I first learned about the wonders of Celeriac while studying cooking in Paris last summer. The Chef had us make a celery root gratin and it was one of the most wonderful things I have ever tasted. Not low on the calorie spectrum, but since it is made of primarily vegetables, I have justified it’s beneficial existence:) It became a quick favorite in my house, so I often look for celeriac when I am cruising the vegetable aisles of grocery stores. In wanting to further my education, this time I decided to try something new. Since I don’t love breakfast foods, I am always searching for something slightly non-breakfasty that can still pass for a morning meal. (Personally, I would prefer to eat last night’s leftovers for breakfast!). My search brought me upon a recipe for Celery Root & Potato Latkes. Being a fan and a bit of an expert when it comes to latkes, this sounded like a perfect fit!
If you are not familiar with Celeriac, here are some tidbits of information:
- Celariac is a root vegetable and is usually erroneously referred to as celery root. It is edible raw or cooked, and tastes similar to the stalks (the upper part of the stem) of celery. Celeriac may be roasted, stewed, blanched, or mashed. Sliced celeriac occurs as an ingredient in soups, casseroles and other savory dishes.
- Unlike many root vegetables, celeriac contains little starch: 5–6% by weight.
- The shelf life of celeriac is approximately three to four months if stored between 0°C (32°F) and 5°C (41°F), and not allowed to dry out.
On to the recipe! I opted for the quick way out by using my food processor for prepping my ingredients. First I shredded the peeled celeriac in the processor and then converted it to my regular chopping blade for a quick whirl to make it slightly finer. Just a couple quick pulses are fine. I emptied the processor and reinstalled the shredding blade, and then alternated shredding the potato and onion sections. By alternating them, it helps keep the potatoes from turning brown – an old trick I learned from years of making latkes! I always make sure to pull out any large pieces that don’t get shredded and hand chop them back into the bowl. I again converted to my regular chopping blade for another couple of pulses. I mixed in a splash of the lemon juice, took the potato-onion mixture out and put it in a fine sieve squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Some people like to do this over a bowl so that you can drain out all of the liquid and use the potato starch that will be left in the bottom as it helps bind the latkes together. (The recipe offers an alternate process of using a box grater to grate the ingredients and instructs putting the potato-onion mixture in a towel to wring out the moisture. That works well also.)
In a bowl, I now added the rest of the ingredients and mixed it all together to form the mixture for the latkes. Be sure to season generously with salt and pepper to perk up the flavors. (Since this would be a great addition to my Passover recipes, I already know that I can substitute matzo meal for the flour to keep it kosher.)
I used Sunflower oil to fry the latkes and I find that you do not need to have them soaking in oil, just enough to sufficiently cover the bottom of the pan, adding more as needed. You can fry an individual latke first to taste for any seasoning adjustments since you probably don’t want to taste the mixture raw! I always place the cooked latkes on a rack over a paper towel lined cookie sheet so that they will stay crisp. If you want to cook them ahead, you can flash freeze them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and then store them in freezer bags. Then just reheat them frozen in a 375° oven for about 8-10 minutes. (Watch that they don’t burn as ovens may vary) They taste much better frozen and reheated rather than stored in the refrigerator.
To serve the latkes, I topped them with a dollop of sour cream and fried pancetta. (Definitely not a kosher version!) You could also top them with smoked salmon, caviar, avocado hollandaise, salsa – use your imagination!
Recipe adapted from Epicurious:
ingredients
- 1 large celery root (celeriac; 1 1/2 lb), peeled with a knife
- 1 1/2 lb large russet (baking) potatoes (about 3 large)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 lb onions, quartered
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground celery seeds
- About 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- Special equipment: a kitchen towel (not terry cloth)
preparation
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 250°F.
Coarsely grate celery root into a bowl using the 1/3-inch-wide holes of a box grater.
Peel potatoes and coarsely grate into a large bowl. Add lemon juice and toss. Coarsely grate onions into same bowl.
Transfer to towel, then gather up corners to form a sack and twist tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible.
Return potatoes and onions to cleaned bowl and stir in celery root, flour, eggs, salt, pepper, and celery seeds until combined well.
Heat 1/3 inch oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Fill a 1/4-cup measure (not tightly packed) with latke mixture and carefully spoon it into skillet, then flatten to 3 inches in diameter with a slotted spatula. Form 3 more latkes in skillet, then fry until undersides are deep golden, 1 1/2 to 3 minutes. Turn over using 2 spatulas and fry until deep golden all over, 1 1/2 to 3 minutes more. (If latkes brown too quickly, lower heat to moderate.) Transfer to paper towels to drain briefly. Keep warm in 1 layer on a metal rack set in a shallow baking pan in oven. Make more latkes in same manner. Use a second rack and baking pan to keep last batches warm.
Cooks’ note: Latkes can be fried 1 hour ahead.
2 opinions on “Celeriac (celery root), my new favorite vegetable!”
Comment posting is disabled at the moment.
As ugly as that celery root looked, it tasted unbelievably delicious. And, I felt very healthy eating seconds!
I’ll have to try Celeriac root. However, the latkes will have to wait until next April. Once a year for latkes stinking up the house, is enough!