Tag: celery

Sausage and celery casserole

At the moment, our local shopping has been impacted by the cyberattack on the Co-op. It has greatly altered the availability of all sorts of things. I have been avoiding going to the shops and using up what I have. This time, from the freezer, I had a pound of sausages, some ham stock, and the only vegetable I had was half a head of celery. I also have a lot of garlic and lots of tins of this and that. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Olive oil
  • 1 pack of sausages (around 400 to 450g)
  • 1/2 head of celery
  • A good pinch of dried peperoncini or other chilli flakes
  • 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • Half a glass of white wine
  • Around 200ml ham stock (or chicken stock)
  • A tin of chickpeas in water – do not drain the chickpeas
  • Lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper
  • Chopped parsley and potatoes to serve

METHOD:

  • Heat a little oil in the bottom of a large pan, and fry the sausages over a medium heat while you prepare the other ingredients. Turn them so they brown evenly. 
  • Slice the celery, leaves and stems, and chop the garlic.
  • Remove the browned sausages from the pan, and turn to a low to medium heat with a bit of extra oil.
  • Add the chilli flakes, and as soon as they start to sizzle, add the garlic and stir for a minute or two. 
  • Before the garlic starts to scorch, add the wine, stir to deglaze the bottom of the pan, and then add the celery, stock, chickpeas and the water in the chickpea can (this will thicken the gravy in the casserole). Add grated lemon zest, salt and pepper, bring to a simmer and then add the sausages. 
  • Cover and simmer for around 30 minutes. Once the celery is tender, it should be ready but if there is too much liquid for your liking, take off the lid and simmer to reduce this for around five minutes. 
  • Adjust seasoning and add a squeeze of lemon juice. 

I served this with new potatoes, the whole lot garnished with chopped parsley. 

Rabbit with white wine and celery

Another rabbit recipe. I keep finding more, and I’m still working through them; who knew there were so many? This one was especially tasty, and I would make it again, no bother. It might be good with green olives as well. I served it with polenta, but mashed potatoes would be good as well. 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 1 wild rabbit, jointed
  • 30g butter, or a mixture of butter and lard
  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
  • 1 can of chopped tomatoes, or 250g ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 300ml dry white wine
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • In a large casserole dish or lidded saucepan, brown the rabbit pieces in the butter and lard. Remove from the pan and put to one side
  • In the butter and lard, brown the onion for five minutes, and then add the celery and garlic for another couple of minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, and simmer for five minutes
  • Return the rabbit to the pan, and pour over the white wine. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer
  • Reduce the heat and cook slowly for around 2 hours, or until the rabbit is nice and tender. If the sauce is looking a bit dry, add some more wine. 

Serve with polenta or mashed potatoes. 

Leek and celery soup

This recipe is dedicated to my friend Anna. The soup is much better than she led me to believe, a delicate pale green with a smooth consistency. The dominant flavour is of celery. It is very useful for using up all the celery that we end up with after recipes that ask for just one or two stems. This version is from Delia Smith’s Vegetarian Collection.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 350g Celery stalks, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 25g butter
  • 110g potatoes, peeled and finely chopped
  • White sections of 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced
  • 1 pint stock
  • 1/4 tsp celery seeds
  • 150ml single cream
  • 150ml milk
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Melt the butter in a large pan over low heat.
  • Add the chopped celery, potatoes and leeks, and stir. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes
  • Add the stock and celery seeds, and a little salt, and simmer very gently for a further 20 minutes.
  • Puree the soup by blending it, then add the cream and milk, and season to taste.

If you have a few celery leaves, chop them finely as a garnish, before serving with hot buttered brown toast.

Celery and bean soup

Delicious, cheap, easy, vegan, quick, filling. Not much more to say. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 small onions
  • 1 head of celery
  • Olive oil for frying
  • Olive oil for serving (best quality that you can get)
  • 1 400g borlotti beans, drained (this can be substituted, but I love borlotti beans)
  • 1 litre stock
  • salt and black pepper, freshly ground

METHOD:

  • Chop the onions and celery, and fry in olive oil in a large pan over a low heat, until soft; don’t brown the vegetables
  • Add the other ingredients, bring to the boil, and then cover to simmer for 20 minutes
  • Season, and roughly blend with a soup wand. Add a little water if the soup is too thick. 

Serve with a swirl of posh olive oil to each bowl, and a slice of brown bread on the side. 

Persian Lamb and Celery Stew (Khoresht-e Karafs)

We got hold of some locally raised mutton the other week, and the first thing I made was this, so delicious. I love Persian food, and this recipe is just wonderful, so subtle and warming. It should be served with barberry rice, (zereshk polo), but we had it with plain rice, because I didn’t know at the time. 

The recipe is from Maryam Sinaiee’s book, Nightingales and Roses. All of the recipes I have tried from this book have been easy to follow, and delicious. She also writes a food blog called The Persian Fusion, which has a good gluten-free section as well. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 large head of cellery
  • 100g flat-leaf parsley
  • 80g mint leaves
  • 6 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 500g lamb or mutton, cut into chunks (preferably lamb neck fillet or lean shoulder, but I had a bit of leg)
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp plain foulr
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • juice of half a lemon
  • black pepper

METHOD:

  • Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy casserole dish, and fry the onions over a moderate heat, until they start to brown
  • Add the lamb/mutton and the turmeric, and fry until lightly browed on all sides. 
  • Pour over boiling water, to cover the meat by a couple of centimetres. Bring to the boil, and then lower the heat so that the lamb/mutton can cook for the next hour. 
  • Next up, prepare the herbs. Remove any tough-looking stems from the mint and parsley, and add any leaves from the celery. Put them in a food processor, or slice finely. This makes quite a mound of chopped herbs. 
  • While the lamb continues to cook, cut the celery stalks into 2 centimetre pieces. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, and add the celery along with 2 tbsp water, and cover. The celery should cook for about half an hour, until almost soft and beginning to brown at the edges. 
  • Once the meat has been cooking for an hour, add the cooked celery pieces with all their juices. 
  • In the frying pan, heat another 2 tbsp oil, and add the herbs and flour, stir and cook for 4-5 minutes, making sure that the herbs don’t burn. Add the cooked herbs to the stew. 
  • Bring the stew back to the boil and cook for another hour (possibly an hour and a half) – the meat should be really tender and the sauce should be thickened. 
  • Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, cook for a further five minutes. 

Serve with rice; I will test out the Zereshk Polo recipe soon. 

Celeriac and celery soup

This has its roots in Delia Smith’s vegetarian cook book. Some of the recipes have lasted with me, and it is a book I dip back to regularly. It is a good way to use all of the celery that gets left from other recipes that only use one or two stalks. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 450g approx of celery stalks
  • 550g approx of celeriac, peeled and chopped
  • 1 onion, peeled
  • 1.5 litres of marigold stock
  • 3 bayleaves
  • salt and pepper
  • creme fraiche or greek yoghurt, chopped herbs to serve. 

METHOD:

  • Preheat the oven to 140C gas mark 1
  • Use a peeler or sharp knife to remove any stringy sections from the outside of the celery stalks. Cut into large chunks.
  • Peel and chop the celeriac, and cut the onion into large wedges.
  • Put all of the ingredients into a large casserole dish with the stock, bayleaves, salt and pepper. Bring it to a simmer on the hob, cover, and transfer to the oven. 
  • Leave to cook in the oven for three hours. 
  • Remove the bayleaves, and blend using a soup wand, 
  • Serve with a swirl of creme fraiche, and chopped herbs. Parsley or chopped celery leaves work well, so do chive flowers, the colour contrast is so beautiful. 

 

Quick-braised celery

I got this recipe out of ‘how to cook’ book 2 by Delia Smith. Word of warning – takes a little longer than I anticipated.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 head of celery, trimmed and cut into 5cm batons
  • 25g butter
  • 75g carrots, cut to match the bits of celery
  • 1/2 large onion, finely sliced
  • 200ml marigold stock
  • Salt, pepper, chopped parsley

METHOD:

  • Melt the butter in a pan, and cook the onion over a medium to high heat, until golden
  • Add the carrots and celery, and cook for another 5 minutes, until beginning to brown
  • Season with salt and pepper, and add the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for around 15 minutes
  • Take the lid off and boil the juices down to a reduced and thickish stock.
  • Serve with the juices poured over the celery and garnished with chopped parsley

I served this with Roman Beef Stew.