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Sweet-and-Sour Celery

Honey provides the sweet, and lemon juice the sour, in the Passover dish known as apio, which has origins in Turkey (the Ottoman Empire became a haven for Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition in 1492). As the celery cooks, it soaks up the braising liquid and becomes silky.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    45 min

  • Yield

    Makes 8 (side dish) servings

Ingredients

3

/4 cup water

1

/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3

tablespoons olive oil

3

tablespoons mild honey

4

pounds celery (2 to 3 bunches; any dark green outer ribs peeled), cut into 2-inch pieces, reserving about 1 cup inner celery leaves

1

/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Need to make a substitution?

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cut a round of parchment paper to fit just inside a wide heavy 6-to 8-quarts pot, then set round aside.

    Step 2

    Simmer water, lemon juice, oil, honey, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in pot, stirring, until honey has dissolved. Stir in celery (but not leaves) and cover with parchment round. Simmer until tender and liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup, 35 to 40 minutes.

    Step 3

    Meanwhile, coarsely chop reserved leaves.

    Step 4

    Serve celery sprinkled with celery leaves and parsley.

  2. What to drink:

    Step 5

    Yarden Galilee
    Cabernet Sauvignon '05