Wild Boar with Celery Root and Onions

Paul and I had attended a fun event back in January for Artizone, which is a company that delivers artisan products from local shops directly to your front door. We got really excited about the opportunity to order some interesting food from the options available within the different partner markets. Feeling brave, we ordered a rack of boar (among some other interesting items). I really like boar ragu, so figured this would also be delicious. 

We found a recipe online that looked interesting, calling for us to brine the rack overnight, and then serve the cooked meat with celery root (celeriac) and caramelized onions. We made the brine liquid suggested and let it sit overnight.

Boar rack covered in the herb paste

I am now a fan of celery root. It's a little gnarly looking, but it's pretty tasty. I peeled the outer layer (trimming where needed) and then used the mandoline to slice it into thin pieces. 

Cooking the slices of celery root in some melted butter. Yum!

I would note that this recipe doesn't give a cooking time for the oven, and that's sort of a problem. We cooked it as suggested -- browning on the stove, then in the oven -- with an oven-safe thermometer inserted. The thermometer began reading that the rack was at the right temperature (I think we based this on a beef temperature, but went towards the high/well-done end), but it was definitely not. I like rare meat, but it was cold-raw. 

We ended up cutting the rack into smaller pieces and continuing to cook the pieces in the oven until they were more thoroughly cooked. I think it took an hour to an hour and a half total to get everything cooked through to where I wasn't scared to eat it.

The meat atop the celery root and onion mixture.

We each had two chops, which was definitely enough meat. I thought it was a little salty for my taste (probably from the brining), but Paul liked it. The celery root and onion were really great -- and the sweetness went well with the saltiness of the meat. The herb crust was really tasty and aromatic, so I would definitely make that again for other types of meat.