celery root: the undisputed champion of the dirt fed world.

as i sit here on a blustery rainy november evening, sipping my generous glass of cheap white (a guilty pleasure, i assure you) i cannot help but share this amazing, astounding, absolutely delightful experience i have created. i call it... ryuu's sweet n' savory fall root soup. made for a certain someone visiting for the holidays, i believe that this is the definitive reason EVERYONE should try the long shunned celery root. so sad and unknown, it cries out for love... and to be eaten. om-nom-noms.

an intimidating vegetable to the food preparation challenged, the "celeriac" is most commonly roasted and purred into soups, stews, mashed into gratins and other baked potato-ish dishes, etc. however, it is a low starch option, contain up to only ~7% starch content - a far cry from ye olde russet or golden potato. sweet and mild with a celery like bite, it is a great accompaniment to almost all fall and winter dishes. plus, it smells freakin' aweome, so that's a plus.

but, in this soup... ooooh my. every ingredient is palpable, every spice is present to the nose, every flavor is felt on the tongue. salt vs. spice, savory vs. sweet, a consumer delicacy vs. a seasonal staple... it is absolutely amazing, and i am here to share my new found knowledge with  you. if you've a vegan,  a fellow glutard, a carnivore, a vegetarian or just a culinary nerd in your audience, then you must try this. i simply pulled this out of my butt: any way you want to mess with it is HIGHLY recommended. add sausage! put some cream in it! add more veggies! i don't care, have at you! enjoy the experience - it WILL soothe the soul, as it were.

ryuu's sweet n' savory fall root soup: cook time ~ 1.75 hours, 3.5 hours with baking
5 qt dutch oven/large soup pot
1 sugar pie pumpkin, baked
1 large celery root, baked
2 medium onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 large-ish carrots, half mooned
1 rutagaba, chopped
1 med fennel bulb, stalks too, chopped
1 large parsnip, half mooned
2 large handfulls button mushrooms, sliced
2 teaspoons (at least) garlic, fine chop
2 quarts veggie broth, more to suit your soup as needed/preferred
1/4 lemon, chopped in half (2 1/8s lemon)
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp thyme
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch chopped parsley to garnish

1) cut your pumpkin in 1/2 length wise, your celery root into 1/4s. line cookie sheet with foil and place pumpkin and celery cut sides down, cover with additional foil to prevent burning. bake at 350 degrees for 1.5 hours. set aside to cool.
2) heat your dutch oven/soup pot over medium heat, add your rutabaga - cook until softened, about 10 minutes. add celery, carrots, onions, parsnips and garlic and cook until the flavors meld, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. keep covered.
3) dump the veggie broth in, adding lemon wedges, bay leaves, thyme (BE GENEROUS - thyme is the most important!), cinnamon, cardamom, salt and pepper - bring to a boil, covered.
4) when boiling, add mushrooms and let fall to a simmer, low-medium heat - let it stay and roll for approximately 20 minutes. by now, you should be SOOO hungry. leave covered.
5) chop your celery root into 1/2 inch pieces, add to the goodness and let simmer another 10 minutes, covered. while the soup is finishing, add small-ish spoonful sized chunks of the now cooled sugar pie w/o skins, about 1/2 the pumpkin. remember, skins taste icky: compost them! let the soup simmer another 5 to 10 minutes, and top with the chopped parsley.
6) EAT IT. so awesome. remember, don't eat the bay leaves. gross.

random notes...

mushrooms hold thyme and veggie flavor so well... like little dumplings of bursting flavor.
celery root - sweet, celery savory with a mellow finish, so cleansing on the palate
sugar pie pumpkin - not required, but a whole addition of sweet taste to round out the celery root and veggie power, sooo HIGHLY recommended.
bay leaves - SO necessary, the "dry" flavor is to DIE for.
cinnamon matches the rutabaga and c. root to a T, a required spice!
cardamom + thyme + cinnamon = AMAZING!
parsley is a beautiful finish to the sweet root body, an herby carrier to tasteful heaven.


and there, the first recipe i feel comfortable sharing. enjoy it, may it bring you deep joy and profound ideas for your next meal. peace out fools.

chocolate makes the heart explode. thank god there be a cure.

i have made... a MASTERPIECE. well, not really. just fudge. no big deal.

the treat in all it's splendor.
mine, however, looks better.
believe it to be true.

OR IS IT?! O.o

it started as any other kitchen adventure does: perusing the interwebs in search of a tasty treat. "to chow.com!" i hear from the couch. so we quickly tread over to aforesaid destination. behold: a treasure trove! "you're doing it wrong." "chow tips." "cooking with grandma." could this site get any better? and then... i see it. what i came looking for: peanut butter chocolate fudge. the perfect flavor combination that 1) will perfectly satisfy the soul to a state of nirvana, 2) the simple sounds in the name of this delightful nectar of the gods brings a symphony of trumpets to play in thine head, and 3) it's real damn easy to make. like, real easy. 10 minutes, tops. well, not including the trip to the store anyway.

which brings me to another point of my evening. as j and i sat stupefied by the awesomeness of chow.com (as usual), we sifted through the library of "you're doing it wrong" - a series of videos created for the sole purpose (and with the forceful intent) of making any flim-flam fuddy-duddy "cook" into a walking kitchen viking on their way to culinary Valhalla. seriously: watch just five of these and you will not be the same. the perfect grilled cheese? check. the perfect stir fry? check. cooking a frozen turkey to a state of flavorful awesomeness? check. also, brine your turkey. a ryuu top-tip - you'll never go back to deep fried bird again! but for another time... back to the rant. GO HERE. amazingness, without a doubt.

left: rolled oats
right: unrolled groats

the last video we watched sparked an interesting concept: oatmeal. no, not that nuked cement paper crap you put into your microwave, OATMEAL. the real deal, made with... you know, oats n' stuffs. it all starts with the oat groats, or cat grass as y'all might know it, the seed variety typically given to horses, cattle, and other live stocky-ish animals. for our consumption, they are pressed into the oatmeal you typically buy (the little flat oats? really just squished groats - did that just blow your mind, or what?) or else they are typically ground into oat flour for baking cookies and cakes and the like. for those like me (the gluten sensitive or "glutard" as it were) oats are not a huge threat as people claim. they do contain a small amount of avenin, a protien that can be toxic to some such as myself, but most with a simple intolerance will do fine. they are only marketed as glutenous mainly for the fact that they are milled in the same locales as wheat, barely, rye, etc. the more you know...

we have this one. it is awesome.

now, if you have a coffee or spice grinder you can grind them into a finer consistency, soak them in a small covered jar over night, and make them into oatmeal in the morning. add the entire bunch, groats and water alike, and bring to a simmer over medium. cook until it loses a little water and reaches your desired consistency. breakfast! BE SURE to add the proper fixin's: oat groats' nutrients are mostly fat soluble, meaning there needs to be a fatty substance to get the nutrients out of them. go plain with milk and honey and a dash of blueberries or go crazy with coconut milk, acai and a touch of mango. either way, you can't lose.

ima go eat some fudge now. be jealous.

the love child of oats and fudge.
i give you... the oatmeal peanut fudge bar.

pickled tea with a foot rub - minus the foot rub.

it is 7:53 on a rainy, chill, windy saturday as i sit with my boo on the couch. we are busily doing nothing, as it were, but there is something that we can both attest to.

chai. hot, delightful, fragrant warming chai. a dollop of honey, a splash of cream, a full mug of steeped goodness - in a pickle jar. yeah, that's right. i find that this said 'glass' is one of the most amazing and necessary items to find in your cupboard. kind of like horseradish. and tortillas. and rum. but i digress - you know when you're on the hunt for that perfect glass for your drink? you rifle through the regular drinking glasses, the batman mug, the hello kitty tumbler, the pickle jar...

wait, what? PICKLE JAR? holy crap - i must drink from this holy grail of awesomeness.

it's that bright and fleeting moment that graces you maybe only once a day, for the unlucky ones anyway. kind of like when you find the perfect pair of shoes in a store front window, the perfect ohmygodlookattheamazingcutepuppies calendar at the stand on the mall, when someone offers you a back massage, etc etc. you get my gist. seriously, if you do not have this amazing glass in your household, get one. who doesn't want sweet chai tea out of a sweet creek chilli dillie pickle jar? that's right - no one. because it is awesome.

also - canning jars make the most amazing drinking glasses for the boozer in your life. literally: amazing. add your tequila, your ice, your salt and mix, your slice of lime - add lid. shake profusely. drink the most satisfyingly made drink you e'er done drink, son. for reals, who doesn't wanna shake their margarita in a canning jar?! "whoa dude, what the hell are you making?" "time bomb. real easy, drinkable too." "O.o" "nah, just kidding. wanna sip?" the concept of this is an easy one - no spoon required, no cocktail shaker dirtied, everyone gets a laugh. in short, canning jars are kick ass. and sweetly multi-functional. also, they come in super tiny 8 oz. all the way up to the monster 128 friggin' oz. size. perfect for that one special alcoholic friend of yours - in this case, mine loves pirates. and drinks larger than his face. (pst - remember that margarita?)

so go on - make your tea in a pickle jar, your gin and tonic in a jam container. once you step down this path, your glass collection will be the greatest on your street guaranteed. well, at least one of the most humorous anyway.

one

to truely understand food, you can't just eat it. you can't just cook it. you can't JUST anything about it. if you don't have the love for food, the passion, the understanding, there is a certain emptiness surrounding your relationship with one of the most intimate activities your body has. understanding food is going past the sustenance, past the need to feed, past the necessity to fuel your body: it is an essential ideal that, without it, you can never experience real satisfaction with yourself.

for example, imagine your mother's kitchen. imagine the first time you were there, the first image that comes to you. imagine who was there with you. the lighting. the colors. the smell. the clutter on the counter.most important, what are you cooking? cookies? pasta? chicken? anything? i believe that this first memory is the one that defines your entire life's experience with food: this experience is what subconsciously drives you towards the foods you eat, how you eat them, how you feel when you eat them.

my first memory is a simple one. i am two or three years old. my mother is standing next to me, moving between the stove and the refrigerator: her hair is loose, following her like a shadow as she turns. i am standing on top of a foot stool, leaning on the edge of the black salt-and-pepper speckled stove, watching a medium sauce pan boil my lunch: macaroni. as i watch the starchy water froth and threaten to overflow the edges i hear my mother behind me - don't get too close, you'll burn yourself. i lean back as my mother starts running water in the sink behind me; hearing the noise distracts me, i turn to her to watch. she turns and takes the noodles off of the burner with a single swift movement - i turn back to look, leaning over the hot stove coil. i put my hand on the coil to get a better view of the noodles. the bubble that stretches across my palm from the pad of my thumb, along the bottom near my wrist and to the edge of my pinkie finger is about an inch wide and quite tender. someone rushes in to help when my mother calls.

that's the extent of it, anyway. as long as i have been near a kitchen i have always been most fascinated not so much with the outcome but the process, the science, the art of the cooking itself. the first thing i remember making by myself was a fish casserole. the recipe time given was one hour, but i took three. when it was finished it was the most exhausting and exhilarating thing that, up until that time, i had ever done. i made my own juice as a kid with an older bulky monstrosity of a juicer. i always wanted the strangest thing the menu could offer: at age 9 i ordered jambalaya frog legs and made them hop across the table, much to the delight of the chefs peeking out from the kitchen to see if i would actually eat them. in middle school i hung out in the back of a bakery, helping bake the breads and cakes for the next day while learning the ins and outs of the kitchen. it was pretty sweet, pun intended.

for a few years now i haven't been in this state of mind. i have had friends and co-workers in the foodie profession that have graciously shared this part of their lives with me, but i haven't pursued it myself. being in the position i am in now, working with my community to help create a foodie culture based off of sustainability and supporting your neighboring farmers, looking for the cleanest and most real food possible, eating organically and in season, i feel the time is right to start following this hobby as it were. to really think about my relationship with food and what direction i want to take it. hopefully these blurbs will give you some laughs, some insights, and some ideas of your own.