Adventures with Celeriac

The first time celeriac appeared in my organic veg box, it went straight from the box to the compost bin. I didn't bother with the charade of putting this knobbly, root and mud-encrusted monster in the bottom of the fridge, unloved, until finally it was so withered I threw it out.

A friend bought celeriac once saying it looked like a shrunken head and he couldn't resist it.

Nigel Slater waxes lyrical, of course:

[I] find its ivory skin, the crown flashed with pale green and brown freckles, rather beautiful when freshly dug.

But even he admits to leaving it in the bottom of the fridge ...

When another one turned up this week, I knew I had to get a better attitude and perhaps a few recipes. (I went crazy and ordered the nine-box, that is, a box of nine vegetables. Usually, I hedge my bets and get a mini-box - the same price but only six vegetables and a bag of fruit. Having only six veg keeps out riff-raff like celeriac).

I'd been reading Nigel, who talked about the silky puree made from steamed celeriac, and its taste "somewhere between celery and walnut" and came across a recipe for smoked haddock and celeriac soup, and another for a pate-like celeriac remoulade. I happened to have some smoked mackerel and a bit of creme fraiche that needed finishing off, so I made my versions.

Source Nigel Slater's smoked haddock and celeriac soup.

My Version: Smoked Mackerel and Celeriac Soup

Remove the skin from 100g-150g smoked mackerel and place in a shallow pan. Tuck a bay leaf among the fish, grind over a little black pepper, cover with about 200ml milk and bring to the boil over a gentle heat. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, trim, peel and dice 200g-250g celeriac, before washing to remove any grit and covering with cold water. When the milk is ready, remove the fish to a dish with a slotted spoon, drain the celeriac and add to the infused milk and add about 250ml-300ml water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook until the celeriac is soft.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool before pureeing in a food processor or with a stick blender. Gently break up the smoked mackerel and add to the creamy celeriac and re-heat (not fiercely) until ready to eat. You can add crispy bacon bits and chopped parsley before serving, although it is very nice without. Add creme fraiche, if you've some in the fridge.

Hot tip: remove the bay leaf before blending :)

Source Nigel Slater's smoked mackerel celeriac remoulade. I left out the radishes and cornichons and added chopped walnuts.

From the left: dried apricots marinating in cranberry juice for a red cabbage recipe tomorrow; the last of the smoked mackerel and celeriac soup and my little pot of smoked mackerel celeriac remoulade, waiting for the butter to solidify before it goes in the fridge. I'm looking forward to trying that on home-made wholemeal toasted bread.

I did make bread today, trying out a wholemeal loaf baked in a pan - I wanted to try for bread structured enough to use for sandwiches. It worked perfectly, although I'm going to look for a shorter, deeper tin to create fewer, larger slices.