Celery Root!

Celery root - my new favorite vegetable!! this gnarly looking thing, once peeled and cooked, is really yummy. My experimentations so far: mashed with potato and a yummy cream of celery root soup, which was even better the next day. I plan to try lots of other preparations, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here's my recipe for the soup. (and send me any suggestions you might have)

Cream of Celery Root and Potato Soup

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

4 strips of bacon

4 large celery roots, peeled and cut into 1” pieces

1 potato, peeled and cut into 1” pieces

6 cups chicken stock

1 tbsp chopped rosemary

1 cup milk or cream

Olive oil

Sat & pepper

1/4 tsp cumin

• Coat the bottom of a heavy pot with olive oil. Turn on medium heat and

add onion, carrot and celery. Cook till softened, about 8 minutes.

• Add bacon and cook about 2-3 minutes.

• Add celery root, potato, stock and rosemary. Season with salt & pepper.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes, till

vegetables are very tender.

• Turn off heat and put soup through a food mill to remove any fibrous

pieces.

• Return to soup pot, add cream and cumin, and blend with an immersion

blender till smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning.

• Serve with garnish of crispy bacon bits and/or garlic croutons.

Chili

Drizzly winter days call for warm foods, like Chili! I decided while at Whole Foods that I needed to make chili, even though, surprise, I've never made it before. I knew I had all of the appropriate chili powders at home, since I do use those fairly often, so it was off to the meat counter to chat with the butcher. I had him cube some beef chuck for me and I also got some ground buffalo, for a different texture. I searched FoodNetwork.com, and combined a few recipes (a lot of Bobby Flay plus some others) and came up with this. It was a big hit! I served it with the guacamole on the side, and topped it with a heap of cheddar, and a swirl of cumin flavored sour cream.

Chili

Olive Oil
2 pounds beef (chuck), cut into ½ - 1 inch cubes
½ pound ground buffalo
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons ancho chili powder
½ tablespoon chipotle chili powder
½ tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 ounces dark beer
2 cups homemade chicken stock, or canned low-sodium or water
1 (28-ounce) can san marzano tomatoes, with their juice put through a food mill
1 tablespoon chipotle pepper puree
1 tablespoon honey
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper, and sauté until browned on all sides. You may have to do this in batches – do not crowd the meat or it will steam instead of browning. This should take about 8-10 minutes per batch. Transfer the meat to a plate. Add ground buffalo, season w/ salt and pepper and cook 3-5 minutes till browned. Transfer to the plate with the meat.

Add the onions, pepper and celery to the pan and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the ancho powder, chipotle powder, chili powder, and cumin and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add the beer and cook until completely reduced (about 15-20 minutes). Return the meat to the pot, add the chicken stock, tomatoes, chipotle puree, honey and chocolate, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and simmer for 2 hours. Add the beans and continue cooking for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the lime juice, and adjust seasonings.

Serve with a swirl of Cumin Crema, guacamole, grated cheddar and corn bread.

Cumin Crema:

1 pint creme fraiche, Mexican crema or sour cream
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted & ground
1 tablespoon fresh lime
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk together ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Place in a squeeze bottle. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Guacamole:

2 ripe avocados
½ - 1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
½ red onion, finely diced
juice of ½ lime
1 tsp chipotle chili puree
Mash the avocado in a bowl. Mix in remaining ingredients.

A New Year

First cooking class of the year: Winter Roasting. Of course, nobody remembered to take photos, so you'll just have to take my word that the food looked great! It tasted great too, and everyone had a good time. We had a full house, 6 people, which is always fun. Good conversations, 3 regular students, and 2 new ones. I hope that this trend will continue and will try to do two classes a month this year.

Here are the recipes from last night's class:

Herb and Lemon Roasted Chicken

Serves 4-6. Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

1 5lb organic chicken

1/4 stick butter, softened

1 tbsp chopped sage, plus one bunch whole

1 lemon, sliced

1/2 onion, quartered

Salt

Paprika

• Preheat oven to 450°
• Combine butter, sage, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl
• Pat chicken dry with paper towels
• Sprinkle inside and out with salt
• Loosen skin on the chicken breast and put some of the butter underneath
• Spread remaining butter all over the chicken
• Put sliced lemon, whole sage, and onion inside chicken cavity. Tie legs together with twine.
• Place on roasting rack in a shallow pan. Sprinkle with a little bit of paprika.
• Roast for 40 minutes, then baste, reduce oven temp. to 375° and continue cooking, basting every 15 minutes until internal temperature taken at thigh reaches 165 or juices run clear. (about 45 minutes – 1 hour more for a 5 lb chicken – 15-20 minutes per pound)
• Remove to a cutting board and tent with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Roasted Cauliflower

Serves 4. Prep time: 10 minutes. Cook time: 45 minutes.

1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets

1 head of garlic, broken into cloves

Olive oil (just enough to coat cauliflower)

1 tsp chopped rosemary

Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Salt to taste

1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano

• Preheat oven to 375°
• Preheat baking dish while you prepare the cauliflower
• Toss all ingredients except the cheese in a large bowl
• Arrange in baking dish into one layer
• Cook for about 15 minutes, stir, then sprinkle parmigiano reggiano over top
• Continue cooking for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly

Roasted Pears with Mascarpone Cheese

Serves 6. Prep time: 10 minutes. Cook time: 30 minutes.

3 Bosc pears

1 container mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup sugar

juice from one lemon

1/4 cup honey

1 cup pomegranate juice

1/2 cup port

1 vanilla bean, halved

2 cinnamon sticks

peel from one lemon

leaves from one sprig of rosemary

• Preheat oven to 375°
• Peel the pears, slice in half, scoop out core with a melon baller. Toss pears in lemon juice to prevent discoloring.
• Combine juice, port, vanilla bean (scrape the inside of the bean), cinnamon sticks, lemon peel, rosemary and honey in a bowl.
• Toss pears in the mixture, then arrange in a baking dish. Pour remaining mixture over the pears.
• Bake pears, turning once halfway through, for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
• Meanwhile, pour cooking liquid into a small saucepan and simmer to reduce.
• Combine mascarpone and sugar. Serve one pear half with a dollop of mascarpone on each plate. Drizzle cooking liquid over top.