Leftover celery

[mamster]

I often buy a whole bunch of celery for a recipe that requires a single rib. What should I do with the rest? I can only eat so much celery and peanut butter. Once I made a celery gratin, and it was pretty boring. I never have this problem with onions and carrots, partly because they're sold in smaller units and partly because they seem to be a lot more versatile. Thoughts?

[Jinmyo]

I use celery in many different ways. Of course as an aromatic in soups, sauces, and stocks. But also sliced on the bias into thick pieces along with shaved fennel as a salad with feta or pecorino. Actually, I find the more prominently I use celery as a major rather than minor component in a dish, the better it is.

[Varmint]

Celery soup?

Stir fry ingredient.

Stock.

I've heard that you can dice it and freeze it for use in soup.

[Brad S]

Celery-leek...celery-potato.......celery-cabbage soups. Make and freeze.

Celery salad with smoked salmon.

Celery and radish salad.

Capanata.

Celery juice.

Celery tonic

[southern girl]

Garnish for Bloody Marys

[Jaymes]

Quick and easy (actually, that's the story of my life; should probably be my user name):

Get a packet of dry Italian salad dressing mix. Combine it with cream cheese to taste. Stuff celery stalks, or cherry tomatoes. Thin with a little cream or evap milk and use it as a dip.

As suggested previously, I often chop leftover celery and freeze for later use.

[Blue Heron]

When you have extra celery, or other fresh items you can present them to your neighbor (preferably in some type of container). Then of course they will return your container filled with some goodies of their own. (this method also works without a container, as they will just remember you when they run into the same situation).

[Jaymes]

When you have extra celery, or other fresh items you can present them to your neighbor (preferably in some type of container).  Then of course they will return your container filled with some goodies of their own. 

This creative method also works splendidly when you have a casserole or other baking dish that you cannot get clean.

Just bake something in it and present it to the neighbor; it will be returned in no time, clean as a whistle.

[mamster]

All of these are good suggestions, but I'm particularly drawn to the celery salad. I forgot about that salad they serve at Grand Sichuan International with the celery and the hot oil and the heroin (there must be some reason I always eat so much of it). Jinmyo's version sounds great, too. And I'll try the dicing and freezing, too.

I just mentioned to Laurie that I started this thread and she said, "Just buy a can of cheez whiz and presto, instant hors d'oeuvres."

[nightscotsman]

In the Michel Bras Dessert Notebook there are recipes for candied celery (using the stalks) and a celery liqueur and celery sorbet (using the leaves). I'm actually really excited about trying them. So many recipes, so little time.

[SobaAddict70]

with the celery and the hot oil and the heroin

huh?

SA

ps. don't forget to use the leaves when making stock or in a mirepoix.

[tommy]

filled with cream cheese, with a piece of smoked salmon on top, sprinkle with chopped chives.

tuna fish.

a dash of salt and skip the snickers for a snack.

put it in water in the fridge and it will last almost 2 weeks (little known ancient tommy secret).

slice it thin and include it in a cucumber salad, with rice wine vinegar, a little sugar, salt, and pepper.

wave it in the air, like you just don't care.

[Priscilla]

OK, that is my favorite Tommy-supplied graphic of all time, and I know stone-cold it will never be bested.

Celery is a treasure, not an albatross! As Jinmyo said, giving it a greater role is very rewarding. I know you said, Mamster, that you did not enjoy it in a gratin, but braised, as you would endives, chicken stock and butter and herbs and the piece of paper over the pan, the whole shebang, it is so good. Subtle seeming, and yet very there.

Also, I'm with Tommy, keeping it in the fridge in water to have with crunchy salt and drinks--or even with no drinks, I hasten to add--it's a treasure.

Pre-de-stringed, of course.

[tommy]

OK, that is my favorite Tommy-supplied graphic of all time, and I know stone-cold it will never be bested.

i thought it was pretty effing clever myself, and i'm not afraid to admit it.

[tommy]

Pre-de-stringed, of course.

and how does one pre-de-string it? i generally get that little bit in my mouth that i chew for oh, 20 minutes, until realizing that it has to be spit out. any help would be appreciated.

[Priscilla]

i generally get that little bit in my mouth that i chew for oh, 20 minutes, until realizing that it has to be spit out.

Yeah, but some people like that part the best!

I'm thinking the held-proudly-aloft-pair-o'-celery-heads would make a good avatar, that's what I'm thinking.

How I de-string, (others will have their own, better, ideas, certainly): After topping and tipping, if I may borrow from the green-bean vernacular, with a paring knife and my thumb I grab a few strings, shallowly, (reflective of my personality?) at the one end, and pull them away along the length. Repeat all around the demicircle.

If I'm doing a lot a lot a lot, as for the aforementioned braise, I will use a veg peeler, which is fast, but also runs the risk of removing too much flesh.

I have taken to, as the Consort is so keen on raw celery, prepping the entire heart of a new head, leaving on as many leaves as seem pleasantly edible, and then into water, and into the fridge. A treasure.

[Rachel Perlow]

I've heard that you can dice it and freeze it for use in soup.

Not just soup. And don't freeze it raw. Instead dice your celery (first count how many stalks you have or how many cups you yield) and sweat it for about 5 minutes, until the point where normally you'd add the next ingredient. The divide it into baggies for the freezer, dividing by the number you started with (i.e. 5 stalks = 5 baggies, 2.5 cups = 5 baggies for 1/2 cup raw diced celery; the actual amount going into the baggies will be about half the original volume). This sounds confusing but it's really not.

I do this with onions. Say you start with 5 medium onions, they yield about 5 cups diced onions. After sauteeing you would divide this into 5 baggies, even if the amount is now about 1/4 cup per baggie, each one equals one cup diced onion. This works very well because sometimes you don't have 5 medium onions, but 2 huge onions, 3 mediums and a few small ones. Just dice them all, measure the volume, sautee and divide the result into how ever many baggies you had cups.

Anyway take all your little baggies (I like to use the snack sized zip locks) and freeze them flat (laying them out on a toaster oven tray works great). Then put all your little baggies into a bigger baggie to keep them together.

I'll do onions two ways, till translucent and carmelized (almost instant onions soup). Celery just till translucent. Peppers I don't usually bother precooking. Just dice and lay out on a sheet to IQF (individually quick freeze) and put them in a freezer bag. Cook from the frozen state.

Anyway this is what I do when I'm in an organized mood. Most of the time, I throw out wilted veg I forgot about.

[mamster]

Okay, I'm waving the celery in the air, but I still do care. Help please! Also, the roof is on fire.

Soba, there's probably no heroin in the celery dish at GSI, but it's an incredibly addictive food--I can easily polish off a whole portion, and it's like 90% celery. And HOT.

[Fat Guy]

Celery is a treasure, not an albatross!

Add it to the quote book.

The best thing to do with extra celery is leave it in the refrigerator until it gets kind of nasty, and then throw it out.

The other thing you can do is break off a stalk at the store and stick it behind your ear. If you go through the checkout line with confidence, you will not be challenged.

[Priscilla]

Also, those interested in using more celery could cook more Creole dishes, which often start with onion, bell pepper, and the aforementioned celery, the so-called Trinity. Tomato season makes me think of Creole cooking, anyways.