Straight Veggin’
Celery braised in roasted chicken stock and sake with freshly grated Peccorino Romano cheese on a bed of lemon basmati rice.
Larger view here. I visited the Civic Center farmer’s market again today, looking to spend some coins that were jiggin’ in my pocket… and I came home with a few carrots and a rubber band-ed bunch of celery. Not much, but when you consider stopping by while all the purveyors are breaking down their tents and selling everything off dirt cheap (get the pun?), it was really all I could get without getting sick the next morning. Can you believe that they have fish sitting out for 6 hours?!?! EEEEYUCK.
So, as a challenge to myself, I decided to make a meal out of leftovers and my newly purchased produce. With that in mind, I made celery. Yup. Just celery. Saldy type-casted into the role of “ranch / bleu cheese dressing vehicle on vegetable platters,” celery has a very distinct flavor… light, crisp and extremely refreshing.
Since I was cooking for myself (llooonnneeellyyy ttaabbblleee juuussttt ffoooorrr ooonnneeee – Hell yeah Engelbert), I thought I could do a dish that might be somewhat *lacking*. I began by saute-ing shallots in butter. After the shallots became translucent, I added 2.5 inch slices of celery just to heat them up. When warm, I deglazed the pan with a bit of sake to get the brown bits (read: flavor) off the bottom and reduced it until almost evaporated. When “demi-sec,” I threw in about a cup of leftover chicken stock that I had in the freezer from a few weeks ago. I popped a lid on top and and let it simmer for about 30 minutes… just enough for the celery to get niiiiice and tender. Finally, I plated the celery over some rice from yesterday and shaved a bit of cheese on top for garnish.
Was it good? YES. The meaty-ness from the chicken stock (not chicken broth) really stood out in the dish, without masking the natural flavors of the celery. I thought they came out tasty (and I <3 the MEAT)! While I might not eat it everyday, I would surely use it in a side dish to accompany a hearty slab of meat (i.e. grilled flank steak or chicken, beef stew, pork chops, etc…) as a fancier alternative to pre-cut, microwaved frozen veggie medleys from the supermarket. Not that there’s anything wrong with frozen veggie medleys from the supermarket… Hee hee.
Yay for celery! 
~Spec
