Is that an alien in the vegetable section?

I was at the grocery store last week when I came upon what I am calling "the coolest looking vegetable I have seen in a store".  Here's a picture:

Do you know what it is?  It's celery root! Also known as celeriac. And it's totally cool.

I bought one, mostly because I had never seen one before, brought it home, set it on the countertop, then tried to figure out what to do with it for dinner. It turns out there aren't a whole lot of recipes out there in the world for celery root...

Here's what I ended up creating:

Creamy mashed celery root

Ingredients: 

• 1 celery root
• 1 Tbs butter 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil to preferred consistency
• Pinch of dried parsley

Directions: 

1. Remove the tops from the root, wash and set aside. 
2. Peel the root and chop into 1 inch pieces.
3. Bring a pot of water to boil, add the root pieces and the washed tops. Boil for approximately 30 minutes or until the root pieces are tender. 
4. Drain the root pieces and tops - discard the tops. 
5. Place the root pieces in a bowl (make sure it's a bowl you can use a hand mixer or blender in). Add the butter and a small amount of oil. 
6. Blend for approximately one minute - add additional oil to increase creaminess and continue to blend to desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
7. Serve warm and sprinkle with parsley.