Celery Root

This recipe is an accompaniment for Daniel Boulud's Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine with Celery Duo.

Celery root, a popular fall vegetable, tastes like a cross between celery and parsley.

What the New Sammy's menu describes as a broth is really a purée. The dish is somewhat monochromatic, but its fascinating flavor spectrum will make your mouth extremely happy.

Root vegetables have always been popular in Scandinavia because they store well during the long winter months and are therefore available year-round.

Here's a colorful make-ahead starter that's perfect for entertaining. Serve this bistro tradition-called assiette de crudité-with a baguette and butter.

"I recently had lunch at Café Boulud here in New York," says Shelli Rafkin of New York, New York. "My entrée, blanquette de veau, had the most incredible sauce I've ever tasted. The whole dish, in fact, was sensational." In this variation on the classic stew, the veal and the vegetables are cooked separately and combined at the end, when they're topped with a rich white sauce.

(Purée de Pommes de Terre, de Topinambours, et de Céleri-rave) At the market in Le Neubourg, not far from where I live in Normandy, each Wednesday farmers bring out their produce in a panoply that directly mirrors the seasons. This dish, which I make with vegetables from that market, is a celebration of fall. Farmers in Le Neubourg are really mostly market gardeners or truck farmers, or maraîchers. They and others like them are the backbone of the French agricultural system, providing from their small plots the best and the freshest produce in the country. Because they are small and sell direct, they can grow a wide variety of vegetables, which is why I can find Jerusalem artichokes alongside potatoes and celery root, dandelion greens, and wild mushrooms gathered in the surrounding woods. Though the vegetables in this dish are unglamorous, the balance here is luscious, rich, and satisfying.

Using a mandoline (inexpensive versions are now widely available at cookware shops) makes short work of slicing the vegetables.

Roast these up to four hours ahead; put them in to reheat when the prime rib is done.

This simple but satisfying dish — full of slightly sweet parsnip and celery root chunks — can be made ahead and just reheated before serving.

Active time: 50 min Start to finish: 50 min

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.