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Buttered Stewed Celery
Cut coarse pieces celery, ends of stalks and fine leaves into inch pieces. Cook till tender in boiling water that just covers the celery. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with square of butter in center.
A frugal way to use the outer stalks, tough ends and leafy tops left after the tender hearts have gone to the relish tray. The whole method turns on using very little water.
- Water level"Boiling water that just covers the celery" is the instruction that matters. Using only just enough water leaves little to pour away, though the recipe says nothing about saving or reducing the liquid.
- TimingOuter stalks cut in inch pieces need roughly 10 to 15 minutes to become tender; the leaves collapse in under five. If you want both, add the leafy tops in the last few minutes.
- Trim the stringsCoarse outer stalks carry tough fibres the original does not mention. Snap each stalk and pull the strings off, or peel the ribbed back with a vegetable peeler, before cutting.
- "Square of butter"A period way of saying a cut pat of butter, left to melt into the hot celery at the table. The recipe does not specify a quantity.
- YieldThe recipe gives no yield. Celery loses considerable bulk in cooking, so the trimmings from a single head will not go far as a side dish.
- SeasoningThe recipe leaves salt and pepper to taste; boiled celery is mild and watery and may want a generous hand. A little raw chopped celery leaf over the top at the end is a modern addition, not part of the original.