Celery Root Soup, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

DEAR SOS: On a recent visit to Las Vegas we enjoyed a seven-course dinner at the Bacchanal in Caesar’s Palace. The third course was cream of celery root soup, which was delicious. I would appreciate a recipe for it. And where does one buy celery root?

--THELMA

DEAR THELMA: What a nice recipe, compliments of executive chef John Coletta of Caesar’s Palace. Celery root is generally available at most supermarkets, especially at the specialty vegetable counter. Most gourmet food stores and health food stores carry celery root too.

CAESAR’S PALACE CREAM OF CELERY ROOT SOUP

8 small round sourdough bread loaves or 1 to 2 large loaves

1/4 cup unsalted butter

8 celery root bulbs, chopped, trimmed, reserving some leaves

1/2 cup chopped white onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 1/2 quarts chicken stock

Salt

Freshly ground white pepper

Freshly ground celery seeds

1 cup rice flour

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup Pernod or other anise-flavored liqueur

Slice cap off sourdough loaves. Hollow out each loaf to make shell, reserving caps. Save bread pulp for other use. Each shell should hold 3/4 cup soup.

Heat butter in large saucepan. Add chopped celery root, onion and celery. Saute about 5 minutes, stirring to coat vegetables well. Pour chicken stock into pan. Season to taste with salt, pepper and celery seeds. Bring to boil.

Mix rice flour with enough water in small bowl to make paste. Mix small amount of hot stock mixture into rice flour paste, then pour rice flour mixture into pan, stirring constantly until well blended.

Bring again to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add whipping cream and simmer 10 minutes longer. Add Pernod just before serving.

To serve, pour soup into bread loaf shells and sprinkle soup with reserved chopped celery root leaves. Place bread caps on “bowls” and serve on 9-inch plates. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

327 calories; 1,104 mg sodium; 58 mg cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams protein; 1.14 grams fiber.

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DEAR SOS: Please print a recipe for pineapple upside-down cake.

--ANN

DEAR ANN: We searched our files inside out for this upside-down cake.

PINEAPPLE-UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

1 (8 1/4-ounce) can sliced pineapple in syrup

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

4 maraschino cherries, drained

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/4 cup milk

1 egg

Drain pineapple, reserving 2 tablespoons syrup. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 6-inch oven-proof skillet. Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Place pineapple slices on top of sugar mixture. Fill center of each pineapple with 1 cherry.

Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and allspice in bowl. Blend orange zest with milk in separate bowl. Add remaining 1 tablespoon soft butter, egg and reserved 2 tablespoons syrup. Beat until blended. Add flour mixture and stir to make batter.

Pour batter over pineapple in skillet, being careful not to disturb slices. Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes or until cake sprigs back when lightly touched. Let stand 5 minutes. Loosen edges and invert cake onto platter. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

243 calories; 229 mg sodium; 52 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 43 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.18 gram fiber.

Note : If skillet does not have iron or heat-proof handle, wrap handle in foil.