What is Celery Root/Celeriac? What do I do with it?

There is a cute little bakery and sandwich shop in Hawkesbury, ON that makes the BEST celeri rave slaw (or celeri remoulade, as it is often called) - Le Petit Pain Bakery.

Many years back I asked the bakery owner if I could possibly have the recipe. She told me she'd only give me the recipe if I bought her bakery. She guards that recipe to this day and I've been on a quest to find a recipe that tastes like hers ever since!

This week in our CSA Winter basket you'll find a celery root (or celeriac) that is perfect for making and falling in love with this salad, too.

And if you're ever in Hawkesbury be sure to order the Celeriac Creamy Salad yourself!

Creamy Celeri Remoulade

Celery root will discolour once sliced open and grated. So, a great idea is to make the dressing before slicing and grating the celery root, to keep most of its snow-white texture.

To peel celery root, lop off the root and opposite end with a chef’s knife. Then stand the round root on a flat end then take the knife and cut downward, working around the outside, to slice off the tough skin. 

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup of mayonnaise, homemade or store-bought

1 1/4 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

1 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice

freshly-ground black pepper

1 small (250 g) celery root

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, 1 teaspoon of salt, lemon juice, and a few grinds of black pepper.

2. Peel the celery root and grate it coarsely. Larger gratings or julienne match-stick pieces work best. If pieces are too small the salad will be soggy.  

3. Mix the dressing with the celery root and taste, adding additional salt, pepper, mustard, and lemon juice, to taste.

**Farmer Jonathan version: add grated carrots, daikon, a little onion and serve on a bed of fresh farm arugula. 

Storage: The salad will keep for two days in the refrigerator. Thanks davidlebovitz.com for the recipe.