Celery Greens
I bought two bunches of local celery this week at my farmer's market. It's almost like a baby celery in that the stocks much smaller, thinner and are far more flavorful and fragrant that grocery store celery.
Anyway, this stuff is mostly leaves. Any ideas for what to do with lots of beautiful, green celery leaves?
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12 Comments:
they're great in soup.... or stock, you can always fish them out when you strain it.... sometimes i'll put the leaves in potato salad (olive oil and vinegar version - use a big fat red onion, too)
pooch at 6:52PM on 09/19/09
I use them in soups and also add them to salads. If it has a good flavor, why not?
yankeesgal at 8:01PM on 09/19/09
I just tasted one of the leaves and they are really really bitter. Some say cilantro tastes like soap, well this tasted like detergent. Soup or veggie stock it goes.
yayfood at 9:09PM on 09/19/09
I freeze celery leaves and their little stems and use them later on. F'sure for soup.
lemons at 10:09PM on 09/19/09
I use when doing (dried) beans. Fantastic!
Garvey at 10:25PM on 09/19/09
This: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mushroom-Carpaccio-with-Pecorino-Toscano-352851
It's a great recipe that uses celery leaves as a lead player...it never fails to impress
KateRuby at 12:18AM on 09/20/09
Like above reallygreat in soups, stews, stocks and chopped up in tuna/chicken salads. I also love to chop them up fine and use when making salmon cakes.
pjracz10 at 4:18AM on 09/20/09
Most of us only get the inner leaves from grocery store celery, and they've been blanched (not hot water blanched. they've been whitened by not being in the sun) and are sweet and tender. Sounds like you were eating the outer leaves which have usually been trimmed from the larger commercial celery.
If it's small it may also have grown too slowly (not had enough water) and it's no wonder the leaves are bitter. Bitter leaves are not going to improve in the cooking. Try some of the innermost leaves, and don't let this experience turn you off celery leaves, which are wonderful anywhere you want celery flavor.
lemonfair at 5:19AM on 09/20/09
What you have described is what you get when you grow celery in the garden. I was disappointed that I was not getting the nice bunch you see in a store, but then, like so many above I started to use it in soup stocks, red sauce, stuffing into a chicken, etc. They add really delicious flavour and like @lemons, I never waste any and put them in the freezer for Winter cooking. I wouldn't be without them - my MIL used to add them to a chicken & meatball soup that had a lot of nutmeg in it - yummy!
bareneed at 10:02AM on 09/20/09
In my experience, at least in the Northeast, I've never seen a small farmer produce the kind of big, juicy celery stalks that commercial growers produce. The celery is darker, tougher, and much more intensely flavored. I suspect it is more like "cutting celery," a different variety of the plant. For people (like myself) who love the flavor of celery, it's very cool stuff, and I too find it works well as a flavoring element. If you're going to use it in soup or stock, use less (by volume) than you would commercial celery--remember, it's going to impart all of that intense flavor. Basically, think of it more like an herb than a vegetable, and you'll be on your way to success.
Celeriac at 6:58PM on 09/20/09
Thank you for all of the great info! @Celeriac, that makes sense, to look at it as an herb rather than a vegetable. I just added some to a sausage and kale soup and it worked out nicely. Added a good hearty flavor.
yayfood at 7:52PM on 09/20/09
The type of celery you have has a lot more celery flavor than the traditional store bought celery. (oops, I just read Celeriac's post and heartily agree)
Chop it up and saute' it with some onion, add rice and broth to make a rice pilaf. Or add to soups, stews, casseroles, etc.
It makes excellent cream of celery soup.
CJ McD at 12:32PM on 09/21/09