Jul 1, 2009 5:57 pm US/Eastern
Tony Tantillo: Celery
-
-
CBS 2 HD food reporter Tony Tantillo.
CBS
This week's tip is going to be with CELERY.
Now I do tips on celery around the holidays especially Thanksgiving because celery sales because of the stuffing and recipes skyrocket. In the summer celery sales are kind of stagnant, they don't go too far but let me tell ya, celery is great for us, and celery tastes good.
What I like about celery is it is so refreshing in different salads. You put celery in a salad on a warm day and it just gives that salad the crispiness that a salad needs, but you have to select and store that celery right or forget it, that crispiness will be shot. Come over here and let's talk about selection.
When you buy it, you see this here? Green from top to bottom, very green! Check where it's been cut, that has to be clear. A little bit of browning here that's OK, just a little bit, but if it starts to brown all around like this, forget it; don't buy it.
Then you want to make sure the leaves on the celery are free from any yellowing whatsoever. They have to be nice and green and nice and fresh, but here's the key. Squeeze it. When it is squeaky like this; that means it is fresh.
When you bring it home, store it in the refrigerator right away; shelf life is not that long. In the summertime shelf life is 3 – 4 days. After the 4th day it starts to get a little rubbery, and who wants rubbery celery? Forget about it! You want celery nice and crisp and there's your tip to enjoy wonderful celery on your summer salad to make it refreshing and to make it crispy.
Stir-Fried Chicken with Celery
This recipe can be easily made an all vegetarian dish by increasing the celery to 2 cups, the onions to 1 cup, and doubling the amount of mushrooms.
Serves 4
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 pound boneless chicken breasts cut into ¾ inch cubes
2 ribs celery cut on the diagonal, about ½ inches long tip to tip (about 1¼ cups)
1 small onion, thinly sliced, about ¾ cup
1 cup sliced shitake mushrooms
¾ cup Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock mixed with 2 teaspoons cornstarch
¾ to 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Put oil in a wok over medium high heat. When it begins to smoke, add chicken and stir-fry about 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add celery, onion, and mushrooms. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken stock mixture, thyme, salt, and pepper, and cook until mixture thickens. Serve over rice.
Click to enlarge
U.S. House Passes Health Care Bill 24 mins ago 
Stumble It!
