Creamed Celery to be Served with Boiled Beef - Sedani per Contorno al Lesso

Creamed celery is a simple, tasty vegetable whose texture will nicely balance the dryness of boiled meats. The recipe is drawn from an 18th century cookbook, which was published when boiled meats were much more common than they are now and people had to find good accompaniments for them.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• Celery (see below for amounts)
• Bechamel Sauce

Preparation:

Use the white part of the ribs of celery, cutting them into pieces about an inch long. Boil them for five minutes in salted water, and then sauté them in butter till done. Serve the celery a béchamel sauce, making it fairly thick, and flavoring it with about a tablespoon of grated Parmigiano.

18th century recipes are cursory by modern standards.
Base the volume of celery on the number of people eating. Assuming about four, you will want a cup of milk, a tablespoon each of butter and flour, and salt and pepper to taste for the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter, without letting it brown, stir in the flour, and continue stirring; when the mixture turns light brown begin to add the milk in a slow stream. It will boil up. Stir vigorously to eliminate the lumps and continue adding the milk slowly, stirring all the while (if need be stop adding milk, remove the pot from the heat, and stir out the lumps before adding more milk). Once all the milk is added, stir gently over a low flame until the sauce thickens somewhat, season to taste, and it's done. This is according to my taste; if you want it thicker use a little more flour at the beginning.

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