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plllog

ACK!! Celery Attack!!!

2 days ago

The celery from the farm has been a bit measly for the last month, but last week I got a fairly nice one. This week, when I don't need celerly, they sent two. Big ones. Which may freeze in the little fridge because there's no room in the crisper of the main one, nor anyplace else.


The only celery forward dishes I know are ants on a log (no takers for either any kind of nut butter, nor raisins) and cream of celery soup, which I might like a single bowl of, but not a whole pot, and no one else would eat it. I'm not even making stuffing. I usually have a pretty good food imagination for this kind of thing, but clerey has me stumped. I mean, I can't imagine celerey pot pie, or celery souffle, or celery in a blanket, or celery pastry, or celery chicken. I suppose I could make celery stock, but what would I use it for?


I'd give it away if I had any takers....

Comments (27)

  • 2 days ago
    last modified: 2 days ago

    Celery salad can be delicious, although I think of it more as a summer dish. Braised celery makes a nice side dish.

    plllog thanked Fun2BHere
  • 2 days ago

    I have no idea of what those are. Can you explain?

  • 2 days ago

    Add it to the base of any stew or casserole as part of a classic mirepoix. We try not to eat a lot of meat so I bulk out dishes with vegetables, one of which is celery.

    Braise it simply in the oven with a little butter or oil. Use it as a vegetable side dish. Put chopped celery under a roast along with the onions and or carrots. Add it chopped to any savoury pie filling. We're not big salad eaters but it combines well with apple and raisins.


    I use cooked celery a lot in autumn and winter.

    plllog thanked floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
  • 2 days ago

    We always had celery sticks stuffed with pimento cheese for holidays.

    plllog thanked Sherry8aNorthAL
  • 2 days ago
    last modified: 2 days ago

    Yeah, I can use it in general cooking just fine. It's using up a lot, fast, that has me tumped.

    I can't even imagine braised celery. The pictures don't look enticing. I can imagine a celery potato dish, but we don't generally eat potatoes.

    But that made the phrase "celery chutney" came into my head and I found this: https://www.tortelliniandco.com/en/chutney-celery/

  • 2 days ago

    I googled and freezing it for later use in cooking came up.

    plllog thanked Sherry8aNorthAL
  • 2 days ago

    I don't understand why braised celery doesn't look enticing. To me it looks no worse than any cooked vegetable like leeks or cabbage. Imo there's no need to make anything complicated with the excess celery. It's just another vegetable.


    On the other hand, any of your ideas, pot pie, chicken, souffle would work with celery. Google has multiple examples.

    plllog thanked floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
  • yesterday

    One of my favorite brisket recipes is from Ina and it is named Brisket with carrots and onions. The celery should be in the title since it has so much braised celery in it. Very yummy.


    Ina brisket recipe


    plllog thanked JoanM
  • yesterday

    I'll go with floral's idea. Make a mirepoix, and portion and freeze.

    plllog thanked hobbitmom
  • yesterday

    I chop and freeze bell peppers without cooking. Celery should be able to do the same way.

    I cut the bell peppers in half, remove the seeds, and then chop into cubes. Freeze on a half sheet pan. When frozen, put in quart ziplock. Since they are frozen individually, they do not stick together and you can remove however much you need.

    plllog thanked Sherry8aNorthAL
  • yesterday

    Thank-you all for the responses!


    Floral, I don't find braised leeks or cabbage appetizing either! In a mix, sure, same as celery, but not as a whole portion, like steamed green beans or squash or broccoli. Same as part of a mix in any of those dishes (souffle, pot pie) as the star. As a small part of the mix, yes, but not as the main event. All the recipes that came up on Google for celery pot pie were for chicken pot pie, and for celery souffle, weren't actual souffles, but egg dishes, and sounded ghastly. I'll try a UK centered search later since I'm obviously missing something.


    Olychick, thanks for the links! I'll read them through when I'm more awake. The salads sound appealing.


    JoanM, I have a small piece of brisket just waiting to be cooked!


    Hobbitmom and Sherry, I appreciate the suggestion, but we have year round fresh. I always have mirapoix ingredients on hand. This is a LOT of celery, and I can't imagine giving up the freezer space to it--or remembering to use it.


    I'm going to try the "chutney" and JoanM's Ina recipe. I think the two of them will take care of my problem nicely. I appreciate all of you for helping!




    .

  • yesterday

    My peppers. Onion chopper in background.



  • yesterday
    last modified: yesterday

    Sherry, we have that same chopper. DH uses it often to make salsa.

    My mom would often fill celery sticks with this mixture. I still love it. Sometimes she’d just mix cream cheese with chopped olives and red onion for the celery. They were a favorite with chili or soup.

    8-oz. cream cheese, softened

    1 small clove garlic, minced

    1 T. minced green onion

    1 T. chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried)

    1 T. chopped fresh dill (or 1 tsp. dried)

    Salt, to taste

    ETA - I can vouch for Ina’s brisket!👍🏻

    plllog thanked chloebud
  • yesterday

    My MIL gave me my first chopper for Christmas. I am embarrassed to say how many years it took me to try it.

    I am now on my third one, lol.


  • yesterday

    Pillog, If you do not mind chopping fresh all the time, of course. I have celery year round also, but it goes bad on me, as well as any other vegetable, that is why I freeze.

  • yesterday
    last modified: yesterday

    Oh, I get that! Food keeps better in my big fridge than any other I've had. Of course, I try to use things soonest, and I have no reason to think the vegetables don't lose nutrients at the normal rate, but roots and hardy things like celery don't go bad until they're shockingly neglected. ;) And I would rather chop for the current need than in bulk, but I get why it's convenient for you. That pan of peppers looks yummy as is!


    Chloebud, that looks more like a party thing to me, but I'm glad you shared the recipe. A different flavor than I've seen.

  • yesterday

    @JoanM @chloebud, do you think the brisket recipe will make well in in a covered roaster, or do you think the tighter binding of the foil over paper has some magic?

  • yesterday

    plllog, my mom would also serve it as a spread, or make it into a cheeseball. We often had some in the fridge. It’s rare that I serve chili without the celery sticks filled with just cream cheese, olives and onion.


    ”I am embarrassed to say how many years it took me to try it.”

    Sherry, DH came home with ours one day and I’ve still never used it.

  • yesterday

    The brisket should be fine with a snug lid (as is the case with most meats I’ve braised). She uses the parchment to keep the tomatoes from touching the foil. I didn’t use the parchment but did kind of ”pouf” the foil over the pan while still sealing the edges.

    Regarding celery, has anyone wrapped the stalk in foil to store in the fridge? It seems to work nicely.


    plllog thanked chloebud
  • yesterday

    I've had some really nice side salads with celery before, in restaurants. The celery-apple combinations sound enticing.

  • yesterday

    The brisket sounds good, but I have no idea what I would do with that many servings, it is only two of us and he does not eat frozen meals???? I do have an enameled cast iron pot that would be great for that (7qt). I bought it to make venison osso buco.

  • yesterday

    Sherry, you could easily reduce the amounts. I can’t remember for sure, but the brisket I used wasn’t 6-7 pounds as called for in Ina’s recipe. It might have been 4 1/2 or 5 lbs., but you could do even less if needed and adjust the other ingredients accordingly.

    Your enameled cast iron would be great. Due to its exceptional heat conduction/retention, I don’t braise anything in my Le Creuset in the oven over 300-325. That’s just been my own experience.

    plllog thanked chloebud
  • yesterday

    @Sherry8aNorthAL....leftover brisket is yummy. I use it for a number of things...Braise long enough to shred, add BBQ sauce for BBQ beef sandwiches, street tacos with white onion and cilantro and corn tortillas, Shredded beef burritos, beef/noodle or veggie beef soup. I'm pretty sure that whatever you might do with leftover chuck roast can also be done with brisket.

  • yesterday

    ^Agree!

  • yesterday

    I think you can freeze peppers without blanching because they are really a fruit. I don't think you can do that with vegetables like celery.

    plllog thanked Olychick