A hundred years ago, cooked celery was a commonly served vegetable. Today, not so much. But, when I saw I hundred year old recipe for Creamed Celery with Almonds, I decided to give it a try. The subtle sweetness of the celery was lovely, and sliced almonds added a bit of crunch. I feel certain that I’ll make this recipe again. Making this side dish reminded me how much I enjoy this tasty and nutritious vegetable.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
I used half milk and half celery stock when I made this recipe. This made the sauce lighter and more flavorful.
Creamed Celery with Almonds
2 cups celery, sliced into 1-inch pieces
water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk
1 cup celery stock (Reserve 1 cup of the liquid that the celery was boiled in.)
1/3 cup almonds, sliced
Put the sliced celery in a saucepan; barely cover with water. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the celery is tender (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and drain, reserving 1 cup of the liquid.
In the meantime, melt butter in another saucepan, then stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually, add the milk and celery stock while stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the white sauce begins to thicken. Stir in the cooked celery and the almonds.
Sounds very different. I don’t think I’ve heard of cooked celery, so I looked it up and there are quite a few recipes.
Over the years, I’ve occasionally made cooked celery when I had a bunch of celery in the refrigerator that I didn’t think I was going to use up in other recipes.
Celery was a celebrity-level vegetable in Victorian times. They had special dishes to display it. There were even special vases for raw celery so it could be displayed at the table. It is interesting how something once so expensive has become a common ingredient in soup, stews, casseroles, pot pies, salads, and stir-fries.
That’s fascinating. I hadn’t realized that celery once was a very gourmet vegetable.
I discovered that it had been a gourmet vegetable when I was looking at the china at an antique shop. There was a dish that was labeled celery server. I did some research since I thought that was rather strange. There was information about the celery vase as well.
It’s interesting that there were specialized servers and vases for celery.
It was so expensive that they wanted to show it off!
Glad you said what celery stock was..I had not known
lol
At least my interpretation was that “celery stock” is the liquid from cooking the celery. I’m not totally sure that’s right, but it was my best guess.
This recipe does sound interesting. However, since I live alone, I would not do this just for myself.
Maybe it would be possible to reduce the amounts to make it work for one person.
Celery is such an undervalued vegetable. Thanks for sharing!
I agree! Celery is an undervalued vegetable that often is not appreciated.
Such a classic – timeless and always satisfying!
It is a nice classic side dish.
I make a milk soup with celery, served with saltines. Probably not too different in taste other than the almonds adding a nice crunch.
mmm. . . I love cream of celery soup. There are some similarities, but this recipe has a greater proportion of celery to milk than my cream of celery soup recipe. My cream of celery soup recipe also calls for potatoes and chopped hard-boiled eggs.
Golly this sounds … interesting. Cooked celery is not something i head for usually – that texture thing … But this is certainly something to think about! :=)
cheers
sherry
It might be worth a try. I enjoyed the celery.
Now I know what I’m going to do with the celery in the refrigerator!! Brilliant!
I think that you’ll like it.
My husband is skeptical but I’m doing it anyway…
Fingers crossed that he likes it.
Hehe! We’ll see. He wanted to grill it (yes, we have that much celery hanging around)!!! So I might be doing it 2 different ways!
Here in PA Dutch country cooked creamed celery is a standard dish for the Amish and Mennonite families. They always serve it at the fund raising dinners they do locally for their schools, medical fund and the local volunteer fire departments – which many of them are members of. It is quite good. Radishes are another vegetable we generally don’t cook but they are lovely braised in chicken stock.
I’m originally from Pennsylvania, but don’t think that I’ve ever eaten at any Amish or Mennonite fund-raising dinners. It sounds like they have some good old-fashioned food. I did a post for Creamed Radishes several years ago.
I can remember buying homemade doughnuts that a Mennonite church sold each year on the day before the beginning of Lent (Fasnacht Day).