Sweet and Savory Salt-Baked Celery Root

This innovative approach uses a salt dough to lock in moisture and flavor while the celery root cooks low and slow. Cracked from the dough shell, the intense celery flavor mixes with other holiday favorites: sage, garlic, onion, wine, and sweet jam.… — This innovative approach uses a salt dough to lock in moisture and flavor while the celery root cooks low and slow. Cracked from the dough shell, the intense celery flavor mixes with other holiday favorites: sage, garlic, onion, wine, and sweet jam. (Photo source: Lee Carter)

| Yield: 4 servings | Time: 3 hours|

Ingredients

2 large celery roots (celeriac)

Thanksgiving jam

1 yellow onion

6 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon canola oil

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons white wine

4 tablespoons seedless jelly (any flavor)

2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons dried sage

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Salt dough

1 1/2 cups flour

4 1/2 ounces water

3 tablespoons salt

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 325F.

For the thanksgiving jam

Grate the onion into a bowl to capture all the juices. Finely chop or press the garlic.

Heat the canola oil over low heat in a small pan until shimmering. Add the onion, garlic and salt. Gently cook for 5-7 minutes until the alliums have softened but not browned. Add the white wine. Simmer for 1 minute to cook off the alcohol. Add the jelly, soy sauce, sage, thyme, and vinegar, and stir to combine.

Hydrate the cornstarch with a little bit of water in a small bowl. Stir the cornstarch until no powder remains and then pour it into the pan. Bring the pan to a boil while stirring constantly and cook until the mixture has fulled thickened into a thick jam.

For the salt dough (step-by-step photos below)

Mix the flour and salt together. Add the water and combine into a dough by pinching together your fingers, taking care not to overwork the dough to minimize cracking during the baking process.

Peel the celery root and pat it dry. Roll out the dough until you can fit it around the celery root completely, without needing to stretch it. Spread one-half of the jam onto the dough. Place the celery root on top, and then spread the remaining jam evenly over the top and sides of the celeriac. Wrap the dough around the celery root, making sure the seams are tight and the dough fully covers it.

If the dough is too dry or taut it will pull apart in the oven. If this happens during the baking process, simply make a thick paste of flour and water and spread over the crack so that the steam from the celeriac doesn’t escape (see photo below).

Bake for 2 hours. Remove the celery root from the oven, and turn the oven up to broil. Carefully cut into the salt dough shell and open it. Roll the celery root several times in the gooey hot jam, then place under the broiler for just a moment to set the layer of caramelized juices that coat its exterior.

Once the exterior of the celeriac is bubbling and slightly browned, pull it from the oven, slice.