Celeriac Sprout Soup and Dave's Ribs

I made this delicious soup last week from some unwanted celeriac (aka celery root) babies. We had better than expected celeriac germination at the farm where I'm working, so we've been going through the multitudes of flats of seedlings, thinning them down to the correct numbers. We were throwing the unwanted seedlings into a 5 gallon bucket. After tasting one, I decided that it would be a shame to let them go to waste, so I took them home.

And what better to go with a green soup than Dave's delicious country style pork ribs? He's been perfecting his dry rub recipe (I included it below), and I have to say, it's about as delicious as anything I've ever had. The picture above is the raw ribs, after marinating all day and right before they went on the grill. As he was getting the grill going, I started on my soup.

Every good soup starts with onions. These are from the farm - last year's crop of course, but still really firm and good. I chopped them up and started sauteing them in olive oil.

Next came some of this beautiful green garlic. This is one of those spring veggies that I really thing deserves more attention. Most people don't even know you can eat baby garlic - it's a lot like green onions, but more garlicky. It's delicious, and such a great alternative to last years old storage garlic, which by April is usually getting pretty questionable. Green garlic has the same flavor, but it's fresher and more vibrant than garlic that has developed heads. It's the perfect addition to any spring meal!

I chopped most of the green garlic (including the greens) and added it to the onions, letting them cook together for a while.

Next came the celeriac sprouts. I kept the roots on ( really only because it would have been too much of a pain to go through and take them off.) It worked really well, except that I had a hard time rinsing all the residual soil off. They had been planted in a commercial compost mixture with lots of vermiculite and perlite, and those were especially hard to rinse off. I got them pretty clean though.....

I let it all cook together for a while, until the celeriac was pretty well wilted.

Next I added some homemade chicken stock, turned the heat down, and cooked it for 45 minutes or so.

When it was well cooked, I pureed the vegetables with my hand blender and added some cream, salt, and a tiny bit of curry powder. Delicious! These sprouts were doomed to go to the compost heap - I love saving things like this.....it's so rewarding!

And don't forget the ribs! These were seriously delicious.

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Celeriac Sprout Soup

You could probably substitute very leafy celery for the celeriac sprouts in this recipe. It wouldn't be quite the same, but it would still be very good.

Olive oil
3-4 Medium yellow onions
6 Stalks of green garlic (you can get this in the spring at a good farmer's market or natural foods store)
1 lb Celeriac sprouts, or celery leaves
1 Quart chicken stock
1 Cup heavy cream
Curry Powder
Salt

Chop onions and saute in a large heavy bottomed pot over medium/low heat until they begin to soften. Chop green garlic (you can use all of it except the very bottom of the stalk and the very top of the greens) and add it to the onions. Continue cooking for about 4-5 minutes. Add celeriac or celery and cook until it's wilted. Add chicken stock and simmer over low heat for 30-45 minutes. Puree the soup. (a hand blender is great, or you can take it out of the pot and puree in a blender or food processor.) Add cream and season with salt and a dash of curry powder.

Dave's Pork Ribs

4 Large country style pork ribs
4 Heaping tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon salt
2 teabags orange spice tea (or other tea)

Coat ribs with spice mixture and rub it into the meat. Let ribs marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Grill over medium low heat for 30-45 minutes.
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