MASH OF RUTABAGA, PARSNIPS, OR CELERY ROOT

Root vegetable puree or sauce adds a fresh sweetness to whatever you are serving and goes particularly well with animal proteins, such as steak and steaky fish like sturgeon and even salmon. Decide what root or combination of roots you want in your mash, (rutabaga, celeriac, or parsnips). Or make a combination like celeriac and parsnips as seen in our September 2019 dinner.

Ingredients: to roast rutabaga:
• 2 pounds of rutabaga, washed,
• 3 tablespoons EVOO or salted butter, or combination
• 1/2 teaspoon each salt, pepper, coriander

Method:
Toss RUTABAGA with enough oil to coat; roast at 400° F  until tender! approximately 30 – 45 minutes. Check with tip of knife blade which should slide all the way through easily. Remove from heat and cool slightly to handle. Peel rutabaga and place in a mixer with paddle. Add EVOO or Butter or Combo. Place mixer on lowest speed to start breaking up vegetable and increase once it looks more chunky.  Finished mixture with be coarse.

For PARSNIP MASH, purchase very fresh and thin parsnips. The tip ends should not droop. Washed and peeled parsnips and cut into small pieces.  Place into enough EVOO and butter to coat the bottom of the pot and about a cup of milk or cream. Cook until tender on medium heat. Remove and place in blender to puree. Season with salt pepper and coriander.

For CELERIAC OR CELERY ROOT, cut top and bottom off so root is flat. Place on one flat edge and cut thin strips top to bottom all the way around the root, until only the white center remains. Cut that into 1 inch pieces and simmer in 2 T butter, 2 T EVOO, and 1 cup whole milk; season with salt pepper coriander, and simmer until root is soft.  Stick blend or use food processor or blender to mash completely. While still warm, strain through a fine sieve until all but fibrous pieces remain in the sieve.

Chef note: we like a rough mash, especially for the rutabaga, rather than puree, for more texture, and so we know what they were. Cooked rutabaga cut into 3/4 inch dice pieces are less fibrous than larger diced ones, but it will always be a little fibrous.
For celeriac, we prefer to cook it in cream and EVOO with butter and when done, blend it until smooth, then pass it through a sieve to get even more of the fibrous pieces out.