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STARK NAKED HEALTH
As a French woman medical doctor I cook to stay healthy. The first measure is to not add salt when cooking vegetables, especially when you prepare celery. Celery is a natural diuretic extremely efficient to maintain a healthy mineral balance. Do not use heavily salted water. Do not reduce a salty sauce, this is the way to increase your blood pressure and inhibit the diuretic effect of celery. I have very similar recipes, as I eat celery every week on my normal plan. add salt to taste at the end
Sarah Eats
@StuKosher salt is far less salty than table salt, I wouldn't recommend substituting one for the other.
Stu
I'm more than a little skeptical when the very first ingredient in a recipe is salt. Kosher salt, no less. Must it be kosher? Can I substitute regular table salt instead? Some specific guidance would be much appreciated. Should the water be like the ocean, the Great Salt Lake, pickling brine or pasta cooking water (1 tblsp/gal.)? My cardiologist warned me of days like this.
Susan
Salt water to your taste. I didn’t add any additional salt in baking or to sauce. As part of a delicious dinner, this was a fave. Easy to prepare and savory. A keeper.
Schmoopy
Not as flavorful as I was hoping :( I would roast the celery first instead of blanching it. This was a side dish for my Thanksgiving. After following the recipe, it was bland. So I put it all on a baking sheet, instead of a casserole dish, put it back in the oven, and it was a lot better after roasting.
Binna
I was taught by a chef that the blanching water should be salty like the ocean. Kosher salt tastes better - try a comparison yourself.
Margo
One reason that cooks prefer Kosher salt is that most table salt is "Iodized" (has iodine added). The iodine can give foods an "off" flavor.
Bob
Thought this sauce was excellent. Could definetly use on chicken and mashed potatoes. Peppercorns were a bit difficult to remove from celery but worth the effort as the end result is very flavorful. Straining the sauce before reducing a must. Sauce reminded me of mussel broth without the mussels. Adjusted salt to our liking. Went well with our thanksgiving turkey.
zoz
I must disagree with those who say this dish is tasteless. I've made it three times, the second two adjusting to make it my own. One thing I would never alter is the sauce. Sacre bleu, that is some good sauce! I have made this with Napa Cabbage (shredded) + celery and with Napa Cabbage and sliced onion + scallions (out of shallots) and even added some sliced smoked sausage the last time, and all have been stellar, in my opinion. Ignore this recipe at your own risk!
peachyqueer
Fantastic.I have been snowed in & wanted to use up the celery we had on hand. I adapted this with ingredients available in the pantry: small yellow onion for the shallot, dried bay leaves, fresh rosemary instead of fresh thyme (we have a rosemary bush), a medley of various dried herbs in place of herbes de provence. The result was a wonderful dish! The sauce is absolutely decadent. Eaten with mashed red potatoes and vegan chick'n. My new favorite way to make use of leftover celery.
alacarte
Glad I found this recipe to use up leftover celery and shallots. It was fun to prepare celery in this somewhat elaborate way (I baked it in a dutch oven), it smelled wonderful while cooking and it tasted very good, too, even though I didn't have any bay leaves on hand.
Kristine
How do you eat a three inch piece of celery? Do you have to cut it up on the plate? Can I just make it in bite size pieces instead?
Anthony
Doing this on Thursday!! I was desperate for a side for Thanksgiving to bring to family dinner. Nobody will ever think of this and it checks so many boxes. Will report on how it flies but it's going to be a keeper at my house. I can tell already!
Matt D
After the celery braised for about twenty five minutes, i nestled a few chicken thighs on top and put it back in the oven for another twenty minutes and it made a great meal! With roasted potatoes on the side!
Juli Seaman
I made this for the fall equinox and it was just wonderful. Used half the amount of shallot and garlic, but otherwise followed recipe exactly (well used dry bay leaves - no fresh available). My husband walked into the house and said, 'wow, it smells like Thanksgiving in here'! Perfect vegetarian side dish and we used leftovers in fried rice the next day.
Arbee
I found it needed a little salt, at the end. Pretty tasy.
Jane
Not sure what the point is to boiling/blanching first. I do this in a skillet, bring the broth and wine to a simmer with the shallots, etc. Add the celery. Simmer five minutes, then cover and put it in the oven.After about 40-45 minutes, when the celery is tender, remove it from the skillet and reduce the remaining liquid in the same skillet. No salt issues and less clean-up.
Clare
this was good! gives me mussles in white wine sauce vibes but a much cheaper dish to prepare!
Bobbi Loewy
Given the accompanying ingredients, one could substitute nearly anything--including shoe leather--for the celery and it would still taste amazing!
liz
It’s delicious but strange to eat in its own— just doesn’t feel like there are enough components for a meal. Ended up mixing it with some home made stuffing on thanksgiving and it was amazing.
Jamie
Had braised celery in London once and thought it was the epitome of sad English vegetables. Braised leeks (q.v.) on this site are tasty, but my kid hates onion family. So rethinking braised celery. This is tasty. By accident I had the potatoes and chicken mentioned, all ready to eat with this. The Thanksgiving line actually worked for me, not an exaggeration.Also recipe is robust -- did not have garlic or shallots and it was still pretty good. Surely better made right, LOL
Lulu
I was hopeful I would love this, but it was just - fine.
denzil
As an Italian, I object to the histrionics applied by the French to the poor celery. Salt, stock, bay, pepper, butter ... no original celery spirit left by the time it hits the table. Sigh.
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