Here’s the thing about my kitchen. Fancy side dishes are a rare occurrence. If I can get myself a meat and vegetable together on a regular basis, we’re doing well. But, because I made myself a crockpot full of Cabernet Beef Stew last night, tonight gave me the time to attack an idea I got while out in Denver this past weekend.

Sometimes, you’ve got to teach an old dog new tricks, and that’s exactly what the chef at The Kitchen did. On the menu, there’s a hanger steak, and with it was served not potatoes au gratin, but celeriac au gratin.

GOOGLE! Where’s the google? I NEED TO DO A GOOGLE. Why? Because I had no idea what celeriac was.

Out comes my trusty phone, which lets me know that it’s some sort of fugly root veggie that has celery stalks growing out of it. Sure. I like root veggies. One Hanger Steak, Medium Rare, please.

The plate of food served to me was indescribably delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. This may be the first time that I’ve ever gotten a steak and finished the side dish before the juicy red meat in front of me. Needless to say, I told myself, I’ve GOT to make this again at home. I was pleasantly surprised to find a celery root (aka celeriac) in the grocery store on Monday night…. so, here we go.

Celeriac au Gratin

Prep time: 15-20min | Cook Time: 50min

Note: I made a relatively small batch, seeing that this was an experiment, Double the amounts if you’re serving more than 2-3 people.

– 1/2 Celeriac, peeled and sliced thinly
– 3 tbsp Kerrygold Garlic Herb Butter (Can be purchased at Whole Foods)
– 1 container So Delicious Culinary Coconut Milk (I used the Lite version, it’s all the store had and I’d never seen this product before… apparently it’s supposed to be a non-dairy sub for heavy cream)
– 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
– 1/2 tsp Basil flakes
– 1/2 brick Kerrygold Dubliner, grated
– Salt & Pepper to taste
– Garlic Powder

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) In a saucepan on low heat, melt the coconut milk and butter.

3) Slice the celeriac if you haven’t already. The slicing attachment on a food processor works wonderfully for this. If you don’t have a food processor or a mandoline slicer, be careful using a knife!

4) Now that the butter has melted into the coconut milk, add the basil, garlic, S&P and HALF of the shredded cheese.

5) In the bottom of a small oven-safe dish, begin to lay down the celeriac slices. Pour a portion of the sauce on, layer more celeriac, more sauce, repeat until it’s all in the dish.

6) Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top, season with garlic powder, cover with foil.

7) Bake the first 25min with the foil covering. After 25min, remove the foil and bake the rest of the way.

8) Let sit for a few minutes out of the oven before serving.

Alright, it may be a little soupy, but this is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever crafted in my kitchen. The more ‘sauce’ there is, the more deliciousness there is to mop up with your steak. I’m mixing it with chunks of beef stew right now.

Add-ins that I regrettably did not think to include ahead of time: Bacon, Onion, Truffle oil? The options are endless.

When you try this recipe, let me know what kind of fun you opted to throw in! Pardon me while I go stuff my face.