Dark Days Challenge #3: Cream of Celeriac Soup

a good friend made this soup and ever since that night i knew it would make it to my dark days menu, but had yet to find the time to focus on the recipe and do it well. after the rush of the holidays, i decided this week was the one.

cream of celeriac soup
4 tbl butter and 4 tbl flour. make a rue.
add 1 cup chopped onion and 2 cloves garlic. sautee for a few minutes.
add 3 cups of milk and stir for 15 minutes until thickened.
add one pound of chopped celerac 1/2 cup of diced carrot and 1 cup of broth.
cook for 20 minutes.
season with salt and pepper.
add 3 ounces of cream.
blend with the immersion blender and add more broth if needed.

i decided to keep it simple and served it with baguette from the delicatessen from downtown with melted cheese. and then, while i was thawing the large container of homemade vegetable broth that i made awhile back i thought what the heck?! let's do stuffing! and that got thrown into the mix as well. here is the recipe, (which i halved on the butter and bread) with my own changes added in italics:

vegetarian stuffing
the best vegetarian stuffing ever
provided by Emily Farris, author of "Casserole Crazy: Hot Stuff for Your Oven"

2 sticks salted butter
3 tablespoons fresh, chopped sage
1 large, white (red) onion, chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
3 stalks celery finely chopped (omitted)
(half of a turnip, chopped)
2 apples, chopped (with skins)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 loaf day-old french bread (local harvest wheat bread)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (omitted)
salt
pepper

preheat oven to 350ºF.

melt butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. when the butter is melted add one tablespoon of the sage, the onion, celery and the carrot. when the onions become translucent, add the garlic, apples and salt and pepper generously, very generously. after the apples have cooked for about 2 minutes, pour the vegetable broth into the pan, season with the cayenne and more salt and pepper as needed, and let the mixture saute for 1 to 2 more minutes.

tear the bread into approximately 1/2-inch squares and place in a 2-3/4-quart casserole dish. add the cranberries and sage. remove the mixture from the stove and pour it over the bread. mix well and bake uncovered at 350ºF for about 45 minutes to an hour. for best results, stir at least once.

surprisingly, i whipped it (and dessert, cinnamon apple crumble) all up in about two hours. we enjoyed Farmstead cider from the Blue Mountain Cider Company with it.

everything was delicious. i was grateful to have made broth a few months back which immediately sent me on a hunt for a pressure canner so that i can can my own rather than freeze it (so much faster.) on other occasions we've garnished the soup with lemon and a parmesan or pecorino cheese, but i omitted both.

all the bread came from the newest bakery in town the Walla Walla Bread Company, on the baguette i melted Farmer's Cheese from Juniper Grove Farm which is outside of my zone but the cheese came from a friend who vacationed there, so again i'll make an exception.

the vegetables (celeriac, turnips, carrots, garlic and onions) came from Sarah's farm Ideal Organics; the sage from my backyard; and the milk and cream from Pure Eire Dairy. dessert was apples from Davis Orchards in Milton-Freewater and granola made locally. the butter? tillamook. not quite local and probably not quite organic, but i'm a sucker for it and it's widely available.

all in all? delicious! especially with it being 20° outside. a perfect winter meal.