White Sauce (Sauce Blanche)

This is also from I Know How to Cook (Je Sais Cuisiner), my new Frenchie cookbook. This is the most basic roux-based sauce, sort of the very base of French cooking.

2 heaping tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
Generous 2 cups hot water (I just noticed this says "hot" water, I don't know if it made a big difference, but I used cold)
Salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a pan. Stir in flour and cook for 2-3 minutes to form a paste. (I think I had the heat up too high, because once the butter melted it kind of started to boil right away, and when I put the flour in it got lumpy right away.) Gradually add the hot water, stirring all the time to prevent lumps from forming. (I managed to get all the lumps out using a whisk) Simmer for 10 minutes. Since the absorbency of flours can vary, it is difficult to specify the exact quantity of liquid needed, so add just enough water to achieve the required consistency (which is what?). Season with salt and pepper.

It turned out fine, but it was not as if I could close my eyes and feel transported to Burgundy by the taste of it.

Celery Root with Cream (Céleri-Rave a la Creme)

I had never seen and only vaguely heard of celery root before last month. I was in the supermarket in Omaha with my mom and we saw this crazy looking thing on the shelves.

I am always intrigued by new vegetables, but we already had our hands full with the Christmas cooking and everyone having the flu and not eating anyway, so I passed it up for the time being. Then when I returned home I came across it again at my local Figueroa Produce, so I snapped it up and thought I'd figure out what to do with it once I got home. An attack of laziness and outside dining engagements caused the poor root to languish in my fridge for almost a week. Finally last night I found a recipe in my new Frenchie cookbook that called for ingredients that I had on hand (mostly). It was not spectacular, it tasted like a potato that had been doused in celery essence, but the consistency is more like a parsnip. However, I think it would have been crisper and better if it hadn't been left to get rubbery in the refrigerator for so long. Also, there are other recipes that are more ambitious and probably better, but I didn't want to go to the store again... so this is what I got. It went nicely with leftovers of roast chicken and some steamed green beans.

1 pound 10 ounces celery root (again, I don't have a scale. I had one medium sized celery root. I imagine it weighed about a half pound)
1 quantity White Sauce
Generous 1/3 cup creme fraîche (I still don't have this, so I used cream)

Peel and cut the celery root into wedges or thin slices, tossing with lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Place in salted water, then bring to a boil and cook for 10-20 minuts or until tender, depending on the size of the pieces. (It took about 10 minutes for chunks of one celery root to achieve tenderness) 

Prepare the White Sauce, add the creme fraîche and coat the cooked celery root with it.