Celeriac – Journey From A Polish Kitchen

Basrszcz Ukraiński

My mama only made barszcz the clear beetroot soup, which was served at Wigilia – Christmas Eve
This is a much more hefty, filling beetroot soup.
I got this recipe from one of my Polish friends.
With all the different vegetables I would say make this with 2 litres of stock.
A fatty chicken stock is good – home made is best.
But if you are using stock cubes add some butter to the mix.
Use a large stock pot or saucepan.

INGREDIENTS

3-4 Beetroots – coarse grated – include the stems and leaves if you have them
½ a sweetheart cabbage – finely shredded and chopped.
3-4 medium starchy potatoes – peeled and chopped into small cubes
2 parsnips – coarse grated or chopped into small cubes
2 carrots – coarse grated or choped into small cubes
¼ of a celeriac – cut into small cubes
1 leeks – chopped into small circles
2 litres of chicken stock
4-5 grains of allspice
5-6 peppercorns
2-3 dried juniper berries
1-2 bay leaves
*
1 tin of white beans – cannellini or haricot beans – drained
½ bottle of beetroot concentrate
Salt and pepper to taste
*
Hard boiled eggs for serving – 1 per person – chopped or cut into quarters

METHOD

Bring the chicken stock to the boil and then turn down to simmer.
Add all the chopped vegetables and the allspice, peppercorns, juniper berries and the bay leaves.
Gently simmer till the vegetables are nearly soft.
Add the beans and simmer till they are soft.
Season to taste.
*
Add the beetroot concentrate and stir.
*
Serve in deep bowls and add the eggs on top to serve.

Royal Stafford Blossom Time – Soup plates.

Option – not tested – some people add a few tablespoons of soured cream before serving.

Celeriac & Potato Placki

I saw this recipe in a magazine and thought they would be good.
I had a couple of goes at these as the original recipe did not work as the placki just kept falling apart.
The potatoes MUST be grated on a fine grater.
Some – but not all – of the potato liquid needs to be removed.
I added onions to the original recipe.
They have a slightly sweet taste because of the celeriac.

INGREDIENTS

Around 300 – 500g of peeled celeriac
Equal weight of peeled potatoes
2 small onions – chopped very fine or blended.
2 eggs – beaten
3 tablespoons of plain flour
Salt & pepper
Sunflower oil for frying.

METHOD

Grate the celeriac on a coarse grater and place into a bowl.
Grate the potato using a fine grater.
Use a cheese cloth to remove some of the potato liquid BUT
Keep this liquid as you might need some of it.
Mix the grated celeriac and the grated potato.
Add the onions and mix well.
Add the beaten eggs and 3 tablespoons of flour.
If the mixture is very “sloppy” add a little more flour.
If the mixture is very dry – add a little of the potato water.
You are aiming for a thick mixture.
Season with the salt and pepper.
*
Heat the oil in a frying pan.
Fry large tablespoonfuls of mixture at a time.
Cook each side on a medium heat.
Do not turn the placki too soon – they tend to fall apart.
Take care not to burn them.
Keep warm in a low oven if you want to serve them all together.
*
Serve with fried eggs or with a cold twaróg salad (see later post).

Celeriac & Apple Soup

I tried out this new recipe yesterday and it was delicious.
The balance of flavours can be adjusted depending on how large your celeriac is and how many apples you have.
Bramley cooking apples or other sour apples are needed as the soup is not intended to be sweet – more the sourness that is so popular in many Polish dishes.
This soup is one that is served warm.

Ingredients

1 celeriac
3 – 4 large Bramley apples.
2-3 tablespoons of butter
1½ litres of vegetable stock ( I use Marigold powder)
125ml of dry sherry or wine
Salt & Pepper to taste.

Method

Peel the celeriac and chop it into small pieces.
Peel and core the apples and chop them into small pieces.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the celeriac and apples.
Heat then gently to soften but do not brown.
Add the stock and bring to the boil.
Put the lid on the saucepan and then simmer until the celeriac is soft.
Use a stick blender to purée the soup.
Season to taste.
Stir in the sherry and serve.

Meakin – Spanish garden soup dish

Celeriac & Carrot Soup

A variation on a simple celeriac soup with two options on how to serve.

Ingredients

1 Celeriac
3 Large carrots
1 Onion – chopped
1.5 litres of chicken stock (can be from cube or concentrate)
2-3 Allspice grains
Butter to fry the onion
5 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
Salt and pepper to taste
*
To serve
*
Soured cream or
*
Fried potatoes & charred onions

Method

Peel the celeriac and chop into large chunks.
Peel the carrots and cut into large chunks
Lightly fry the onion in butter till golden.
Put the celeriac, carrots, fried onion and allspice into a pan of chicken stock.
Bring to the boil and then simmer with a lid on the pan until the celeriac and carrots are soft.
Leave to cool slightly.
Purée the soup – a stick blender is good for this.
Add the tomato ketchup.
Season to taste.
Bring the soup back to the boil for a couple of minutes.

To serve – 1

Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of soured cream and stir.

To serve – 2

Serve with fried potatoes and charred onions.

Served in Royal Doulton – Tapestry – 1966 – 1998

Celeriac Soup

Having seen lots of celeriac in the shops this week, I decided to make some of this lovely soup.

Ingredients

1 Celeriac
1 Onion – chopped
1 litre of chicken stock (can be from cube or concentrate)
2-3 allspice grains
Butter to fry the onion
Soured cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped flat-leaved parsley to serve

Method

Peel the celeriac and chop into large chunks.
Lightly fry the onion in butter till golden.
Put the celeriac, fried onion and allspice into a pan of chicken stock.
Bring to the boil and then simmer with a lid on the pan until the celeriac is soft.
Leave to cool slightly.
Purée the soup – a stick blender is good for this.
Bring the soup back to the boil.
Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of soured cream and stir.
Season to taste.
Serve with a dollop of soured cream and chopped flat-leaved parsley.

Served here in Royal Stafford – Blossom Time from the 1950s.

Breaded Celeriac

Celeriac is used more often than celery stalks in Polish cooking.

I first wrote about celeriac in July 2016 Seler – Celeriac – Celery and have written other posts after that.

Celeriac is become more and more popular in the shops in England nowadays.

I came across this recipes recently and it reminded me of à la Polonaise.

Ingredients

1 celeriac
1 egg
Dried breadcrumbs – Bułka tarta
Salt & ground black pepper
Sunflower oil – for frying

Method

Peel the outer part of the celeriac away.
Steam the celeriac till it is soft throughout (20 – 30 minutes).
Allow to cool.
With a clean tea towel mop the celeriac till it is dry.
Cut it into “sticks”.
Sprinkle them with salt & pepper.
Beat the egg and put it into a shallow dish.
Dip the sticks in the beaten egg mixture.
Put the dried breadcrumbs into a shallow dish.
Dip the sticks into the dried breadcrumbs making sure all the sides are covered.

Shallow fry the coated sticks in hot sunflower oil – turning them over.
Place onto kitchen roll to remove any excess oil.
Keep them warm in an oven whilst you fry other batches.

Here served with a beetroot salad.

Goes well with roast chicken or pork.

Krupnik – Pearl Barley Soup

Krupnik is the name of the very Polish – Pearl Barley soup.

Krupnik is also the name of the famous honey liquor drink known in Poland from the 13th century.

I always wondered why these two had the same name. I now know that krupa is an old name for grain and barley in particular – hence the connection.

Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) grows in temperate regions and is one of the oldest known cultivated grains, known in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago.

Jęczmień is the Polish for barley.

Pęczak is the Polish for pearled barley.

Pearl or pearled barley, is whole grain barley that has been processed to remove its fibrous outer hull and polished to remove some or all of the bran layer. It is the most common form of barley for cooking.

I think of this as a quite filling winter soup.

Ingredients

10g dried mushrooms
2 litres of chicken stock (homemade is best – but use cubes if you have no other)
3 carrots
2 parsnips
Half a celeriac or 3 stalks of celery (celeriac is more traditional but not always available in British shops).
150g of pearl barley
4-5 peppercorns
2-3 allspice grains
Salt & ground black pepper
Flat-leaved parsley – to garnish

Method

Cover the mushrooms with boiling water and leave overnight.
Chop the mushrooms into small pieces.
Add the chopped mushrooms and the liquor from soaking to a saucepan of stock.
Peel and grate the carrots on a medium grater.
Peel and chop the parsnips into small pieces,
If using celeriac – peel, cook the whole piece – remove when nearly cooked and chop into small pieces and put back in.
If using celery stalks – chop them fine.
Add the carrots, parsnips and celery/celeriac to the stock.
Add the peppercorns and allspice to the pot.
Bring to the boil.
Rinse the pearl barley with cold water.
Add the pearl barley to the soup and bring back to the boil.
Cook for around 5 minutes.
Cover the pot with a lid.
Turn the heat down and simmer for around 30 minutes.
If using celeriac – remove and chop it up into small pieces and put it back in.
Check that the pearl barley has cooked, simmer for longer if need be.
Check the seasonings.
Serve garnished with flat-leaved parsley.

Served in Royal Doulton – Tapestry – 1966 – 1988.

Celeriac with Prune Sauce

I have just tried another recipe from my new Polish cookbook. It is for cooked celeriac – I adapted it slightly to make it – it is truly delicious.

Ingredients

1 large (or 2 small ) celeriac

150g pitted prunes

75g raisins or sultanas

125ml soured cream

2 -3 tablespoons of prepared horseradish sauce

Juice of 1 or 2 lemons

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Cook the celeriac – I find steaming the best option – leave it to cool and then peel away the outer layer and cut the flesh into cubes. ( You can do this some time beforehand.)

Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180°C.

Cover the raisins with boiling water and leave to soak.

Cover the prunes with boiling water and simmer them gently for around 10 minutes.

Add the soured cream, horseradish sauce, raisins and lemon juice to the prunes and mix together.

Add salt & pepper to taste.

Mix the cubed celeriac with the prune sauce place the mixture in an oven proof dish and cook for at least 30 minutes.

This goes well with hot roast meats such as chicken and especially pork. (I have used the prune & pork combination in other recipes.)

Variations

I think this sauce would go well with other vegetables such as kohlrabi or white turnip.

More Celeriac Salads

My Polish friend who lives in Leeds, just came back from a visit to Poland and mentioned a celeriac salad with carrots and apples that she had enjoyed.

This started me thinking and I made this one and then I tried out a couple of other ones as well.

Ingredients -1

Half a celeriac – peeled

2 -3 carrots

3 apples

Lemon juice

2- 3 tablespoons of soured cream

salt & pepper

Optional

A little bit of sugar

Method – 1

Coarse grate the celeriac.

Peel and then coarse grate the carrots.

Coarse grate 2 of the apples.

Leave the skin on the other apples, remove the core and chop it into small pieces.

In a bowl mix the celeriac, carrots and apple together.

Add the juice of a lemon and the soured cream and mix well.

Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Note

I think this tastes best when made a few hours before serving.

Ingredients -2

Half a celeriac – peeled

2-3 hard pears (Conference are good)

3-4 tomatoes

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt & pepper

A little bit of sugar

Method – 2

Coarse grate the celeriac.

Peel the pears and remove the core and chop them into small chunks.

Chop the tomatoes into small chunks.

Add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix.

Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Ingredients -3

Half a celeriac – peeled

2-3 apples (Braeburn) are good

2-3 red peppers

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt & pepper

A little bit of sugar

Method – 3

Coarse grate the celeriac.

Chop the red peppers into small squares.

Blanch them with boiling water and leave to cool.

Strain and the dry the peppers – with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper.

Leave the skin on the apples, remove the core and chop them into small pieces.

Add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix.

Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Three Celeriac Salads

Served in Carnation by Royal Doulton dishes from 1982 – 1998.

Vegetable Fritters

The Polish for these is kotlety z jarzyn – cutlets from vegetables.

The word kotlety(plural) comes from the Italian word cotoletta(singular) for cutlet or chop.

These are made with boiled or steamed vegetables.

Root vegetables are good here as well as cooked cabbage – you can also add cooked pulses such as peas and beans – I am writing a post just about bean fritters which will be posted soon.

The following vegetable are ones I often use: cabbage, carrots, celeriac, cauliflower, parsnip and potato.

The cooked vegetables need to be chopped fine, minced or mashed – whichever is more suitable or easiest.

For this post I cooked the vegetables especially but this is a good way to use up any leftover cooked vegetables.

Ingredients

Around 500g of cooked vegetables – chopped, mashed or minced as appropriate.
2 onions – chopped fine
Butter to fry the onions
1 egg (can add another egg yolk as well)
2 – 3 tablespoons of potato flour – depends on how moist or starchy the vegetables are.
Salt & pepper
Dried Breadcrumbs
Sunflower oil for frying
Extras – you can add chopped parsley, dill or chives or any other herbs you like.

Method

Chop fine, mash or mince the vegetables as appropriate.

Chop the onions and fry them gently in butter till golden and leave to cool.

Mix the vegetables and the onion together.
Add the egg and mix well.
Add enough potato flour to make the mixture fairly stiff.
Add salt and pepper.
Put dried breadcrumbs on a board or large plate.
Make largish balls of the mixture and flatten them onto the breadcrumbs, turn them over and cover all the sides.
Fry them gently in hot sunflower oil.
You can keep them warm on a baking tray in the oven whilst making the rest.