Celery Root Soup With Chard, Beans And Corn Chicos

5-6 oz. Rattlesnake beans
1/4 cup corn chicos
1 small boneless smoked ham (or a large ham hock)

Place the beans, corn, and ham in a large enameled cast iron pot (Staub 5 quart) and add 4-6 cups water. Place in a 225ºF oven and cook for 1 hour, reduce the heat to 200ºF and continue to cook until the beans are tender but not falling apart, maybe 2 to 3 hours, check every hour. The beans may take longer or shorter to cook, it depends on how old they are. Turn the ham over once or twice during the cooking process. When the beans are done remove the ham and set a side to cool. Reserve the beans, corn, and broth.

Olive oil
1 large leek, split lengthwise and cut crosswise into slices
2 large sprigs fresh rosemary, minced
About 16 sage leaves (2 large sprigs), thinly slivered
9 ounces chard, stems removed and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices, leaves chopped
2 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
2 lb. celery root, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Chicken stock
Tomato paste
Fermented dried Jarales peppers, pulp scraped from the skin, mashed, and reserved (toss the skins)

Warm some olive oil (1-2 Tbsp) in a large pot and sauté the leek until softened. Stir in the rosemary and sage, add the chard stems and celery and continue to cook until slightly softened. Drain the broth from the beans and corn, add the broth to the pot and set aside the beans and corn. Add the celery root and fish sauce to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook until the celery root is nearly tender but still firm. Meanwhile dilute the tomato paste and pepper pulp in a cup of chicken stock. When the celery root is nearly tender add the chard leaves, beans, and corn to the pot and add the tomato paste mixture and more chicken stock to generously cover all the vegetables. Bring back to a simmer and cook until the chard leaves are wilted and tender. Chop the ham into 1/2-inch or so cubes and add it to the pot, simmer to heat through. Taste for salt and add more if desired.

Serve with a spoonful of your best extra virgin olive oil.

Smashed Root Gratin

I added a rutabaga to the mix here because I had one and only one that was big enough to harvest. Fresh celeriac from the garden, a stash of potatoes lingering from a summer harvest, and that lone rutabaga came together into an amazingly flavorful and satisfying gratin. I used Red Boat salt, which is the salt left over making Vietnamese fish sauce, but any good salt is fine to use.

About 1 pound celeriac
About 1 pound potatoes
About 1/2 pound rutabaga (swede)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
1 teaspoon salt (Red Boat)
1 pinch saffron threads
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces semi-soft cheese (Abondance), grated and split into 3 ounce and 1 ounce portions
Dry bread crumbs

Preheat the over to 350ºF.

Peel the celeriac and cut it into about 3/4-inch cubes. Place it in a bowl of cold water. Do the same for the potatoes and rutabaga and hold them in separate bowls of cold water.

Drain the celeriac and steam it until tender enough to mash, about 8 to 10 minutes, maybe more. Place the hot celeriac into a large mixing bowl and toss it with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Repeat the process with the potatoes and rutabaga, each may take a different time to become tender enough to mash so do them separately. Add an additional tablespoon of olive oil as each steamed vegetable is added to the bowl.

While the vegetables are steaming prepare the saffron. Pulverize the threads in a small bowl and add 1/4 cup hot water. Cover and let sit.

Season the steamed vegetables with 1 teaspoon of salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste, an additional tablespoon of olive oil, and the saffron water. Use a potato masher to smash the mixture into a somewhat chunky puree, add more water if the puree seems too thick. Stir 3 ounces of cheese into the puree. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Spoon the puree into an oiled 6-cup gratin dish or baking dish and smooth the top. Scatter the remaining ounce of cheese over the top, sprinkle with a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs, and drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over all.

Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes until the top is brown and crisp and the gratin is bubbling around the edges. Serve immediately.

Makes about 6 to 8 servings as a side dish.

A Stew of Lentils, Celery Root, and Spare Ribs

I came up with this stew to use the first celery root that I harvested this year. I like to pair lentils and celery root and further, I like to add some sort of pork product to the mix. This time I thought this would be a good way to use a small rack of pork ribs that I got in a pig share from Fogline Farm. It turned out to be an excellent way to use the rack. Next time I think I will increase the amount of lentils and further add a couple of pork sausages to the mix.

Olive oil as needed
1 small rack of spare ribs (8 ribs)
salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/2 large sweet onion, cut into large dice
minced garlic (about 1 tbs frozen in olive oil)
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 small fresh true bay leaves
dried sweet pepper flakes (Aji Habanero)
about 3/4 cup of French green lentils (that's all I had on hand, 1 cup would be good)
2 cups chicken stock
about 12 oz. diced (1/2-inch) celery root
1 cup tomato puree (Amish Paste)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
balsamico and hazelnut oil for serving

Heat some olive oil over medium heat in a 5 quart enameled cast iron pot. Season the spare ribs on both sides with salt and fresh ground black pepper, brown them on both sides and set aside. Turn the heat to medium-low and saute the onions, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves until the onions start to brown. Stir in the sweet pepper flakes, the lentils, and the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Place the rack of ribs on top of the lentils, cover the pot, turn the heat to the lowest setting and let simmer 10 to 15 minutes, or until the lentils are just barely starting to soften (may take less time with very fresh lentils or longer with old lentils). Set the rack aside so that you can stir in the diced celery root, return the rack to the pot turning it over. Cover the pan again and continue to simmer over low heat until the lentils are nearly cooked (time??? - 30 minutes?). Remove the rack again so that you can stir in the tomato puree and fish sauce. Turn the heat up to medium low, replace the rack on top of the lentils, barely nestling it into the lentil mixture, and cook uncovered until the sauce has thickened and the lentils are tender (about 10 minutes? - I really need to watch the clock next time I make this). To serve, cut the rack into separate ribs,  place 2 ribs in a heated shallow soup bowl, spoon in a quarter of the lentil mixture, drizzle with a bit of balsamico and hazelnut oil. Serve immediately.

Made four modest servings.