Celery Root Buddies

Simone Rubi kills it again with this recipe that combines warmth and crispiness to perfection. I can imagine sitting in her back yard, under the lemon tree, eating this for lunch on a sunny Oakland Autumn day.

Celery Root, Parsnip, & Apple Soup with Carmelized Fennel & Herb Oil

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
4 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled celery root (from one 1 1/4-pound celery root)
1 bulb of fennel (keep the green feathery parts on the top, chop and put in oil)
1 large apple cut up into pieces, peel on is ok
2 large parsnips or 4 small
2 carrots
1 stalk celery
1 1/2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)
4 cups (or more)  chicken or vegetable broth
fresh or dry thyme
1/2 cup very finely chopped chives
1/2 cup good olive oil
1 tblsp lemon juice (optional)
1 bay leaf
Pinch of sea salt
3 ounces thinly sliced bacon (optional to crumble on top)

Finely chop chives and fennel greens and add olive oil, a little sea salt and lemon juice (if you have). Let this sit while you make the soup. You will drizzle this on top of the soup with optional crumbled bacon.

Saute bacon or pancetta until browned and crispy. Transfer to paper towel to drain. Crumble. Set aside.

OK!

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add celery root, parsnips, carrots, and onion. Cook until  some of the celery root is translucent (do not brown), stirring often, about 15 minutes. Add 4 cups broth. Cover and bring to simmer. Add thyme and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium-low; add chopped apple, simmer covered until celery root and parsnips are soft, stirring occasionally, about 25-35 minutes. While soup is simmering, chop up fennel bulb and sauté in butter and olive oil until carmelized, add salt and pepper. Remove soup from heat; cool slightly. Take out bay leaf before blending.

Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth, adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, just blend directly in the pot. This is what I do....easy. Return soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Do ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated.

Rewarm soup over medium heat. Divide soup among bowls. Sprinkle pancetta crumbles over each serving. Drizzle each bowl with chive/fennel oil and a bit of the carmelized fennel bulb. ENJOY!

Celery Root & Apple Salad with Little Gems

Ingredients:

1 medium celery root
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp cream or half and half
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp mayonnaise (pref. homemade)
sea salt and fresh pepper
1 shallot finely diced
sprigs of fennel green
chopped chives
1 medium apple thinly sliced
1 small head of little gems or butter lettuce

Grate celery root and put in a bowl with salt and lemon juice. Stir together the rest of the ingredients, except for the apple, in a glass. Pour the dressing on the grated celery root and let sit for 20 minutes in the fridge. Arrange celery root on lettuce and top with apple and freshly cracked pepper.

 photos and text: Simone Rubi

Époisses Cheeseburger at Home in Oakland

Direct from Oakland, CA, here is Simone Rubi's second post on TofC ( mmmmmmmmm ) :

To keep in rhythm to company that is kept on TofC, I thought I'd post about yet another cheeseburger. This burger is inspired by an off-menu cheeseburger I had at one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco, Heirloom Cafe. The cheese is Époisses. A deliciously stinky washed rind cheese from the Burgundy region of France. The method? Work the cheese, shallot, egg, garlic, into the meat. The cheese isn't stacked and melted on top of the meat later. Unreal. Each bite is filled with the essence of Époisses. It also makes the patty unbelievably juicy. Make the patty by forming the freshly ground meat gently into a log and wrap it up tight with parchment paper. Chill the meat for a a few hours then cut into thick cylinders. The result is the ultimate, bottom line, fantastical, dream of a burger. We didn't eat them on buns like a lot of cutting-down-on-flour folks these days but I imagine a soft brioche bun would be sublime. We had the burger with an arugula salad with a touch of fleur verte cheese and a glass of 2008 Vincent Raimbault Vouvray Demi-sec. We also lucked out and found some fresh Chanterelle mushrooms, wait, no, the mushrooms lucked out to find us and a home at $30. a pound (!) at market hall in Rockridge. Still, we took them home because the idea of sauteing them in butter and fresh thyme then putting them on the burger was too spectacular of a mind movie. So the burger ended up with Chanterelles, carmelized onions, and homemade mustard. A friend, artist Nathaniel Russell, visited Oakland and this is how we did and continue to do.

All photos and text: Simone Rubi

Star Grocery & The Best Sandwich of Your Life: An Epic.

Here we have a guest post by Simone Rubi who lives in Oakland, CA. Simone is Danielle's twin sister who is a musician, graphic designer and life liver. In between making batches of harissa, pickles, preserved lemons and other kitchen projects, she is either on tour or working on collaborative art/design projects.

 

Star Grocery on Claremont Avenue is in Oakland, California (well, it's on the Berkeley border, but I can't seem to think it's actually there). This store was opened by The Pappas family in 1922. The same family still runs it! The store has weathered the Great Depression, the Oakland Hills fire and the proliferation of chain stores by relying on the same customers whose older relatives may have once relied on the Pappas family. The store embodies everything that I love. Quality stuff and not too much of it. Lots of local products presented in a non-snooty way and different specialty items like hard-to-find spices (like Piment d'Espelette), preserved lemons, and locally made ice creams. They have all of my favorite things (which include the perfect avocado, 'Have'A' corn chips, and homemade sausages). Well thought out choices for wines, beer, root beer, cheese, bread, produce, pasta, olive oil, pickles, preserves, herbs, and a good hardware section as well. They have everything. Well, almost everything. I went in for a roll of film, but alas, nothing (But I guess that's the way these days). It's not excessive, like most commercial stores that have 30 kinds of every-level-of-fat yogurt. It's just a real friendly place. Oh, and cute people work there. I seem to have a thing for dudes that work behind a deli counter (photos upon request).

Star Grocery on Claremont Avenue. 2011. Oakland, California.

In 1950.

Jim and Nick Pappas. 1970s. The Pappas family started and still owns Star Grocery.

I've never even seen these in Norway!

Love the Japanese owl beer. I think we drank that at Sam & Anissa's wedding.

The Bariani olive oil is delicious

 

 

 

Try something different

These are totally a thing in California.

The lower left lettuces are called 'Little Gems' here and I love them.

Normally I'm not a stuff-in-bread kind of person, but this olive bread is really _____ good.

Perfect California avocados. The opposite (a bad one) might be my least favorite think to eat ever.

 

My fave of the non-fancy variety. I ate a lot of these when I was little. Also, 'Scream' sorbet sandwiches at Star are incroyable.

Inside Star Grocery is Star Meats, and what they have to deliver is absolute perfection. I've always loved a good sandwich. I wrote that my favorite food in a 6th grade essay was a club sandwich (in that same essay, I said that I wanted to make a house that was made of aquariums). Ephemeric alchemy. No two are alike. I guess that's the true chase and desire for food, art, and music lovers. Nothing is ever the same. The object, feeling, and taste is always dependent on how we feel that day, what is surrounding us, and how developed and pampered our taste buds are. Taste buddies. That's what these sandwiches are! Taste buds.

Second of all, I don't think it's fair to take insanely scrumptious photos of sandwiches. Upon viewing, it always leaves me feeling a little unrequited and a tiny bit mad. However, all I can do is to take such photos. We want to eat and taste with our eyes, secretly tricking our stomachs that we are actually eating the food in the photos. Seems to work because I get a little full when I look at this blog. IN A GOOD WAY. Every time I want to share the tastiness of my day with my Cali-Parisian family, I let my food get cold while I try and capture the true taste of the meal with a photo from my little camera.

Whenever I see this pink paper, I get really really happy.

The Brian Allen. Something about the cheddar and spicy mayo combo with the Arugula...

The Goodfella. With fresh buffalo mozzarella, hot coppa, genoa salami and a good amount of vinegar.

The Classic.

You are bummed when you see this.

These sandwiches are the ones that I keep going back to. Like you, I've tried so many different sammies. Hi art and lo art. Square cheese to slathered cheese. Foie gras to Bánh mì. Meatball to pickled slaw. Fried chicken to pulled pork. Torta to panini. Cuban to roti. Euro style with butter and cheese as condiments to Italian style with olive oil and vinegar. What Star Meats has to offer, is the sandwich that I long for when I'm a million miles away. It's the sandwich I long for when I'm only 6 blocks away. It is home. They only use a stellar baguette from La Farine, and when they run out (usually around 2), they won't make any more sandwiches. Go there, order the Brian Allen or the Goodfella, pick up some sorbet or an it's it, pick out a old fashioned soda or organic juice, drive up to the Oakland hills with your pals, get some perspective, and have the best day of your life.

Bay bridge on the left and a distant Golden Gate on the right. Oakland Hills.

All photos and text: Simone Rubi