Zuni-Style Celery Sticks
A guest recipe for after-work snacking, plus my next SF cooking class
Back to Snacks
This time of year just feels like snacking season. Everyone’s back in school, back to the office, back to regularly-scheduled programming. My own work ramps up in September as we slide toward the holidays (the busiest cooking/eating/shopping season). We all need a nap and a snack.
When I think about after-school snacks from growing up, a few favorites come to mind: a giant Granny Smith apple with Jif peanut butter, Campbell’s tomato soup made with milk (this is key), broccoli + cheddar Hot Pockets, and of course, a bag of microwave popcorn, slightly burnt.
It’s been a full year since I’ve worked in an office, but that sneaky little window between the end of the day and dinner? Still very real. I used to eat a Chomps meat stick and a handful of almonds, the corporate snack of champions, before leaving work to make sure I didn’t arrive at home hangry. A one-hour-plus commute via three modes of transportation in the Bay Area will do that to a gal!
Sometimes my after-work snack turned into dinner, especially on Bare Minimum Mondays. I wish I had Georgia Freedman’s cookbook Snacking Dinners on those nights. Georgia is a Bay Area cookbook author and writer and recently hosted our women’s group, The Proof Collective, for a cookbook club. I knew right away what I wanted to make: her Zuni-Style Celery Sticks.
If you’ve been to Zuni Café in SF, you know the dish. Paper-thin celery, anchovies, parmesan and olives doused in olive oil. Salty, crunchy, austere in the best way. Honestly, perfect. The calm before the roast chicken + shoestring fries hit the table.
Georgia took this iconic dish and turned it into a handheld snack. It’s easy enough to throw together after work standing over the sink, but pretty enough to multiply for a party. Georgia generously offered to share her recipe with us. You can pick up a copy of her book here and subscribe to her excellent newsletter Snacking Dinners.
Here’s snapshot of our cookbook club. One of my faves was the okonomiyaki-style tater tots with feathery bonito.
Zuni-Inspired Celery Sticks
Recipe shared with permission from Snacking Dinners by
Serves 1
Ingredients:
3 large celery sticks
One 2 1/4-ounce (64 g) piece of Parmesan
3 small or 1 1/2 large anchovies
4 pitted kalamata olives
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
1 big lemon wedge
3/4 teaspoon yuzu kosho (optional)
Flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
Directions:
Trim the ends of the celery sticks and use a vegetable peeler to remove the outer skin and strings, then cut each stick in half widthwise to make shorter lengths. Grate the Parmesan on a box grater (you should have about a lightly packed cup). Mince the anchovies and two of the olives, then combine them in a small bowl with the Parmesan, olive oil, and mayonnaise. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon wedge and add the yuzu kosho, if using, then mash the ingredients with the back of a fork so that everything kind of holds together. (If you have a few minutes, refrigerating the mixture will help it stick together.) Fill the celery sticks with the cheese mixture, then chop the remaining two olives and use them and the parsley to garnish.
Bulk Up the Plate: Since this is basically built like an old-school steakhouse bar snack, pair it with other bar nibbles like good-quality potato chips and a bowl of spiced nuts.
In Other News
Looking for a cooking class in San Francisco? My next hands-on class at the beautiful Civic Kitchen cooking school in the Mission is on October 30th. We’re cooking this wine country-inspired menu:
Roasted Squash Soup | Fried Sage and Hazelnuts
Crispy Goat Cheese Salad | White Wine Vinaigrette
Herb-Crusted Lamb Chops | Red Wine Pan Sauce
Wild Mushroom Risotto
Poached Pears | Crème Anglaise and Caramel
So NOT Cooking But…
But I love Rare Beauty’s Harmony Flexible Lifting Brow Gel. I was working from my sister’s the other week and I borrowed a swipe of this to freshen up before meeting friends for dinner. I’ve been considering getting my brows laminated, but I’m glad I found a less permanent (and more economical) solution. Pick it up at Sephora.
I love that you brought these to the party! So happy to share this recipe with everyone.
The way I want to bring Zuni home! Thank you for this!