Bury St Edmunds award-winning food writer Nicola Miller offers a recipe for a real comfort meal
When it comes to eating, how do you define luxury? When I had very little money and a young family, the height of luxury was being able to cook meals that didn’t remind me I was on a super-low budget. On the days when money and time were more abundant, recipes like lasagne felt very indulgent although ostensibly, nineties and early noughties cooks might not have seen a layered dish of minced beef, tomato sauce and bechamel as super-luxurious. Yet compared to endless bowls of value pasta served with a basic sauce and grated cheese, it was - and even more so today as food prices continue to go through the roof.
When I was a kid my idea of luxury was what I’d now describe as ‘lots of one thing’. China pudding bowls filled with either mashed potato, sliced runner beans, heaps of purple sprouting, corn kernels doused in butter, salt and black pepper, or Bird’s Eye peas flavoured with mint from my grandfather’s garden were frequently requested and eaten, to the consternation of my grandmother. I’d eat frijoles (refried beans) straight from the pan, a bag of mango slices sprinkled with salt or tajin or, back in the UK, kilos and kilos of greengages scoffed from a greengrocer’s bag.
Writing this I realise that ‘lots of one thing’ remains my idea of luxury. In the summer, my desk lunch is usually fruit; I always have peaches, nectarines, berries and currants, apricots, cherries, greengages, and plums in the house during the warmer months to gorge on. I love soups because they qualify as ‘lots of one thing’ as do stews and braises, bowls of rice with butter and salt, spices and/or herbs, dals, chillies, and bowls of beans. A large bar of chocolate counts as ‘lots of one thing’ (I am not a ‘two dainty squares of dark chocolate’ gal), as does ice cream straight from the tub. I’ll eat a huge steak by itself or a triangle of parmesan as if it were a bar of chocolate.
The ultimate ‘lots of one thing’ luxury is mashed potato, my default meal when I am overwhelmed with choice. I do pervert the purity of ‘lots of one thing’ by drenching my mash with gravy and because of this it must be served in a bowl (although I tend to eschew plates for bowls these days) nor look too perfect because I’m not Joel Robuchon (check out his famous mashed potatoes for context). I don’t mind the odd lump either. This perfect example of atavistic Northern European-ness in the face of the Mediterranean Diet (a food media darling that isn’t the unified concept it is portrayed as) and our Western globalised diet filled with ingredients grown in hotter climates or inside huge British-based greenhouse ‘cities’, makes me laugh, albeit ruefully. Ultimately, as much as I detest the British climate (and especially its winters) and seek out intense heat and blinding white-hot sun wherever possible, many of my favourite comfort meals are rooted in this country’s cold, wintry soil.
This month’s recipe for potato and celeriac mash with fried apples and onions is something I make a lot. It’s pretty casual food as you can see from the photo taken in my kitchen with my husband’s high-vis jacket in the background. Nor is it a looker, verging on what the industry calls ‘brown/beige food’, but I used to serve this as a side dish for Sunday lunch at a pub where I was the cook and the customers adored it. It’s quite German in feel - and even more so if you infuse melted butter with caraway and beat that into the mash or pour it over the assembled dish before serving with roasted knuckles of pork and sauerkraut. Celeriac and potato mash is nothing new; you’ll find plenty of recipes for it online. The fried apples and onions you might remember from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy, a fictionalised account of her husband Almanzo’s childhood on a prosperous farm in upstate New York. It was his favourite meal. Barbara M Walker’s Little House Cookbook has a recipe for this old country dish, fried in bacon grease, sweetened with sugar and served with bacon or salt pork. So I thought these two dishes might work well together. Turns out they really do.
CELERIAC, POTATO, APPLE AND ONION MASH (Serves at least 6)
Ingredients:
2kg floury potatoes
1 large celeriac
1 large cooking apple
3 eating apples (Cox’s, Russets or Braeburn are good choices.
Avoid Golden Delicious because they are flavourless)
2 large white onions
1 tablespoon cooking oil or bacon/pork grease (plus more if needed)
130g salted butter (or to taste), cubed.
100ml full-fat milk
Salt and pepper
Method:
1. You will need two large saucepans or a steamer setup, plus a large heavy-based frying pan or skillet.
2. Fill three large bowls with cold water.
3. Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks (about 4cm) and place in cold water. Peel and cut the celeriac into chunks (ice cube size) and place in cold water. Peel and slice the apples into ice cube-sized chunks and place in cold water. The cold water will prevent the celeriac, potato and apple from browning until you are ready to begin cooking.
4. Peel and very finely slice the onions. Place to one side.
5. Bring two large pans of salted water to boil or prepare your steamers if you use them. Cook the potatoes and celeriac separately in the pans/steamers until they are soft and ready to mash.
6. Drain their water, add the celeriac chunks to the pan of potatoes, then cover the pan with a lid and leave while you prepare the apples and onions.
7. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil or grease in the frying pan over low-medium heat then add the onions with a pinch of salt and fry gently until they start to colour, moving the pieces around the pan to prevent any stick-ing. Now thoroughly drain the apples, add them to the pan of onions and fry in the same manner, turning them over to ensure they cook through. Keep frying until the onions and apples are golden and a little ‘caught’ in places. ie browned, and keep an eye on them. Add more cooking oil or grease if you think the pan needs it. The Bramley will break down to fluff as is its nature; the eating apples will retain their shape. You want this contrast. When they are cooked, set aside and keep warm.
8. When the apples and onions are nearly done, take the pan of potato and celeriac and place over very low heat. Using a wooden spoon, gently tumble its contents to drive off residual moisture so your mash is super-fluffy. When the potatoes and celeriac are thoroughly reheated, remove from the hob, lob in the butter and begin mashing, adding the milk bit by bit until you have a creamy purée. Feel free to add more butter if you wish but be careful not to add too much milk because you need the mash to retain a little body to stand up to the apples and onions. If you use a potato ricer, beat the butter and milk into the potatoes after-wards.
To serve: put the mashed potato and celeriac into a large serving bowl and pour over the apples and onions. Sometimes I pour over more melted butter or melted butter infused with caraway seeds. Season to taste.
Follow Nicola on Bluesky: @nicmiller.bsky.social
Winner of the Guild of Food Writers Online Food Writer Award 2020
Fortnum & Mason Cookery Writer of the Year 2022
