Celery Root Encapsulation
These small orbs have big celery flavor from both the celery root centers and the celery stock that encapsulates them. The cream cheese gives the celery root a little extra body and tang. The gellan in the water bath reacts with the calcium in the celery root, forming a delicate gel around each orb. They may be heated in the celery stock and served warm like miniature raviolis, topped with brown butter, or hidden in a soup or stew as pockets of exploding flavor. You can also serve the orbs as single bites topped with shaved country ham and chopped celery leaves.
Recipe information
Yield
makes at least 48 bite-size encapsulations
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Put the water, celery, and salt in a pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then let the pressure dissipate naturally. Alternatively, put the ingredients in a medium pot over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour. Strain the stock, weigh out 500 grams for cooking the celery root, and reserve the remaining stock in the refrigerator.
Step 2
Put the 500 grams of celery stock and the celery root in a pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, then let the pressure dissipate naturally. Strain the celery root, add the liquid to the reserved celery stock, and puree the celery root in a blender. Add the cream cheese and puree until smooth. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and refrigerate for 4 hours or until completely cold.
Step 3
Put the water in a blender. Turn the blender on low and increase the speed until a vortex forms in the center of the water. Sprinkle the gellan and the sodium hexametaphosphate into the water. Increase the speed to high and blend for 30 seconds. Pour the mixture into a bowl, and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Step 4
Use a tablespoon measure to drop spoonfuls of the celery root puree into the gellan bath. Use a clean spoon to ladle the bath over the spoonfuls of puree, making sure they are fully encapsulated. Leave each orb in the bath for 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the orbs to a bowl of clean water and rinse off any excess gellan. Transfer them to the reserved refrigerated celery stock. While the orbs are stored in the stock, the stock will infuse the membrane with the flavor of celery.
Step 5
To serve, warm enough celery stock from the storage container to cover the number of orbs you are heating in a pot set over low heat. Slide the orbs into the stock and just heat through. Serve immediately.
