Cream of Celery

Ingredients:

– 6 celery stalks, minced
– 1 med. carrot, peeled, chopped to 3 pieces
– 1/4 medium onion in single chunk
– fresh parsley knot
– flour
-4 tbsp butter
-whole milk

Preparation:

Cover vegetables and parsley in a soup pot with lightly salted water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 min. Remove and reserve carrots for future meals. Press onion and parsley against strainer screen with the back of a spoon to squeeze liquid into the pot. Strain remaining contents of the pot over a large bowl; reserve clear stock. Purée 2/3 of the strained celery with enough of the stock to liquify it in the food processor.

Melt butter in a deep skillet over med. heat. Stir 3 tbsp flower with a wooden spoon to make a paste adding one tbsp more flour at a time until the paste is a bit stiff but still able to bubble. Stir continuously allowing paste to cook for a couple of more minutes without turning brown. Stir-in enough cold milk to easily dissolve the paste, continuing to stir, being sure to press-out any lumps and prevent the cream sauce to stick to the bottom of the skillet, form lumps or burn, reducing the heat if necessary. Remove from heat when sauce is thick enough so that a track behind the spoon when dragged across the skillet doesn’t fill back in instantly.

Move the cream sauce to the cool, empty soup pot then stir-in the stock gradually at medium heat until your desired cream soup consistency is reached. Reserve any extra stock for a future use, or add water if necessary, tasting as you go to avoid weakening the celery flavor too much. Add the reserved upuréed celery.