You've seen this scene before. In a French restaurant, perhaps sea bass over celery root veloute. In a Caribbean restaurant, pork over plantain. In an Italian restaurant, lamb shank over polenta. Et cetera. Well, those are boring and I hate spending $28 for an entree that is essentially a mix-and-match game of meat and potatoes. This is my take -- something lighter, Chinese-influenced, and unexpected.
The mash is simply broccoli, parsnips, and celery root, stir-fried for some roasty flavor. If this were a French or Italian dish, I'd enrich the mash with butter or olive oil, but instead I laced with hoisin. Today I spent over eight hours traveling to and from Boston. I'm feeling lethargic and didn't miss the starch and meat at all.
Recipe: Dice and stir-fry 2 small bunches of broccoli, 1 parsnip, and 1 cup of celery root. Cook until soft but still green. Puree and season with salt to taste. Stir-fry 1/2 sliced lotus root with soy sauce and sesame oil. (You can do this together with the other veggies, then take out before you puree. But I like to distinguish the flavors by cooking separately.) Place lotus root on mash, drizzle with hoisin sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serves 1.
P.S. Hey wait a second, why were you in Boston today? Don't you live and work in Brooklyn? Heehee. More news on that to come!