A True Love Affair, Almost -- Une vraie histoire d'amour, enfin presque
C'est simple comme bonjour ! or "It is as easy as saying hello".
I swear that this is an expression that we use. I had not used it in so long!
The idea of adding vanilla to celery root had been with me for a while. I knew for a long time that these two ingredients would fall in love with each other. When I brought the dish to the table, I told P. that I had a surprise. I asked him if he could guess what ingredient I had added to my celery mash, knowing well that I was not being fair on him. P. is not one of these people who are good at food blind tests. But as the two of us like to play this silly game anyway, he tried. After a few attempts, he finally gave in and begged for the answer. "C'est de la vanille", I said, to which he responded immediately "Ah mais oui, évidemment, je le savais" (I knew it!).
Of course, easy for me to say that it should have been obvious to him when I had cooked the dish. But the truth is that I really believed that it was not possible to confuse the vanilla flavor with anything else. The power of the spice was definitely present.
Since I have always enjoyed to prepare celery root, whether in salads, soups, steamed, in gratin, braisé or mashed, I was pretty happy with my experiment. Can you really resist any type of vegetable mash? I can't. A smooth warm texture melting in the mouth? Ah yes, please! If kids like it, their reason is good. While searching for ideas for the holidays, I imagined this accompaniment dish. Extremely simple to make, with a twist that makes it stand out from the more traditional vegetable mash. I cooked the celery root in milk infused with fresh vanilla and thyme, and added fresh pomegranate seeds. Like many root vegetables, celery root has natural sweetness that matched perfectly vanilla. As I remembered a bottle of pomegranate molasses bought a while ago, I thought this celery mash was going to be a good place to make use of it. Needless to say that it worked as a charm. The more acidic touch brought by the sauce balanced the sweetness of the vegetable mash whereas the fresh pomegranate seeds were a good contrast in texture, bringing crunchiness into the smoothness of the mash. I was pretty excited to have a dish that would be a great addition to one of the holidays menus. I cannot wait to try it again!
And of course, I hope that you like it! If you do not cook celery root often, this is a good place to start.
Vanilla-Flavored Celery Mash and Pomegranate Sauce
- 1 celery root (14 oz)
- 1 pomegranate
- 7/8 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 1/4 vanilla bean, cut and seeds removed
- Fleur de sel
- Pepper
- Pomegranate molasses*
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a sautée pan and cook the celery root (washed, peeled and cut in big chunks) for 5 mns.
- Add the milk. Cut the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds out. Add them to the milk with the thyme. Cook on low heat until the vegetables are tender. When you reach that point, remove the vanilla pod and thyme sprigs and mix the vegetable with the milk (use a food processor or a hand mixer). Season with pepper.
- Heat the pomegranate molasses on low heat.
- Serve the mashed celery with fresh pomegranate seeds and the pomegranate sauce. Sprinkle with fleur de sel.
Le coin français
Purée de céleri vanillée et sauce à la grenade
- 1 boule de céleri rave (400 g)
- 1 grenade
- 20 cl de lait
- 15 g de beurre
- 1 càs d'huile d'olive
- 2 brins de thym
- 1/4 gousse de vanille, fendue et grattée
- Fleur de sel
- Poivre
- Mélasse de grenade*
- Faites fondre le beurre et l'huile d'olive dans une sauteuse et faites revenir le céleri lavé, épluché et coupé en gros morceaux pendant 5 mns.
- Ajoutez le lait, la gousse de vanille fendue et grattée et ses graines, les brins de thym, et faites mijoter à feu doux jusqu'à ce que les légumes soient tendres. À ce stade, mixez les légumes avec le lait. Poivrez.
- Faites chauffer la mélasse de grenade sur feux doux.
- Servez la purée avec la sauce et des graines de grenade. Ajoutez de la fleur de sel.
31 Comments
L lena ·
P peabody ·
G Gluten-Free By The Bay ·
M mayacook ·
M matt ·
T Tanna ·
A Alhya ·
M marion ·
K krista ·
C connie ·
A Anita ·
M Miss Diane ·
R Riana ·
L lorette ·
C chantal33 ·
G gattina ·
J Jeff ·
B Brilynn ·
V valentina ·
V veron ·
C Camille ·
J janelle ·
B Béa ·
Peabody, oh I bet the puree you had must have been divine!
Gluten-Free By the Bay, thank you! I hope you will like it!
Mayacook, merci bien.
Matt, oh you are someone. Thank you very much. I promise to keep a copy when it is out! Find me the "damn" publisher!
Tanna, oh I hope you try this vegetable. As a salad to start with, it is wonderfully simple and delicious.
Alhya, merci bien!
Marion, merci!
Krista, if you try, I ope you like it. I wonder what your first try was like.
Connie, thank you. I am glad you like the idea.
Anita, thanks my dear! Ah yes, this time of year is perfect for us lovers of fabrics of all sorts!
Miss Diane, merci.
Riana, oh, I cannot wait to hear what you think. Happy holidays to you too!
Lorette, J'avais fait du canard avec, et du poisson une autre fois.
Chantal, merci.
Gattina, ahhah, if you say so, I will take your word. I will make sure to remind him next time he gets grumpy with me!
Jeff, ahaha you are funny. Well, you are not that far! Do you want to help chop? ;-)
Brilynn, thank you! Good point taken. It could well have been tartlets!
Valentina, thank you!
Veron, thank my dear. I feel flattered!
Camille, oui oui, j'adore.
Janelle, this salad sounds very tasty too. I like them together as a matter of fact. early Xmas gift? Lucky you! I am not allowed to open.
C Claude-Olivier ·
C Cuisine Pop ·
F fanny ·
B Béa ·
Merci Cuisine Pop. J'espère que tu seras chanceuse dans tes recherches.
Nice Fanny. This is a compliment then!
G Gracianne ·
J Julie ·
L Lamar Cole ·
N nicoleta ·