Celeriac goes with so many flavours but blue cheese, if you like it and not everyone does, is classic.
We have added three new recipes to the website and two of them include stilton. It is possible to substitute almost any blue cheese perhaps but the stilton producers have been having a thin time lately. It seems stilton is special occasion fare, often eaten out at restaurants and those occasions have been few and far between lately so they need our support.
Lockdown has been grim but it has been ideal for experimenting and trying lots of recipes. We have been so busy that Mrs Buck has, on occasion been heard to say, with not a little sarcasm “What, no celeriac tonight?” Some people are difficult to please.
The first is Celeriac, Blue Cheese and Pearl Barley Ragout. It is from Simon Rogan of L’Enclume amongst other places and for a Michelin starred chef is remarkably uncomplicated. It is easy to make it vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock and leaving out the pancetta.
I always try to use home grown ingredients and I assume that the pearl barley is grown in the UK. I need to see if it can be used in the place some of the more fashionable exotic cereals like quinoa or some rice. Similarly, in the winter I will always use spring greens rather than imported spinach. It is delicious but unfashionable, alas. We don’t grow it ourselves but there is no end grown in Lincolnshire and Cornwall.
So, in the Celeriac and Blue Cheese Soup, I suggest spring greens for winter months. It is such an easy recipe, vary the amount of blue cheese to your taste and I think a stick blender works well and avoids lots of washing up but do wear an apron!
The last one to mention is a recipe from Thomasina Myers in the Guardian. Celeriac Maltagliati with Winter Romesco is an intimidating title and it did take me a little time to pluck up the motivation.
The ingredients, though, are attractively normal, probably all in your cupboard and it both looks and tastes good. Please don’t add any blue cheese.
Looking at the above, I do realise that I should have done this in November but I am sure that Mrs Buck is looking forward to lots of summer recipes which I will probably report on the autumn.