Celeriac and Potato Mash

Celeriac is a large, knobbly root vegetable and a lot of people don’t know what to do with it. Try adding slices of celeriac to a potato dauphinoise for a fresher, lighter flavour. If you are going to leave celeriac in a saucepan for a while, add some lemon juice to stop it discolouring. The potatoes in this recipe should be cooked however you normally would, but the celeriac, like other vegetables which discolour on contact with air, is best cooked in milk to help preserve the colour. Everybody has their own favourite way of making mashed potatoes. Mine is to pass the cooked potato through a ricer, then add the cream, butter and other nice bits. The easiest way to get the ratio of potatoes to celeriac right is to use equal amounts of each.

Ingredients:

4 potatoes (approximately)1 celeriacMilkKnob of butter6 tbsp cream2 garlic cloves (optional)

Method:

1 Peel and chop the potatoes and cook in the salted, boiling water until tender as you would normally.

2 Meanwhile, peel and chop the celeriac, working quickly so it doesn’t discolour. Add enough milk to cover, and cook the celeriac (with the garlic cloves if using) until tender. Strain and keep the milk to put in the mash later but discard the garlic cloves.

3 Mash together the potatoes, cream and butter. Add the celeriac and mash until smooth. Season and add some of the milk if it’s looking a bit dry.