If you’re from Louisiana, it’s likely there is not much you can cook without the “holy trinity”: a mixture of equal parts onion, bell pepper and celery. Paula Guilbeau of Cumming’s Heirloom Gardens hails “from the bayou” and celery is a staple in her kitchen.
Looking around for interesting vegetables for her own kitchen as well as for her community-supported agriculture customers, restaurant clients and the shoppers at the Wednesday Dunwoody Farmers Market and Saturday Peachtree Road Farmers Market, she found “Giant Red,” an heirloom variety with dark red inner stalks and a deeply pronounced celery flavor. You might call it Extreme Celery.
“I’ve learned it’s not a celery to eat raw. It’s much better cooked. The stalks and leaves are intensely fragrant. When I have it in my booth, it just draws customers in, at least those who like celery,” Guilbeau said. Once they’ve entered her booth, she tells them this celery is good for juicing, braising or stewing.
The stalks grow to at least 15 inches and can be as long as two feet. The celery can be harvested as a head or as individual stalks. Guilbeau sells stalks by the bundle and then is able to keep cutting and harvesting her spring crop until the weather gets too hot and her fall crop until there’s a freeze or she simply runs out of plants to harvest.
Celery needs a steady supply of moisture.
“It’s a swamp dweller and likes boggy soil,” said Guilbeau. She’s found that the low corner in one of her greenhouses provides the perfect microclimate – a moist, shady place where nothing else would grow well. Her celery is very happy there.
If you purchase local celery and can’t use it all right away, freeze the extra. Sauté it by itself or cook up a batch of classic French mirepoix (onions, carrots and celery) or the Cajun version with onions, peppers and celery and freeze recipe-size quantities. And don’t discard the leaves, which are just as flavorful as the stalks. The leaves and any stalk trimmings should go into a freezer-bag for the next time you’re making chicken or beef stock.
At local farmers markets
Cooking demos:
6 p.m. Thursday, October 18. Chef Seth Freedman of Forage and Flame. East Atlanta Village Farmer’s Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
9:30 a.m. Saturday, October 20. Chef David Larkworth from Five Seasons Brewery. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday, October 20. 3rd Annual Market Mash Up & Silent Auction. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
FOR SALE
Vegetables, fruit and nuts: African squash, apples, arugula, Asian greens, beets, broccoli, broccoli raab, butternut squash, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, chestnuts, collards, cucumbers, dandelion, edamame, eggplant, endive, fava beans, field peas, garlic, ginger, green and yellow beans, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, komatsuna, lettuce, Malabar spinach, muscadine grapes, mushrooms, mustard greens, Napa cabbage, okra, onions, pea shoots, pears, pecans, peppers, persimmons, popcorn, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, sorrel, spaghetti squash, spinach, sweet potato greens, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips and turnip greens, winter squash, yellow squash, zucchini
From local reports
Celery Julep
Hands on: 20 minutes Total time: 20 minutes Serves: 6
If you’re a fan of Dr. Brown’s old fashioned and hard-to-find Cel-Ray Tonic, you’ll leap at the chance to make this syrup and create your own version. Imagine serving Celery Juleps for Thanksgiving dinner.
10 ounces celery, roughly chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups Kentucky bourbon
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups seltzer water or club soda (optional)
6 celery ribs with leaves, for garnish
Using a food processor, pulse celery, sugar, celery seeds and salt until finely chopped. Pour mixture into a small sauce and warm over low heat until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.
Use a medium-mesh strainer to strain celery mixture into a 2-cup measuring cup. Press on solids to release as much liquid as possible. You may need to do this in batches. Use immediately or store celery syrup in refrigerator for up to one week. You should have just over 1 cup syrup.
When ready to serve, fill six 9-ounce julep glasses with crushed ice. To each glass, add 2 ounces bourbon, a tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 to 3 tablespoons reserved celery syrup. Stir and top with seltzer or club soda if desired. Garnish with celery rib.
Adapted from “Simple Fresh Southern” by Matt Lee and Ted Lee (Clarkston Potter, $35).
Per serving: 215 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), trace protein, 20 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 118 milligrams sodium.
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