![]() ![]() Shop Thies Farm and Greenhouse on North Hanley Road for the standard purple and white variety. I called a slew of farmers looking for the three, but found only locally grown turnips. Turnips, rutabagas and parsnips are plentiful at area stores. Thinner than most I saw at the grocery, the Whole Foods parsnips snapped like a fresh carrot and yielded a very tender mash. ![]() ![]() ![]() I liked both the turnips and parsnips from Whole Foods for their small size and crispness. Select rutabagas with a heavy weight in relation to their size.Įvery cook I asked suggested choosing traditional turnips on the small side, solid, with a purple collar around the stem end and an even white color on the root end. The peel, orange streaked with deep purple and green, is quite handsome. I preferred the organic rutabaga for taste and aesthetics. It comes off easily with a vegetable parer, but I didn’t like the nasty wax buildup on my parer that resulted. The waxy coating prevents the rutabaga from dehydrating and allows it to keep longer. The organic rutabagas lacked the waxy coating you’ll find in most groceries. I bought organic turnips, rutabaga and parsnips from Whole Foods Market and conventionally grown turnips and rutabagas from Dierbergs. “Add them as you would a radish or a cucumber,” she said. “I like ’em raw.” She recommended cutting them in a half-inch dice or a matchstick julienne as a peppery extra in salads. Trojan, who grew up with a truck-farm gardening mom, has a strong aversion to cooked turnips. Louis’ Bombshell Betties Burlesque Troupe. Especially not turnips,” said Trixy Trojan of St. “Don’t give me any mushy, cooked vegetables. You can hardly go wrong with butter and cream, but the pungent taste of the turnips is distinctive. The creamed turnips met mixed reviews at our lunch. The third friend thanked me for a nice lunch, but declined a second date with the sisters. One favored the parsnip soufflé, while the other preferred the savory cobbler. Of the three guests at the root lunch, two accepted doggie bags, gladly. Talk about a wonderful dish for the holiday table. Later, I made a recipe similar to potatoes Anna, adding rutabagas interspersed with Yukon gold potatoes. The taste was OK, but the texture was odd. I experimented with a galette of turnips, rutabagas, onions and parsnips browned in an herbed butter. I could have stopped right there, but the recipe called for folding in whipped egg whites and riced potatoes to make the stuffing. Parsnips, oven-roasted then caramelized with maple syrup, tasted great mashed with a little cream and butter. Turnips, parsnips, butternut squash, pearl onions and rutabagas seasoned with fresh thyme baked deliciously in porcini and shiitake mushroom gravy. Savory root-vegetable cobbler won the taste test, hands down. Turnips provided an interesting departure from a traditional stew, adding a nice bite. Creamed turnips, a savory cobbler and twice-baked potatoes stuffed with a parsnip soufflé rounded out the menu. Another told me he was prepared to take the good with the bad when he accepted my invitation.įor the main dish at our lunch, I chose a Crock-Pot beef stew with lots of onion, two Yukon gold potatoes, six turnips and a simple red-wine reduction. “My tastes have not matured to include turnips,” she said. The parsnip – quiet, reserved and ladylike. The rutabaga – great personality, gets along with everyone. The turnip – smart, with a sassy attitude. Still, I felt like someone trying to set up blind dates for three homely sisters when I invited friends to my recipe tasting lunch. December is the season for these winter roots, but can they deliver a great taste suitable for a holiday meal? Absolutely. “Root vegetables for the December issue of a food magazine? You’re kidding, right?” my friend asked. ![]()
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