This dinner has a back story.
A few weeks ago, we escaped.
We spent 20 hours sans children, and it was life-affirmingly awesome. Of course we slept for half of those, because we were exhausted. We went to a lovely hotel nearby, and ate in their amazing restaurant, Salt, and just about died from relaxation.
My husband ordered the most delicious dish – it had pan seared salmon on top of asparagus and a bed of risotto with celery root. Celery root. I love celery root with potatoes but I had never tried it in risotto before. I ordered Bucatini (thick spaghetti with a hole in the center) and Lobster, so good!
But I kept thinking about my husbands dish, and the dreamy risotto, and I had to try making it at home. So the next time we had a grill night, we got the asparagus (with some other veggies in this delicious marinade):
We got the salmon – grilled with our favorite cajun rub from The Dinosaur BBQ -the restaurant we went to all the time when we lived in Upstate New York:
And I made risotto using this lovely vegetable:
It is so ugly, right? Even the cashier checking me out asked, ‘What is this?’ I told her it was celery root. ‘What do you do with it?’ she asked. I said I usually cube, boil, and mash it with potatoes, so that the mashed potatoes take on the subtle celery perfume of this root. But today, I would be sautéing it with onions at the start of a risotto.
It was so good. Creamy and cheesy and fragrant with the celery root. After I made it, I found a recipe that used leek instead of onion, and I think I might try that next time since it sounds delicious too. Eating this was almost as good as getting away for 20 hours.
And we had it with this wine I am loving right now:
If you read this book-
you might remember she mentions drinking Pouilly Fume and Pouilly Fusse a lot. Pouilly Fume is a French Sauvignon Blanc, while the Pouilly Fusse is a French Chardonnay. You can’t go wrong with picking either one in the summer time.
So if you are feeling any signs of parenting burn out, the symptoms of which include a hyper-irritation to the sound ‘mom’ and acute fatigue, especially when you notice a pile of work/laundry/mail you have yet to get to, then find an escape. And bring some of it back home. Or at least bring back the wine.
Celery Root Risotto (print recipe here):
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion or leek
- 1 medium celery root, cubed
- 1 cup arborio or medium-grain white rice
- 3 cups (about) chicken broth, warmed (you can use 1/2 cup white wine to start then 2 1/2 cups hot broth)
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
Directions:
Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in celery root cubes and onion or leek. Cover; cook until celery root is tender but not brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Mix in rice; stir 1 minute. Add wine first, if you are using, or just add 1 cup warm broth (it helps to cook faster if the broth is warm). Keep adding the rest of broth until each addition gets absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Mix in 3/4 cup cheese. Season risotto to taste with salt and pepper.
Divide risotto between plates. Serve with remaining cheese.
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