ll thinly slice the green bell pepper and add it along with the corn.  The orange Italian Frying Peppers are going to go on a tossed salad made with either the red Boston or red Batavia lettuce.  I’m going to toss the salad with this Creamy Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette and garnish it with some thinly sliced onions, croutons and some canned water-packed tuna for an entrée salad to eat at lunch. Any extra orange Italian frying peppers left over this week are going straight into the freezer so I have some to use on pizzas during the winter.  If I have time I’ll slice the peppers before freezing, but if time is short they can go into the freezer whole and I’ll deal with cutting them in February!

The remainder of the potatoes as well as this week’s leeks are going to be used to make Potato Leek Soup with Poblanos and Crispy Bacon.  I tried this recipe last fall and it is delicious!  I never would’ve thought to pair the gentle leek with a hot pepper, but the combination works and this combination is actually very good.  The recipe calls for Yukon Gold potatoes, but this week’s russet potatoes will work just fine. 

For some reason I have Mac & Cheese on my mind this week, so some of the broccoli is going towards making Macaroni & Cheese with Broccoli.  The remainder of the broccoli will end up in a frittata for Sunday brunch.

The gorgeous red chard in this week’s box is going to be used to make vegetarian Tacos with Black Beans and Chard. I’ll serve this with Green Rice with Jalapeño, Garlic and Lime.  We have limes in this week’s CSA fruit share, so that’s one less thing I’ll have to pick up at the grocery store!

Well, that brings us to the bottom of another CSA Box.  Next week we’re hoping the Jicama is ready to go in boxes.  So, pull out those jicama slaw recipes and get ready!  If you’ve never had jicama, you have something new to look forward to!  
—Chef Andrea

Featured Vegetable:  Celeriac

Celeriac, or celery root as it is also known, can be a bit intimidating if you’re encountering it for the first time.  However, as with all vegetables, there’s really no need to be intimidated…it’s just a vegetable!  Celeriac is in the same family as celery.  The difference is that celeriac is grown for its root and celery is grown for its stalks.  The stalks on celeriac resemble celery and have a lot of delicious flavor in them, however they are more tough and fibrous than celery and are not usually eaten as you would eat a celery stalk.  Don’t throw them away though!  Their flavor can add depth to a pot of stock or soup.  If you aren’t going to use them all now, put them in the freezer and use them later this fall or winter.

Now for the root bulb.  First, scrub the exterior of the root the best you can.  Next, thinly slice away the top and bottom of the root so there is a flat side on the top and the bottom.  You’ll probably need to take a little more off the bottom to get past the majority of the roots and get into the more usable bulb portion of the root.  At this point, I usually cut the root in half or into quarters so it is easier to handle.  Using a paring knife, carefully trim away the outer skin.  Once you’ve removed the outer skin, rinse the remaining piece of celeriac and clean your cutting board if there’s any residual dirt.  The inner portion of the root is white, solid and entirely edible. 

Celeriac has a subtle celery flavor that provides a background to soups, stews, and root mashes.  It also makes a delicious soup or gratin on its own or combined with potatoes or other root vegetables.  It can also be eaten raw in salads and slaws paired with other fall fruits and vegetables and s simple creamy dressing.  I’ve noticed more “paleo” recipes are encouraging the use of celeriac as a substitute for starchy potatoes, noodles, etc.  If you have a spiralizer, you can even make celeriac noodles (do we call them celoodles?)

Celeriac stores quite well, thus it is an important part of our seasonal winter diets.  It can actually be stored for up to 6 months!  Keep it in your refrigerator loosely wrapped in plastic or in the crisper drawer until you are ready to use it.  

Sesame Chicken Celeriac Root Salad

Photo credit from thekitchen.com

Serves 4

2 large carrots, peeled
1 large celeriac, peeled

3 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (see Recipe Note)
½  cup chopped fresh basil, or cilantro
1 small clove garlic, peeled and grated with a microplane, or finely minced
2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp dark pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 ½ tsp grated fresh ginger root
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

1. Shred carrots and celeriac on a box grater or with the grating attachment of a food processor.
2. Combine the carrots, celeroac, chicken, and basil (or cilantro) in a large salad bowl.
3. Combine garlic, vinegar, sesame oil, maple syrup, tamari, sesame seeds, ginger, salt, and pepper in a jar and shake to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.
4. Divide among 4 large plates to serve.

Recipe Notes: 

To cook chicken: Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add ½ tsp salt and stir to dissolve. Add 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and return to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, turning occasionally to make sure it cooks evenly, until the chicken is cooked through, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to cool, at least 20 minutes before shredding.

This recipe was adapted from thekitchn.com.

Celeriac, Potato and Apple Puree

Yield:  3-4 servings

1/2  pound potatoes, peeled and cut in half*

1 large celeriac, peeled and cut into large pieces

1 small to medium tart apple, such as a Granny Smith, peeled, cored and quartered

¼ cup, approximately, warm milk or broth from the celeriac.

1 Tbsp butter or walnut oil, plus more to taste

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Place the potatoes in one saucepan and the celeriac and apples in another.  Barely cover each pan with water and add salt to each pan as well, about ¼- ½ tsp per pan.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Turn off the burner that the potatoes are on and remove the pan.  Drain the potatoes, and return the pot to the burner (do not turn the burner back on).  Leave the lid off and allow the potatoes to set for 5-10 minutes to steam and dry out. 
3. Drain the celeriac and apples through a strainer set over a bowl to catch the cooking liquid. 
4. Puree all of the celeriac and apple mixture as well as the potatoes in a food mill or a potato ricer.  (If you don’t have either of these tools, you can also use a food processor and process the potatoes separate from the celeriac/apple mixture.  The other option is to just mash the vegetables by hand with a potato masher.  The end result will be more chunky, but will taste just fine). 
5. Combine the potato puree along with the celeriac and apple puree in a bowl.  Whisk in the milk or broth until the mixture is fluffy.  Add the butter or walnut oil to the hot puree, stir until the butter melts, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

*Chef Andrea Note:  The original recipe calls for Yukon gold potatoes.  I would recommend using our russet potatoes for this recipe as it will yield a lighter, fluffier mash.

Recipe adapted from Martha Rose Shulman’s recipe featured on cooking.nytimes.com.