Celery is a superb source of vitamins A, vitamin K, folate and bioflavonoid antioxidants.
Enjoyed raw as a means of scooping up dips, or chopped as part of a salad; here, we'll be cooking it through and enjoying its unique flavour in a soup.
To work ...
Shred a good few celery stalks, some leek and a couple of cloves of garlic. Soften in some butter and then pour in some light chicken stock or bouillon.
Bouillon? Oh, come on ... what's wrong with salted water? Well, a bouillon is a broth made from a simmering of mirepoix, bouquet garni and some bones. Mirepoix? Bouquet garni? Now you're really taking the proverbial! This is paleo, not haute cuisine!
Here's a cheat - you can buy powered bouillion which only needs a generous tablespoon in a litre of water. If you wanted to make up your own, it's onion, celery and carrots (the mirepoix), thyme, bay and sage tied together (the bouquet garni), some bones and water - simmer for a few hours to extract all the flavour, freeze excess as appropriate.
So, back to it ...
Drop in a few cubes of white potato, swede, sweet potato or some other root - this is for bulking the soup. Bring to the boil and boil away until the roots are softened.
Once the roots are softened, mash in the pan using a potato masher or just a fork, but keep mashing to break everything down leaving some texture - this is rustic, after all. Want it all posh? Blend it!
Pour in a little cream and bring back up to temperature.
If you find the fats separating, just give it a light whisking with a hand balloon whisk.
Pour out into a soup bowl and drop a generous blob of truffelina in the middle.
Trufflina? No! Not those awful Guylian chocolates, trufflina is a paste of truffle with olive oil; truffle, the fruiting body of an underground mushroom, highly prized and often regarded as the "diamond of the kitchen". Seriously flavoursome and a perfect counter point to the creaminess.
Enjoyed raw as a means of scooping up dips, or chopped as part of a salad; here, we'll be cooking it through and enjoying its unique flavour in a soup.
To work ...
Shred a good few celery stalks, some leek and a couple of cloves of garlic. Soften in some butter and then pour in some light chicken stock or bouillon.
Bouillon? Oh, come on ... what's wrong with salted water? Well, a bouillon is a broth made from a simmering of mirepoix, bouquet garni and some bones. Mirepoix? Bouquet garni? Now you're really taking the proverbial! This is paleo, not haute cuisine!
Here's a cheat - you can buy powered bouillion which only needs a generous tablespoon in a litre of water. If you wanted to make up your own, it's onion, celery and carrots (the mirepoix), thyme, bay and sage tied together (the bouquet garni), some bones and water - simmer for a few hours to extract all the flavour, freeze excess as appropriate.
So, back to it ...
Drop in a few cubes of white potato, swede, sweet potato or some other root - this is for bulking the soup. Bring to the boil and boil away until the roots are softened.
Once the roots are softened, mash in the pan using a potato masher or just a fork, but keep mashing to break everything down leaving some texture - this is rustic, after all. Want it all posh? Blend it!
Pour in a little cream and bring back up to temperature.
If you find the fats separating, just give it a light whisking with a hand balloon whisk.
Pour out into a soup bowl and drop a generous blob of truffelina in the middle.
Trufflina? No! Not those awful Guylian chocolates, trufflina is a paste of truffle with olive oil; truffle, the fruiting body of an underground mushroom, highly prized and often regarded as the "diamond of the kitchen". Seriously flavoursome and a perfect counter point to the creaminess.
