I know that it has been too long since I've written about some of the recipes that I've been trying. I think it is going to take me a few weeks to catch up with some of the delicious dishes I've made recently, so stay with me!
The first dish I want to tell you about really surprised me. I think it may be my new - make when I need comfort food beef stew, and I truly didn't expect that. I was looking through some of my cookbooks the other day, and I saw this recipe for Venison Cider Stew in "A Well Seasoned Appetite" by Molly O'Neill. Normally I would have just passed right by it because of the venison, but I thought to myself "well, I could use beef". I continued looking at the list of ingredients, and even though the celery root made me uncomfortable, the rest of the ingredients beckoned me - apple cider, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon...
Needless to say, I decided to give this recipe a try. Off to the store I went, and immediately had trouble finding celery root. Thankfully there was a produce manager to help me. He said that a lot of people had been using celery root lately. Perhaps I'm not the only one trying new things! It's not the most attractive thing in the produce section, quite gnarled and very rooty. Which is I guess what I should have expected! I made a few substitutions - some I meant to do such as beef for the venison; and some I didn't mean to do - I forgot to pick up Calvados at the store, but it ended up being absolutely delicious! I wasn't sure what celery root was going to taste like, so I was a bit apprehensive. I am not a fan of either parsnips or turnips - or perhaps it is both I don't like, I never can remember. Celery root is very much like celery, but almost softer somehow.
The cooking is a bit different for beef than it is for venison, so if you do want to use venison - ask and I'll give you the directions.
Beef Cider Stew (Adapted from Venison Cider Stew)
from "A Well Seasoned Appetite" by Molly O'Neill
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound beef stew meat
2 tablespoons flour, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper
1 onion, peeled and minced
2 small celery roots, trimmed, peeled, and cubed
1/2 cup apple cider
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup dried apples, diced
1/4 cup Calvados (I used 1/8 cup brandy and 1/8 cup apple cider)
1/4 cup unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped
Warm the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Dust the beef with the seasoned flour. Add to the pan and cook, stirring, until well browned. Remove the beef from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onion to the pan and cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the celery roots and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the beef back to the pan, along with the apple cider, vinegar, broth, salt, pepper, and cinnamon stick. Simmer until the celery root is tender, about 1 hour.
While the stew is simmering, soak the dried apples in the Calvados.
Taste and adjust the seasoning of the stew with salt and pepper. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Ladle the stew into large bowls. Garnish with the apple-Calvados mixture and pistachios and serve.
Serves 4 as a main course
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