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Creamy Celeriac Soup with Waldorf Garnish
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Creamy Celeriac Soup with Waldorf Garnish

As the days get shorter and the dark evenings longer, there’s nothing nicer to eat than foods that are warm and comforting. This soup uses celeriac, a rather uninspiring – some might say ugly looking vegetable but one that packs a real flavour punch.

 

The soup can be eaten as it is once it is made, but you can also garnish it with croutons, a dash of cream or the option that I give here, with a spoonful of finely chopped Waldorf salad. The constituent ingredients of a Waldorf salad are celery, apple and walnuts bound together in a mayonnaise dressing. I have dispensed with the mayonnaise and dressed the garnish with a light vinaigrette made with cider vinegar and rapeseed oil. I also lightly caramelized the walnuts before chopping them and I loved the sweetness that this brought to the dish. This garnish was absolutely heavenly and added a fresh and fruity element to the rich and creamy soup which was delicious.

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See more of my recipes at www.thegamebird.blogspot.ie

 

Ingredients:

Soup:
50g butter
3 shallots, peeled and chopped
1 large celeriac, peeled and diced (about 600g)
500ml vegetable stock

200ml single cream

A little freshly grated nutmeg

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Waldorf garnish:

20g caster sugar

50g walnuts

½ Granny Smith, apple peeled and finely diced

2 sticks of celery, finely diced

1tsp cider vinegar

2-3 tsp rapeseed oil

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method:

  1. Place the butter on a large saucepan over a moderate heat and once it is melted add the chopped shallots and allow to sweat for about 5 minutes, without colouring until they are translucent. Add the diced celeriac and allow to sweat for a further 5-7 minutes, again without colouring.
    2. Once the celeriac has begun to soften a little, add the vegetable stock and increase the heat under the saucepan. Bring up to the boil. Once everything is bubbling away, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and allow to cook for approximately 15 minutes until the celeriac is very soft. Remove from the heat.
    3. Spoon the mixture into a food processor (or use a stick blender) and purée until smooth. Pass the purée through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan and add the cream. Taste, add a pinch of ground nutmeg and adjust seasoning as necessary. Allow to heat gently (but do not boil) while you make the Waldorf garnish.
    Waldorf garnish:
  2. Place a small frying pan over a moderate heat and add the walnuts. Heat the walnuts for a minute or two until they begin to small nutty and just start to colour. Sprinkle the sugar over the walnuts and toss together. The sugar will begin to melt. Keep a close eye on the walnuts, stirring them frequently as the sugar can caramelize very quickly. As soon as this happens, remove from the heat and turn out onto some non-stick baking parchment. Allow to cool.
  3. When cool chop into small dice and mix with diced apple and celery in a small bowl. Add the cider vinegar and rapeseed oil and season well. Mix everything together with a small teaspoon.

To serve:

  1. Pour the soup into serving bowls and top with a heaped teaspoon of the garnish.

Serves 6.

 

552059_396285030437202_648992230_nNiamh Mannion

I’m simply someone who loves cooking and experimenting with food and different ingredients. From my early childhood spent in Zambia and Australia before returning home to Ireland I was fascinated with cookbooks and reading recipes. I would spend many hours reading my grandmother’s cookbooks and watching her preparing food in the kitchen.

Although I studied to become a graphic designer and spent a few years working in advertising before then becoming a civil servant, the one thing I always wanted to be was a food writer – sharing my enthusiasm for cooking with others, but I lacked the confidence to do the thing I wanted to do most in case I failed. I finally decided to take a risk and applied for MasterChef Ireland 2014 and was one of the three finalists.

For me, food and cooking is about family, friendship, sharing and conviviality. As a mother of three, I want my children to grow up with a love and appreciation of how lucky we are to live in a country like Ireland with such great produce and so many wonderful food producers. I continue to write and share my enthusiasm for food on my food and recipe blog The game bird Food Chronicles at http://thegamebird.blogspot.ie/

 

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