Salt-baking vegetables, like celery root (often called celeriac), is a sneaky way to retain all the moisture inside a vegetable. It traps the juices, creating a seal so the vegetable “steam bakes” in its own juices. Once the celery root is salt baked, it is then tossed with a brown butter vinaigrette to drive home the taste of autumn.
Hudson Valley grapes are a late-summer staple. I remember when I first saw grapes at the Union Square Farmers Market in New York City. It wasn’t the grapes that caught my eye, but the large swarm of bees flying around them. The Hudson Valley grows many grape varieties ranging from the classic red Concord to the green Niagara — all tasty, and all very versatile. We’ll use Niagara grapes for this recipe, but you’re welcome to try any local variety you get your hands on.
The smoked duck really harkens this dish back to autumn. The combination of celery root’s earthy sweetness and the sharpness of pickled grapes bring out the smokiness of the duck. Bonticou Ducks raises some of the best duck in the Hudson Valley — perfect for a stellar smoked duck breast.
Day 1: Make the Pickled Grapes
This recipe calls for green Niagara grapes, but you can use just about any grape you find at the farmers market. The pickling liquid we’ll make today is more of a ratio than a recipe. It’s what professional chefs call a “3:2:1 vinegar pickle brine”. That is three parts water, two parts vinegar, one part sugar. You can substitute vinegars to control the sweetness and acidity to your taste, but the following is a basic recipe to get your feet wet in the pickling world. I like to keep the pickling liquid for these grapes fairly neutral since we’re already starting with a wonderful product. You don’t want to mask the greatness of these grapes.
Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Pickling Time: 2 days | Special Equipment: Mason jar
Ingredients
- 1 quart Niagara green grapes
- 2 cups tarragon vinegar (substitute apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar if preferred)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Step by Step
- Wash the grapes well and remove stems
- Loosely pack the grapes in a 1 quart mason jar, leaving a little wiggle room for the pickling liquid to flow throughout the jar
- In a medium sauce pot, add the water, vinegar, sugar and salt
- Bring to a boil
- Once boiling, turn off the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes
- Once cooled, carefully pour the liquid onto the grapes in the mason jar
- Seal the jar and place into the refrigerator for 2 days so the pickling liquid has time to penetrate the grapes
Day 2: Prepare the Salt-baked Celery Root
This simple three ingredient recipe is comprised of salt, egg whites and celery root. It’s as easy as whipping egg whites! This will become the salt crust for the celery root.
Prep Time: 10 to 15 minutes| Cook Time:3-1/2 hours | Oven Temperature: 350F degrees
Ingredients
- 1 celery root, medium size (about 1 lb.)
- 4 egg whites
- 2 cups salt
Step by Step
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees
- Clean the celery root well — it is notorious for holding onto dirt in the little crevices, especially near the root end
- Beat egg whites by hand or with your mixer’s whisk attachment until soft peaks form
- Slowly incorporate the salt in two batches using a rubber spatula
- Line a roasting pan or baking tray with foil *Farm2ChefsTable Tip
- Next, smear some of the whipped egg white mixture onto the foil, roughly the width of the celery root
- Place the celery root snugly on top of the egg white smear
- Lather the remaining egg white mixture evenly onto the celery root, fully encasing it
- Place the encased celery root into the preheated oven for 2 hours
- Once baked, remove it from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes, giving time for carry-over cooking to continue as it rests
- After that, go ahead and crack open the “shell” to unearth the celery root — Be careful because it is still piping hot!
- Let cool again for 30 minutes more, or until you can handle it safely
- Next, trim off the skin with a sharp knife, peeling down the sides
- Once peeled, cut the celery root into 8 wedges
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge until meal day, up to one week
Farm2ChefsTable Tip: Lining with foil allows for easy clean up. Trust me, I’ve done this recipe without lining the pan…the salty crust baked right onto the pan and it wasn’t a pleasant clean up.
Day 3: Prepare the Brown Butter Vinaigrette, Slice the Duck & Assemble the Dish
Brown Butter Vinaigrette
Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes | Cook Time: 5- 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons pickling liquid from grapes (recipe above)
- 8 tablespoons butter
- Salt, to taste
Step by Step
- Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat
- Melt until the butter begins to foam and turn brown
- Once browning begins, add the pickling liquid to halt cooking and turn off the burner
- Season the brown butter vinaigrette with salt and let cool to room temperature
- Set aside until you are ready to plate the dish
Slice the Duck & Assemble the Dish
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 smoked duck breast, preferably from Bonticou Ducks
- Salt-baked celery root wedges (recipe above)
- Pickled grapes (recipe above)
- 1/2 cup brown butter vinaigrette (recipe above)
- Pinch of smoked salt or flaky sea salt
Step by Step
- Thinly slice the duck breast long ways, about 12 slices depending on breast size
- Once sliced, lay onto a plate and set aside
- In a small bowl, toss the salt-baked celery root wedges with the room-temperature brown butter vinaigrette and smoked salt
- Once saturated, lay two wedges per plate in a rustic manner
- Nestle four pickled grapes in and around the salt-baked celery root, per plate
- Drape three slices of smoked duck rustically over the celery root
- Spoon a little more brown butter vinaigrette over top of the entire dish
- Season the dish with another pinch of smoked salt
- Enjoy with your family and friends.
This dish is like slipping on a warm fleece on a chilly fall day. When I think of fall, I think of game meats, hearty vegetables and preserving the last of summer’s ingredients. This dish encompasses all that in a room-temperature appetizer.
Salt-baking vegetables, like celery root (often called celeriac), is a sneaky way to retain all the moisture inside a vegetable. It traps the juices, creating a seal so the vegetable “steam bakes” in its own juices. Once the celery root is salt baked, it is then tossed with a brown butter vinaigrette to drive home the taste of autumn.
Hudson Valley grapes are a late-summer staple. I remember when I first saw grapes at the Union Square Farmers Market in New York City. It wasn’t the grapes that caught my eye, but the large swarm of bees flying around them. The Hudson Valley grows many grape varieties ranging from the classic red Concord to the green Niagara — all tasty, and all very versatile. We’ll use Niagara grapes for this recipe, but you’re welcome to try any local variety you get your hands on.
The smoked duck really harkens this dish back to autumn. The combination of celery root’s earthy sweetness and the sharpness of pickled grapes bring out the smokiness of the duck. Bonticou Ducks raises some of the best duck in the Hudson Valley — perfect for a stellar smoked duck breast.
Day 1: Make the Pickled Grapes
This recipe calls for green Niagara grapes, but you can use just about any grape you find at the farmers market. The pickling liquid we’ll make today is more of a ratio than a recipe. It’s what professional chefs call a “3:2:1 vinegar pickle brine”. That is three parts water, two parts vinegar, one part sugar. You can substitute vinegars to control the sweetness and acidity to your taste, but the following is a basic recipe to get your feet wet in the pickling world. I like to keep the pickling liquid for these grapes fairly neutral since we’re already starting with a wonderful product. You don’t want to mask the greatness of these grapes.
Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Pickling Time: 2 days | Special Equipment: Mason jar
Ingredients
- 1 quart Niagara green grapes
- 2 cups tarragon vinegar (substitute apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar if preferred)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Step by Step
- Wash the grapes well and remove stems
- Loosely pack the grapes in a 1 quart mason jar, leaving a little wiggle room for the pickling liquid to flow throughout the jar
- In a medium sauce pot, add the water, vinegar, sugar and salt
- Bring to a boil
- Once boiling, turn off the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes
- Once cooled, carefully pour the liquid onto the grapes in the mason jar
- Seal the jar and place into the refrigerator for 2 days so the pickling liquid has time to penetrate the grapes
Day 2: Prepare the Salt-baked Celery Root
This simple three ingredient recipe is comprised of salt, egg whites and celery root. It’s as easy as whipping egg whites! This will become the salt crust for the celery root.
Prep Time: 10 to 15 minutes| Cook Time:3-1/2 hours | Oven Temperature: 350F degrees
Ingredients
- 1 celery root, medium size (about 1 lb.)
- 4 egg whites
- 2 cups salt
Step by Step
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees
- Clean the celery root well — it is notorious for holding onto dirt in the little crevices, especially near the root end
- Beat egg whites by hand or with your mixer’s whisk attachment until soft peaks form
- Slowly incorporate the salt in two batches using a rubber spatula
- Line a roasting pan or baking tray with foil *Farm2ChefsTable Tip
- Next, smear some of the whipped egg white mixture onto the foil, roughly the width of the celery root
- Place the celery root snugly on top of the egg white smear
- Lather the remaining egg white mixture evenly onto the celery root, fully encasing it
- Place the encased celery root into the preheated oven for 2 hours
- Once baked, remove it from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes, giving time for carry-over cooking to continue as it rests
- After that, go ahead and crack open the “shell” to unearth the celery root — Be careful because it is still piping hot!
- Let cool again for 30 minutes more, or until you can handle it safely
- Next, trim off the skin with a sharp knife, peeling down the sides
- Once peeled, cut the celery root into 8 wedges
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge until meal day, up to one week
Farm2ChefsTable Tip: Lining with foil allows for easy clean up. Trust me, I’ve done this recipe without lining the pan…the salty crust baked right onto the pan and it wasn’t a pleasant clean up.
Day 3: Prepare the Brown Butter Vinaigrette, Slice the Duck & Assemble the Dish
Brown Butter Vinaigrette
Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes | Cook Time: 5- 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons pickling liquid from grapes (recipe above)
- 8 tablespoons butter
- Salt, to taste
Step by Step
- Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat
- Melt until the butter begins to foam and turn brown
- Once browning begins, add the pickling liquid to halt cooking and turn off the burner
- Season the brown butter vinaigrette with salt and let cool to room temperature
- Set aside until you are ready to plate the dish
Slice the Duck & Assemble the Dish
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 smoked duck breast, preferably from Bonticou Ducks
- Salt-baked celery root wedges (recipe above)
- Pickled grapes (recipe above)
- 1/2 cup brown butter vinaigrette (recipe above)
- Pinch of smoked salt or flaky sea salt
Step by Step
- Thinly slice the duck breast long ways, about 12 slices depending on breast size
- Once sliced, lay onto a plate and set aside
- In a small bowl, toss the salt-baked celery root wedges with the room-temperature brown butter vinaigrette and smoked salt
- Once saturated, lay two wedges per plate in a rustic manner
- Nestle four pickled grapes in and around the salt-baked celery root, per plate
- Drape three slices of smoked duck rustically over the celery root
- Spoon a little more brown butter vinaigrette over top of the entire dish
- Season the dish with another pinch of smoked salt
- Enjoy with your family and friends.
Farm2Chef'sTable 