Recipes: Celery

Pot Roast Pheasant with Celery, White Wine & Fennel Seeds (pictured above)

Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour - 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients
50g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 pheasants
6 shallots, peeled & cut in half
4 large sticks celery, each cut into 3, plus a few leaves
3 fat cloves garlic, sliced
2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed in a pestle & mortar
500ml white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method 
Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Over a medium high heat, melt the butter with the olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish large enough to fit both pheasants snuggly. When it is foaming, add one of the pheasants and fry until crisp and golden all over. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the other bird, also transferring in to a plate.

Reduce the heat to a minimum, add the shallots and cook for around 10 minutes or so until they are soft and translucent. Add the celery (reserving the leaves), garlic and fennel seeds, stirring well to coat in the buttery juices. Season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour in the wine, return the pheasants to the pan and bring up to a simmer. Cover with a lid or tightly fitting piece of foil and transfer to the oven. Cook for an hour to an hour and a half, until the meat from the birds in falling away from the bone.

Turn off the oven. Remove the pheasants from the pot and pulling off the legs and carving off the breast in one piece. Transfer the meat to a serving platter, cover loosely with foil and return to the oven to keep warm.

Simmer the sauce on the hob until slightly thickened, whisking briskly to emulsify it together a little. Serve the pheasant with a little sauce poured over, and the rest in a jug alongside for adding as you eat, alongside creamy mashed potato and some buttered spring greens.

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Caramelized Fenland Celery Tarte Tatin with Parmesan & Sage crust 

 

Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course
Preparation time: 40 minutes, plus resting the pastry
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes


For the pastry
100g cold butter, cut into 1cm dice
200g plain flour
8 sage leaves, finely chopped
25g parmesan, finely grated
Pinch salt

For the filling
2 whole bunches of Fenland celery, remove outer leaves and trim roots but do not separate out the sticks
50g unsalted butter
1tbsp olive oil
1tbsp dark brown sugar
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
25g freshly grated parmesan to sprinkle

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Make the pastry in a large bowl by tossing the diced butter in the flour, sage, parmesan and a pinch of salt. Add just enough ice-cold water, about 6-8 tablespoons, to bring it together into a firm dough that is not too sticky. There should be no loose pieces of fat or flour left in the bowl.

Turn onto a floured work surface and roll into a rectangle of about 1 cm thick. Fold the top third into towards you into the middle, and the bottom third up over it - just like folding a letter. Turn the pastry by 90°, roll out to a rectangle again and repeat the folding. Repeat this turning, rolling and folding process 4 or 5 times, keeping the board and rolling pin lightly floured. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for at least an hour before using.

Whilst the pastry is chilling, make the filling. Cut each Fenland celery bunch into half through the root, then each half into quarters leaving you with 8 pieces. Melt the butter with the oil in a frying pan that can go in the oven. Add the sugar, balsamic vinegar and celery and season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover the mix loosely with a piece of damp greaseproof paper and gently sweat for 15-20 minutes until the celery is soft & tender when pierced with the point of a knife.

Remove the greaseproof paper, turn up the heat and fry for a further 5 minutes until lightly caramelized. Turn off the heat and spread the celery out evenly in a single layer over the base of the pan. Allow to cool a little.

On a floured work surface roll out the pastry into a circle just a little larger than the frying pan. Carefully lift the pastry and lay over the celery, tucking the edges under. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry has puffed up. Remove from the oven and carefully turn out onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan and return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes until the parmesan has browned and the pastry is cooked through.

Cooks tip: this pastry freezes really well so make a double batch and store the rest for a later date. If you want to prepare ahead, make up to the turning out stage then cool. When ready to serve, sprinkle with the cheese and reheat in a hot oven.

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Fenland Celery braised in White Wine, Cream & Thyme

To serve as a side with roast chicken
Serves 4-6 as a side dish
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 30-45 minutes


Ingredients
1 bunch Fenland celery, separated into stems
Small bunch fresh thyme, woody stalks removed
150ml white wine
250ml double cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
25g butter

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Use a potato peeler to take a thin slice down the outer edge of each Fenland celery stem to remove any tough strings. Cut each stem in half and for the thicker stems, cut in half down the length too.

Lay the celery end to end in a rectangular baking dish, tucking in the thyme sprigs.

In a jug, stir together the wine, cream and crushed garlic. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour the wine and cream over the celery and dot the butter over the top. Loosely cover with foil and bake in the over for an hour or so until the celery is just tender when pierced with the point of a knife. Remove the foil and bake for a further 30-45 minutes until the top is golden and bubbling

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Spring onion and asparagus risotto

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes


Ingredients
25g butter
1 stick of celery, finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
175g Arborio rice
100ml white wine
750ml vegetable or chicken stock, hot
6 asparagus spears, chopped into 1cm rounds, tips kept whole
3 spring onions, sliced
50g Parmesan cheese, grated

Method
Melt the butter in a large, heavy based saucepan. On a medium heat cook the celery for 5 minutes until it becomes tender, then add the garlic, then the rice and stir to coat. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Pour in the wine and stir until absorbed. Pour in half of the hot stock, stir well and simmer stirring occasionally. Once the stock is almost absorbed, pour in half of the remaining stock and continue to cook.

Add the asparagus and spring onions and half the remaining stock. Continue adding half of the remaining stock and stirring until the rice is cooked with a slight bite in the centre and not mushy. The risotto should be wet with a creamy sauce.

Remove from the heat, stir in half of the Parmesan and some black pepper, check the seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Serve with the remaining Parmesan sprinkled over and any left-over celery tops, chopped.

As you get towards the end of the cooking time keep tasting the rice and use a little more or less stock if required.

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