A Dish Of Baked Celery And Its Sauce Recipes

BRAISED CELERY

Steps:

• Peel any of the fibrous outer stalks of celery with a vegetable peeler and slice into 1-inch pieces on the bias.
• Heat the butter in a 10-inch saute pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the celery, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes until just beginning to soften slightly. Add the beef broth and stir to combine. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the celery is tender but not mushy, approximately 5 minutes. Uncover and allow the celery to continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes or until the liquid has been reduced to a glaze. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the reserved leaves.

CREAMY CELERY CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and cook celery until tender, about 5 minutes. Move celery aside, and mix in flour and salt. Pour in milk, and mix all ingredients, stirring constantly, until thickened.
• Stir mushrooms, green bell peppers and pimento peppers into mixture. Mix in cheese, and stir until melted.
• In a small bowl, blend bread crumbs and butter. Transfer the celery mixture to a medium baking dish, and sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.

PAN-COOKED CELERY WITH TOMATOES AND PARSLEY

Steps:

• Place the celery in a steamer above 1 inch of boiling water. Cover and steam 5 minutes, until just tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from the heat and drain.
• Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the garlic. Stir until it smells fragrant, about 30 seconds, and add the anchovy if using, tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, a pinch of sugar and salt and pepper. Stir together, then stir in the celery. Cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down and the mixture is fragrant, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Stir in the remaining parsley just before serving.

BAKED CELERY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
• Separate celery into stalks, remove leaves (save for soup) and trim, wash well and cut into pieces about 3/4-inch thick.
• Place celery in an ungreased casserole dish.
• Dice bacon; add bacon and sliced onion to casserole, atop the celery.
• Sprinkle all with fresh parsley.
• Combine stock and water (or just use all stock) and pour over dish; don't stir.
• Dot casserole with small bits of butter.
• Cover dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until celery is cooked but not mushy.

BAKED CELERY

Steps:

• Carefully wash the celery, pulling back the leaves to remove the grit without breaking them off the stem. Put the sesame oil into, ideally, a Romertopf, a clay pot with a tight-fitting lid. Failing that, use a Dutch oven or oven-safe pot with a lid. Add the celery and squeeze with lemon juice and sprinkle with soy sauce. Put the celery in a cold oven and turn up to 425 degrees. Bake for half an hour.
• Meanwhile carefully wash leeks, removing all the grit, and chop coarsely. Add to celery, bake for 15 minutes.

CELERY BAKED WITH TOMATO AND PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO

Steps:

• Trim the leaves and ends from the celery stalks and remove the strings, either by running a vegetable peeler over the surface of the stalk or by using a paring knife as follows: Hold the stalk in your hands and cut from the inside of the stalk to the outside without cutting all the way through. Just before finishing the cut, pull the knife toward you, and the strings should peel off down the length of the stalk. Cut the trimmed stalks in half crosswise and set them aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400° F. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whack the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and toss them into the pan. Cook, shaking the pan, until golden, about 2 minutes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and their liquid and the water, and season lightly with salt and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat so the sauce is simmering, and cook until the sauce is lightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Taste, and season with additional salt and red pepper if necessary.
• Spoon half the sauce over the bottom of an 11-inch oval baking dish (or equivalent-size dish into which the celery pieces fit in a single layer). Lay the celery pieces, hollow side up and side by side, into the dish. Spoon the remaining sauce evenly over them and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake until the celery is tender but firm, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Remove the aluminum foil, sprinkle the grated cheese in an even layer over the celery, and bake uncovered until the cheese is golden brown and the celery is tender, about 10 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve.

ALMOND CELERY BAKE

Steps:

• Place the celery in a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese, paprika and pepper. Top with the soup. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. , Cover and bake at 375° for 45 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with the almonds. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until golden brown.

CELERY SAUCE

Steps:

• Saute the celery in the butter for 5 minutes.
• Slowly add the flour, while continuously stirring, until the mixture is lump free and smooth.
• Continue stirring while you add the milk and cook until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat and season to taste.

A DISH OF BAKED CELERY AND ITS SAUCE

Steps:

• Snap the heads of celery into individual ribs (a strangely satisfying task), then wash, trim, and neaten them where necessary. Lay the ribs in a large, ovenproof baking dish or saucepan and pour in enough water barely to cover them. Peel and thinly slice the onion, then add to the dish with the bay leaves, a little salt, and some black pepper. Poach over low heat, with the water at a gentle bubble, till the celery is tender to the point of a knife.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Remove the celery, onion, and bay with a slotted spoon and lay them in a large, shallow ovenproof baking dish or roasting pan, leaving the hot cooking liquor behind. Warm the milk in a small pan. In a separate pan, melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the flour. Continue cooking, stirring pretty much continuously, until you have a pale, golden paste-it will smell warm and slightly nutty. Add 1 1/2 cups (350ml) of the cooking liquor from the celery followed by the warmed milk, a small ladleful at a time, until you have a smooth sauce. Stir in three-quarters of the Parmesan and turn the heat down so that the sauce simmers quietly for a good fifteen to twenty minutes. Chop the parsley not too finely, stir it into the sauce, then taste and correct the seasoning (I try to bear in mind that I will be adding more Parmesan shortly, which will be a little salty).
• Pour the sauce over the celery. Mix the remaining grated Parmesan with the breadcrumbs, then sprinkle over the top. Bake for forty minutes or so, until the sauce is bubbling enticingly.