Celery Soup

When I picked up Twelve Recipes last month, I was immediately enamored of the familiar and just-plain-cute writing style. The author, Cal Peternell, is a chef at Chez Panisse, but also comes off as a cool, relaxed family man who just wants to hang out in the kitchen with the people he loves. I was also immediately enamored of this photo, and wanted it in my face ASAP:

The greatest trick the Devil ever played was NOT PRINTING THE STUPID RECIPE IN THE STUPID BOOK. Are you kidding me?

But the title he gives it, “celery soup,” sounded simple enough that I could probably find something similar.

First I thought, maybe he didn’t print it because it’s in Chez Panisse Vegetable and he just didn’t want to cop his boss’s style too much. No such luck. The index lists one whole recipe under “celery,” and it’s a dumb old salad. Pfft.

So I exploded my entire cookbook shelf, searching for something that looked like the picture. Hey, guess what’s apparently not popular! Celery soup. Not even The Ultimate Soup Bible had a recipe that looked usable. I took a Sharpie to the book’s title as punishment.

The physical avenue exhausted, I turned to the trusty internet, sifting through page after page of search results for a hint of that silky verdancy, but all I found were sad chunky concoctions and aseptic white cream-based nothings. How uninspiring, and how far from the dream!

Two options remained:

1.    Internet-stalk Cal Peternell and see if I could ferret out his email address, send a desperate polite inquiry, and then hope for the best.
2.  Just try something simple, put it in my favorite bowl, and see if it makes me happy.

The fact that I chose option two is somewhat reassuring; I at least have a few priorities that remain straight! Who knew?

Notice the bay leaf I completely forgot to use!

Results of the experiment are as follows:

• I’m happy.
• It doesn’t look like the picture, but it was delicious.
• I still want it to look like the dang picture.
• Somebody email Cal Peternell for me KTHXBAI.

I knew cooking the celery would rob it of its beautiful color, so I had the idea to make a sort of pesto out of equal parts celery leaves and flat-leafed parsley with some garlic, lemon and olive oil. Boy, was that a good idea. So bright and fresh tasting, and lovely contrast with the base flavor. I’ve always been a real sucker for the bitterness of celery leaves; they’re a fantastic and somewhat unexpected finishing touch.

Yeah I was cooking in pajama pants! And slippers!

Celery is so rarely the focus – it’s used as a building block, as a filler, or as a delivery system for ranch dressing. Giving it a chance to shine made me feel like I was really stickin’ up for the little guy.

And Cal was right: A poached egg fortifies celery soup.

Sometimes it’s hard to motivate myself to cook for just me. It’s so easy to just microwave a giant bowl of peas and be done with it, or visit one of the large and growing number of delicious restaurants within blocks of my apartment. But this soup reminded me of how satisfying it can be to give yourself the freedom to try something, with no guidelines or safety nets, and to succeed. Had me dancing around the kitchen like:

What a luxury it is, too, to be able to cook just to my own tastes once in a while. I doubt I could tempt anyone to come over for dinner with “celery soup” as the lure, but I didn’t have to twist my own arm at all.

I watched the Grammys while making and eating this, and I have one question. Did anyone else think Taylor Swift’s dress made it look like she was wearing a matching backpack? Also, if anyone is going to beat Ryan Adams, I’m happy it was Beck. Thus ends my hard-hitting pop-culture commentary.

Celery Soup with a Poached Egg

Serves 1 (generously)

For the soup:

1 scant tablespoon unsalted butter

1 shallot, diced

2 cloves garlic

8 stalks of celery

1/3 cup dry white wine

1 cup vegetable broth

1 cup water

For poached egg:

1 egg

White wine vinegar

For the garnish:

1/2 cup celery leaves

1/2 cup flat-leafed parsley leaves

1 clove garlic

Juice from ½ lemon (I used a Meyer lemon)

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

In a small pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add shallot and cook gently for 5 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, prepare your celery by snapping each stalk at the base and pulling that bottom piece up toward the top to pull out the strings and discard them. This will allow for a smoother finished texture. Chop the celery into 1/2” chunks.

Add celery and garlic to pot with a pinch of salt and cook for another 5 minutes. Add wine and turn the heat to medium to cook off 2/3 of the liquid. Add vegetable broth and water, and cook for as long as it takes for you to make the poached egg and the garnish and put away those dishes that are in the dishwasher (20 minutes or so).

Put all garnish ingredients along with a pinch of salt in a food processor and pulse until finely minced, or mince with a knife if you’d rather. I used about 1 teaspoon of olive oil, just to hold it together, but you could add more if you’d prefer more of an herb oil situation.

Poach the egg using whatever method you prefer, or do it this way that I find super easy: bring a pan of water to a boil, adding a pinch of salt and a splash of white wine vinegar. Break an egg into a small bowl or ramekin. Turn off the heat, and carefully add the egg to the water. Set a timer for four minutes – when it goes off, take out the egg with a slotted spoon.

Blend soup until smooth using an immersion blender or traditional blender. Serve with most of the garnish mixed in, and a spoonful on top just to be pretty (because you’re worth it). Don’t forget to (carefully) throw that egg on top – fortify that soup!