Celeriac, With Garlicky Chard Stems & Chard

Every year about this time, when I'm shopping at the farmers market, I get asked when people see me buying celeriac, "what do you do with that stuff"?

So this year I'm ready for them!  Please don't be afraid of celeriac, not to be confused with celery root, although I think it's in the same family of vegetables.

Celeriac has a wonderful nutty flavor, that goes great with onion, chard stems and garlic.  Here's a recipe to live for!

Recipe for two:

1 red onion, chopped
1 celeriac, tops removed, peeled and cubed, save the tops for making stock
6 chard stems, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
chard greens, chopped
1 t paprika
salt and pepper
2 T olive oil
1/2 T butter

Put some oil and butter in a heavy saute pan, and place over medium high heat.  When the oils hot and the butter has melted, add the onion and celeriac.  Cook until they are nice and soft, then add the garlic.

Stir the mixture and cook until the is cooked, about 30 seconds.  Then add the salt, pepper and paprika. Stir and cook for another 30 seconds, then lower the heat to low,  add the greens and cook a little more to wilt.

Serve onto warm plates, with your favorite protein, we had it with salmon and a sauce made from stock and butter!

Bon Appetit!  Chef Hobbes

Spanish Chorizo Breakfast!

I was just pinning a little Mediterranean influence for Sunday breakfast!

Recipe for two:
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
10 brown crimini mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
1 big handful baby spinach
1 or 2 links chorizo, skin removed and crumbled
Handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 t paprika
1 pinch chili flakes
1 pinch both salt and pepper
1 T olive oil
1 T butter

Get a saute pan nice and hot over medium high heat, with the oil and butter.  When the oils hot and the butter foaming add the mushrooms and brown them!

Tip:  Don't wash mushrooms!  Wipe them clean with a cloth.

When the shrooms are good and brown, transfer them to a bowl.  Now add a little more oil and butter to the pan if necessary and cook the onions.  When the onions are almost done, add the chorizo and the salt, pepper, paprika and chili flakes.

When everything looks like its done, add the mushrooms and tomatoes, cook some more, then melt in the spinach at the last moment!

Serve with a glass of Champagne!

Bon Appetit!  Chef Hobbes

Chicken Tenders with Rosemary Sweet Potatoes

Hobbes' Chicken McNuggets!  Moms and Dads, this dish is fast, easy, cheap and the kids will love the stuff!

First get your oven nice and hot, around 375* works well.  Slice some potatoes and place in a large stainless steel bowl.  Now peel a sweet potato and slice it up, cut it so it looks like large french fries.

Pour in some olive oil, salt and pepper, paprika, fresh rosemary and a few whole cloves of garlic (skins left on).  Mix the ingredients to coat the potatoes with oil and seasoning.  Place on a sheet pan or roasting pan.  Tip to help with the clean up; use parchment paper if you want...  Throw these in the oven until done, 30-45 minutes.

While those are cooking, season your organic chicken tenders with salt and pepper, then cover with a little bit of flour.  Place a pan over high heat with quite a bit of olive oil (not extra virgin).  When the oil is really hot place tenders in the pan.  If you're doing a lot, then cook a few at a time, if you crowd the pan the meat tends to want to steam and not brown.  With tongs turn when brown, if you want you can finish them in the oven.  Tip:  These will cook fast so make sure your spuds are almost done!

Bon Appetit!

Celeriac or Celery Root...

Celeriac, sometimes called celery root, is a wonderful root vegetable, but few people know how to use it.  It has a great sweet and nutty flavor, which can be used in soups, mashed potatoes or for sauteing.

Recipe:
celeriac
shallots or red onion
sweet potato
garlic
paprika
salt and pepper
coconut oil, butter or olive oil
greens

Here's how I use it.  If your lucky enough to get a celeriac with the tops on, cut these off and stick them in the freezer, to use later in stock, they add wonderful flavor to stock...  Cut off the top and bottom of the root so you have a nice flat surface.  Now peel the root.  I find using a knife rather than a peeler works better for me, but that's your choice.

Slice the root and then cube the slices into 1/4" cubes and set aside.  Now peel and slice some shallot or sweet red onion.  Cube up some sweet potato the same size as the celeriac.  In a saute pan over med-hi heat melt the coconut oil, when the oil is hot add the onion, celeriac and sweet potato and stir or shake the pan.  Now season with salt and pepper.  Cook until almost soft, then add garlic and paprika, cook a little more, making sure not to brown the garlic, so keep it moving.  At this point you can lower the heat to low and melt in some greens like spinach, chard or kale. Or you could add the mixture without the green to mashed potatoes!

Bon Appetit!