Amish Creamed Celery
Here’s a refreshingly different side dish to serve at Thanksgiving, when celery is on sale. I went ISO Amish Creamed Celery recipes because I missed out on the wedding feast* at Fisher’s Restaurant during my recent trip to Amish country. It’s essentially cooked celery in a sweet-and-sour béchamel**, and I like this version which uses butter and brown sugar. Serves 8-10 as a side dish.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of celery, sliced into 1 inch pieces, about 4 c
chicken stock or water
2 t butter
2 t all purpose flour
½ c brown sugar
½ t salt
1 ½ t cider vinegar
¼ c cream, milk or half-and-half
Method: simmer the celery in stock or water until tender, about 20 minutes. Reserve the celery and the stock. In the same saucepan, melt butter then mix in flour to form a roux; stir and cook on low heat till flour is absorbed and the mix has a slightly nutty smell, about 1 minute. Add salt, brown sugar and vinegar, stirring constantly, then add chicken stock or water until the sauce is thick but still liquid (about ¼ c should do it). Remove from the heat and stir in cream or milk. Return the celery to the pan and stir to coat evenly. Serve hot.
*This web page presents a very detailed description of a typical Amish wedding in the Lancaster, PA. Creamed celery is served along with a main dish of “roast” which is what we would think of as Thanksgiving stuffing, but with chicken mixed in. Celery stalks in jars decorate the tables. I would like to find evidence that the sturdy, erect celery plant is a symbol of fertility, but so far have come up empty.
**I have been reading up on the green bean casserole where you mix canned green beans with mushroom soup and sprinkle fried onions on top. I think this béchamel would work much better as a sauce. But only serve one such dish at Thanksgiving, otherwise it gets monotonous.
Hello,
I know that you need 2 tablespoons of butter and flour to make a roux. However, this calls for 1/2 t salt and 1 1/2 t of cider vinegar. Does this “t” represent a teaspoon or a tablespoon? Thank you.
Anne
Anne, the recipe is correct as written. t=teaspoon. I was making a small amount of roux which is why t vs T.
Thanks much for your quick response.
Anne
You’re very welcome. Enjoy your creamed celery!
Boost your man’s fertility: Celery oil has been shown, in combination with vitamin E, to boost sperm count and motility. Celery contains aldosterone, a metabolic product of testosterone, and vitamin E reduces oxidization, creating the best possible environment for the sperm to mature.
https://www.chatelaine.com/health/diet/five-surprising-health-benefits-of-celery/
Well, thank you, this is awesome and the article has a lot of info. There’s even a recipe in there. Celery juice and/or celery powder is also used as a replacement for nitrate powder in curing meat because it is a naturally-occurring source of nitrates. Celery is amazing stuff!
They use celery, not as a sign of fertility, but because it is one of the last things you can keep in your garden. The weddings were historically in the fall, and they needed to use what was available, so celery is in the roast, in the dish you mention and on the table with its leaves still attached as a decoration. They took steps to “bleach” (which is actually blanch https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/celery/learn-about-blanching-celery-in-the-garden.htm) the celery by covering it in the garden to keep it tender and light colored. They used to say you could tell who had a daughter about to get married by how much celery was planted in the garden 🙂 I was not Amish, but come from Lancaster County. I used ot make creamed celery without a recipe, but its many years. Thanks for the recipe.
I am honored to have a comment from someone named Stotlzfus! And thanks for the perspective on celery. There are a couple other posts on my time in Amish country… search “Amish” to find them. Would love to have more perspective from you if you feel inclined to offer it.
1/2 cup brown sugar will make this dish real sweet,I mean real sweet,1/2 to 1 tablespoon may work better. As of now the celery flavor is weak and sweetness more. First time making this, I’m going to try again .
Thanks for trying the dish! The sweetness very much fits with the flavor profile of creamed Pennsylvania-Dutch dishes but you could certainly start with less and add more later. And please do check out the other posts from my exploration in Amish company as well as the enjoyable cranky commentary from the Amish food expert in this post https://burntmyfingers.com/2017/08/22/cautionary-tale-ethnic-food-tourism/