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Week 18 FInalists: Best Autumn Vegetable Puree Contest

October 22, 2009

Autumn Celeriac Puree

A lovely change of pace from simple mashed potatoes, this puree sings with bright, clean flavors. The celery root and apple both contribute tartness (there's even a mysterious lemony element, although no lemon is used), while the potato smoothes out any rough edges. Cream and butter make the puree luscious, so that it feels like a treat rather than a just a healthy dose of veggies. Sonali takes care with her recipe writing, adding a couple of crucial steps that really make a difference. First, instead of calling for cream and butter on their own, she has you infuse them with a bay leaf, which subtly perfumes the puree. Then, she tells you to dry out the cooked veggies over a low flame before adding the cream mixture so that the puree is thick and luscious instead of insipid and watery. Assuming that Sonali assumed we would know to do this, we peeled the potato and celeriac before chopping them. - A&M

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Roasted Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Puree

Roasted Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Puree by testkitchenette

This is butternut squash puree meets Southeast Asian flavors. It's mellow and creamy with warm spices and ginger. Testkitchenette points out that this puree can also be a soup if you thin it with broth -- we wholeheartedly agree. We loved this puree's versatility. We can imagine making it as part of an Indian meal as easily as we could see it on our Thanksgiving table with turkey. Testkitchenette has you cube the roasted squash before adding it to the pot with the coconut broth. We found that it's so soft, it's easier just to scoop out the squash in spoonfuls. It all gets pureed in the end, anyway, so it's an ideal recipe for those who hate precise chopping! - A&M

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Comments (1)Add yours

Susan B. 10 months ago: I made the celeriac puree last night. I had watched the video of you making both the soup and the puree, which inspired me cook one of my butternut squashes and to the make the puree for dinner. But when I had the celeriac and potato simmering, I decided to add half of the roasted butternut squash to the puree instead of the apple. I infused the milk and butter with the bay leaf, just like the original recipe, and I added the squash after I dried out the cooked, drained celeriac and potato and then I ran the whole lot through the food mill. I have to say it was delicious and such a pretty color (pale orange). I might have to make another batch!

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Photo Slideshows

Week 18 FInalists: Best Autumn Vegetable Puree Contest

Autumn Celeriac Puree

Roasted Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Puree

Comments (1)Add yours

You can post comments here after you log in.

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