Celeriac Pithivier ...what??

A beautiful assortment of fruits and vegetables from the weekly box delivered to us from Riverford Organic Veg.

This one came in December. My favourites were the Brussels sprouts and kaki (persimmon)! The kaki immediately brought back memories of the year we spent in Japan. But I wasn't sure what to do with the Brussels sprouts until I found this recipe. Yum! If you aren't sure about Brussels sprouts, you have got to try it. Now we come to the mystery vegetable...

What is this thing? 

I knew it was a root vegetable, but had never seen anything like it. It reminded me of a brain. Weird. We asked all our neighbours and they had no idea. In the end, my husband ended up calling Riverford and described it to them. Their answer: celeriac ...What? Kind of sounds like celery, but was nothing like it. Next I had to figure out how to cook the thing. I searched for recipes everywhere I could think of and most sounded pretty bland and boring. I guess celeriac isn't as exciting in flavor as it is in looks. In the end, I found this recipe for a cheesy celeriac, potato and bacon pithivier. Another new word to add to my vocabulary: pithivier ...What? Oh, a fancy name for a puff pastry pie. 

It sounded okay and tasted much better than I expected (even without the bacon for those of us who don't eat mammals). I love cheese, so enjoyed that it was so cheesy...and also loved the rosemary flavor (fresh from our garden). So, now whenever we get celeriac in our veg box, I know exactly what to do with it...and if you ever get celeriac in yours, you can also make a celeriac pithivier!