Celebrating celery: Exotic flavors can be coaxed from stalky staple

“It’s one of my favorite side dishes,” says  Gina Hopkins of her husband's braised celery. Linton Hopkins, the chef behind Restaurant Eugene and Holeman & Finch, prepares the classic by tossing it with a knob of butter, simmering with a little beef stock and finishing with a squirt of lemon.

Savannah cookbook author Damon Fowler sent me an ode to celery containing no fewer than four recipes for hot celery: ribs stuffed with country ham and bread crumbs, celery au gratin, cream of celery soup and a standard French braise. “Celery is so commonplace nowadays that the notion of bringing celery to the table as a rare, precious commodity (standing, no less, in a vase) seems extremely odd,” Fowler writes. “And yet once the Victorians … did just that.”

Once, on a episode of “Good Eats,” Food Network star Alton Brown extolled celery as the only food that’s a starch, a vegetable and a spice. The starchy version is celery root (or celeriac), which, as Brown suggests, can be cut into matchsticks and made into remoulade or boiled and pureed like mashed potatoes. The “spice” is the herb-y green part, which may be chopped and used in garnishes, salads and condiments, or simmered in stocks, pilafs and stews. Leaf lovers should check out Chinese celery, which has a chewy stalk, a stronger bite than the rib and a shaggy mop of greenery.

Though I have been feasting on celery roasted with cauliflower and garlic, using it in a chopped salad with walnuts, Medjool dates and pecorino, and pureeing it into soup, my favorite treatment by far is Miller Union chef Steven Satterfield’s luxurious Baked Egg with Celery Cream. One rhapsodic dinner guest told me the celery and egg combo was fit for a last meal. Surely, it would make an exquisite first date.

A signature dish of the much-praised West Side restaurant, this criminally rich concoction makes for a sensational starter course, a main attraction at brunch or, as Satterfield suggests, an accompaniment to braised beef and sautéed greens.

Satterfield says he can’t recall how he came up with it. “I was thinking about poached eggs, but in cream with a court bouillon,” he says. “Then the celery came to mind and I just loved the way it tasted.”

It has surely made a celery stalker out of me.

INSIDE: Recipes for Baked Egg in Celery Cream, Chinese Celery with Tofu and Chili Oil, and Braised Celery with Pine Nut Gremolata.

Recipes

A celebration of celery

These celery dishes are a far cry from Buffalo wings and crudites. The Braised Celery with Pine Nut Gremolata employs a simple technique, then punches it up with a twist on the garlicky Italian condiment gremolata, adding celery leaf along with parsley. A vegan salad of Chinese Celery with Tofu and Chili Oil is ignited by the aromatic spice oil infusion. And Steven Satterfield’s Baked Egg with Celery Cream will give your company something to cluck about.

Braised Celery with Pine Nut Gremolata

Hands on: 15 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4 (side-dish portions)

This dish was inspired by Chef Linton Hopkins’ simple take on braised celery and Bistro Niko chef Gary Donlick’s roasted cauliflower, which he douses in a pungent gremolata made of pine nuts, fistfuls of parsley and preserved lemon.  Traditionally, gremolata is stirred into osso buco at the last minute, and you will find that this version jazzes up plain meats and vegetables of all kinds. The celery leaf is a nice touch, but you may use any combination of herbs you have on hand: parsley, mint, cilantro or basil.

For the gremolata

¼ cup pine nuts

¼ cup chopped celery leaf

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

2 teaspoons minced garlic (or more to taste)

2 tablespoons olive oil (or more to taste)

Zest of one large lemon

1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)

Freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pine nuts on a pie plate and toast in oven until just beginning to brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool for 3 to 5 minutes and chop coarsely.

In a small bowl, place celery leaf, parsley, mint, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Stir, taste and adjust for seasonings — adding more herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper as desired. Set aside until celery is done.

For the braised celery

3 tablespoons butter, divided

1 small bunch of celery, trimmed and cut into 3- to 4-inch strips

1 bay leaf

1 small onion, sliced into thin rings

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup stock (beef, chicken or vegetable stock, or water)

½ lemon

Melt butter in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add celery and stir to coat with butter. Add bay leaf, onion and salt. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and cook until the celery is just done, about 20 minutes. (Pierce celery with fork to check for doneness.) Place celery in a serving bowl or platter while you reduce the sauce. Raise temperature to medium high, add remaining tablespoon of butter and cook until sauce thickens into a glaze. Pour sauce over celery. Squeeze lemon over the dish. Spoon gremolata on top and serve.

Per serving: 206 calories (percent of calories from fat, 82), 4 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 20 grams fat (7 grams saturated), 23 milligrams cholesterol, 1,172 milligrams sodium.

Chinese Celery with Tofu and Chili Oil

Hands on: 15 minutes

Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes (includes resting time for the oil)

Serves: 4 (salad or appetizer servings)

The pure, elemental flavors of this salad of Chinese celery and pressed tofu are bolstered by a chili-infused oil that you make yourself. You may have to go to Buford Highway Farmers Market to get the Chinese celery and pressed tofu, but it will be worth the effort. Keep any leftover chili oil in a tightly lidded jar or bottle and use as a hot sauce on vegetables, meat or rice.

1 piece ginger, 2 inches long, cut into 3 or 4 slices

1 cinnamon stick

3 cloves

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

4 star anise

1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns

1/4 cup red chili flakes, or more to taste

1 cup peanut or vegetable oil

Salt

1 bunch Chinese celery, washed, trimmed and cut into 3- to 4-inch strips

4 to 6 ounces pressed tofu, thinly sliced or julienned

Place ginger, cinnamon, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns and red chili flakes in a medium saucepan. Pour in peanut oil and heat to a slow simmer over low to medium heat. Let the oil bubble for a minute or two and remove from heat. Stir, cover and let sit until cool, at least 1 hour and preferably 2 to 3 hours. Strain oil into a bowl or jar and discard spices.

Put a pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add celery and blanch for about a minute; drain in colander and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Layer celery and tofu on serving plates. Drizzle with chili oil, sprinkle with salt, and serve.

Adapted from a New York Times recipe by Mark Bittman.

Per serving: 157 calories (percent of calories from fat, 82), 3 grams protein, 4 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 15 grams fat (3 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 14 milligrams sodium.

Miller Union’s Baked Farm Egg in Celery Cream

Hands on: 15 minutes

Total time: 50 minutes

Serves: 2 appetizer portions or 1 entree

This celery-infused cream is so good that Miller Union chef Steven Satterfield pours it into all the vegetable gratins at his restaurant. “Using a lot of celery to flavor the cream adds a nice depth and flavor that cuts through the fat in a coaxing way,” Satterfield says. “Celery and cream have a solid history in Southern dishes, like warm crab dip and celery soup.” For a more in-your-face celery flavor, he suggests using celery root in place of stalks. But why mess with perfection?

2 ribs of celery, roughly chopped, including leaves

½ small onion, sliced, including skin

1 shallot, sliced, including skin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 peppercorns

1 small bay leaf

1 sprig fresh thyme

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

½ teaspoon butter

2 fresh eggs

4 to 6 pieces of crusty bread, brushed with olive oil and grilled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium sauce pot, place celery, onion, shallot, salt, peppercorns, bay leaf and thyme. Pour in cream, and stir gently. Place pot over low to medium heat and slowly bring to a simmer. Once the cream is quite hot, remove from stove and cover. Allow to steep 15 minutes or longer.

While cream mixture is resting, grease two ovenproof ramekins or shallow bowls with butter. Crack an egg into each dish, taking care not to upset the yolk. Strain the cream mixture into a small bowl, pressing down on the solids. Taste and adjust seasonings. Spoon half the liquid over each egg. (It’s OK if the egg yolk is protruding slightly.)

Bake in oven for about 6 minutes or longer, taking not to overcook. (Depending on your oven and the depth of the dish, it may take as long as 10 to 12 minutes.) When the egg and cream mixture has just set, place the dishes under the broiler to finish, about 3 to 5 minutes. (Ideally, the egg yolk will be a little runny, but you may decide how firm you want it.) Remove from oven and allow to rest one minute. Serve with the bread. (A note on cooking the bread: You don’t need a grill. Just pour a bit of olive oil into heavy skillet or griddle, and brown bread on both sides.)

Per serving: 427 calories (percent of calories from fat, 61), 12 grams protein, 30 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 29 grams fat (13 grams saturated), 269 milligrams cholesterol, 959 milligrams sodium.