[shokkyy]

I had my first attempt at celery soup today, because I've got loads of the stuff that needs using up. I went for a cream of celery recipe, with nutmeg.  The taste is quite nice but no matter how much I blended it I couldn't get rid of all the bits of fibre, and for me that completely spoiled the texture. In the end I had to resort to sieving it, and I hate doing that with soup because it takes away all the body of the soup and can end up reducing the volume quite a lot.

Anybody got any tips for dealing with this problem? I've got plenty more celery to use up so it would be nice to find a solution.

Incidentally - I threw in a chilli, because I like my soup zingy so I usually throw one in, but I guess the cream must have neutralised it because there was absolutely no heat in it at all, and it was a Thai chilli that normally has a decent buzz to it. That never occurred to me or I wouldn't have bothered

[Asherweef]

With celery I would normally use my finger and a knife to grip the fibres and then pull upwards. This should remove the thickest fibres (if you're careful!)

[superpete]

I suppose you could take a ladle full or two out before you blended or sieved it?

Have you tried just cooking celery - braised I think is usual - maybe with a white or a light cheese sauce - it's lovely.

[shokkyy]

Yes, I like celery braised, and I use it a lot in jambalaya and stews, etc., but sadly my OH refuses to touch it. He picks out every single piece of celery when I put it in jambalaya or stew

[Annen]

I had my first attempt at celery soup today, because I've got loads of the stuff that needs using up. I went for a cream of celery recipe, with nutmeg.  The taste is quite nice but no matter how much I blended it I couldn't get rid of all the bits of fibre, and for me that completely spoiled the texture. In the end I had to resort to sieving it, and I hate doing that with soup because it takes away all the body of the soup and can end up reducing the volume quite a lot.

Anybody got any tips for dealing with this problem? I've got plenty more celery to use up so it would be nice to find a solution.

I noticed on cookery programmes lately, that they peel the ridges on the back of the sticks of celery, maybe that would help?

[shokkyy]

OK, I'll try doing some peeling on the next batch. I guess that'll help but I doubt it's going to get rid of all the stringy bits. Pity it's not like rhubarb, where the stringy bits pretty much dissolve on cooking. Such a shame, because there's not really anything else you can do with a glut of celery. I do freeze some for throwing in stews and stuff, but not that sort of quantity.

[arugula]

Definitely, peel the outer side.

[sunshineband]

Milk and yoghourt are used in indian cooking to 'calm down' the effects of chilli, so I guess this might be why yours had little effect.

You might need a couple more

[Trillium]

Milk and yoghourt are used in indian cooking to 'calm down' the effects of chilli,

I never did understand the reasoning behind making something so hot it'll blister your tongue, and then adding milk products so it doesn't blister your tongue.     It makes about as much sense as putting a long tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs   

While I like celery, it really is a very bland vegetable and I add it mostly for bouquet garni flavouring or texture.

[gypsy]

My celery is horrible this yr, it tastes bitter so no soup for us.

[Trillium]

Celery needs lots of regular watering and frequent manure slurries as side dressing. Then you'll get very nice celery. Folks tend to forget celery is a bog plant.