Here’s one more root vegetable recipe before we switch over to asparagus and salad greens. I clipped this out of a New York Magazine while we still lived in NYC, because we occasionally shopped at Windfall Farms. I also don’t really have any good rutabaga recipes, other than our standard roast-everything-in-a-pan method. “Hold on there, Lindsay”, you might say, “The title of this post says ‘turnip’ not ‘rutabaga’.” Yes, observant reader, it is actually . . . → Read More: Gilfeather Turnip Casserole]]>

Here’s one more root vegetable recipe before we switch over to asparagus and salad greens. I clipped this out of a New York Magazine while we still lived in NYC, because we occasionally shopped at Windfall Farms. I also don’t really have any good rutabaga recipes, other than our standard roast-everything-in-a-pan method. “Hold on there, Lindsay”, you might say, “The title of this post says ‘turnip’ not ‘rutabaga’.” Yes, observant reader, it is actually a rutabaga, but Mr. John Gilfeather thought it was a turnip. Also, Jerusalem artichokes are neither Israeli nor artichokes. What can I say? Vegetable identity crisis.

The Gilfeather turnip is a Slow Food Ark of Taste product, which makes it worth seeking out. The Ark of Taste program finds and protects endangered flavors – those beloved by old-timers, but threatened by industrial agriculture. Just for fun, here are some other Ark of Taste products from the Northeast.

• Bay scallops
• Boiled cider (used as a sweetener)
• “Old-Type” Rhode Island Red chicken
• Shrub (okay, not technically a Northeast thing, but a new favorite of mine)
• True Red Cranberry bean

Kind of makes me want to make an Ark of Taste bingo game…

Back the to rutabaga! It looks like a big white turnip, but is a little milder with less of a bite. Originating in southern Vermont, it’s even more local to us now that we’ve moved to Boston, so I was delighted to find one in one of our last CSA pick-ups.

This would make a great light lunch, but we cooked up some sausages to make a more substantial meal. It was nice and fluffy, like mashed potatoes, but with a more complex flavor – just enough peppery-ness.

Gilfeather Turnip Casserole

Serves 4 as a side or 2 as an entrée

Directions

1. Peel the rutabagas and chop them into cubes. Try to make the chunks close in size, so that they all cook in the same amount of time.
2. In a medium pot, add the rutabagas, a pinch of salt, and enough water to cover. Boil until the rutabagas are soft, about 30 minutes.
3. Once the rutabagas are soft, drain them and allow them to cool for a few minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Put the rutabagas, eggs, milk, salt, spices, and flour into a food processor and process until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, you can mash everything by hand, but I’d recommend mashing the rutabagas until they’re smooth first, then the eggs (one at a time), then the rest. This will help you get all the chunks out.
6. Rub just a little of the butter on the bottom and sides of a 1-quart soufflé dish. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.
7. Use a fork to mash the remaining butter into the bread crumbs and sprinkle it over the top of the rutabaga mash.
8. Bake for an hour or until the buttery crumbs are nicely browned.

Looking at that photo, I think that it would be a really pretty side for dinner guests if it were baked in individual ramekins. It’s not terribly attractive sunk down in that big soufflé dish (we don’t have a 1-quart one, so I used what we had).

For an easy dinner the other night, Lindsay and I made roasted vegetables, and while that’s not interesting enough to post about again, we did wind up with an interesting radish selection in the dish.

We purchased three vastly types of radishes from three different vendors (from left to right in the photo):

Background: Sunchokes, a.k.a. Jerusalem artichokes, are the roots of a species of sunflower. They were discovered by the western world in 1605 by Samuel Champlain, a French explorer, who initially compared the taste to an artichoke. I’m not sure why though…I don’t taste it. The “Jerusalem” piece of . . . → Read More: Produce Profile: Sunchokes]]> Sunchokes are our new obsession. They’re sweet and crispy raw and roast up nicely. Erik eats one or two almost every day in his lunchtime salad.

Background:
Sunchokes, a.k.a. Jerusalem artichokes, are the roots of a species of sunflower. They were discovered by the western world in 1605 by Samuel Champlain, a French explorer, who initially compared the taste to an artichoke. I’m not sure why though…I don’t taste it. The “Jerusalem” piece of the name is thought to have come from the Italian word “girasole”, meaning sunflower. A rebranding strategy in the 1960s renamed them sunchokes. Twenty years later, the poor sunchoke was involved in a pyramid scheme involving farmers who believed the sunchoke was about to make it big.

Sunchokes look like small potatoes, but are gnarlier and more twisted. They’re also lighter than they look, so a pound stretches pretty far.

Selecting Sunchokes:
Look for the same qualities you look for when selecting potatoes or carrots. They should be firm and dry. The larger sunchokes are easier to peel, which is optional in my opinion.

Benefits of Sunchokes:

• Pretty good source of potassium, iron, fiber, niacin, thiamine, phosphorus and copper
• Local substitute for water chestnuts

One word of caution: Sunchokes contain inulin, rather than starch, which some people don’t digest well. Neither Erik nor I have ever had a problem.

Basic Preparation:
Give them a good scrub. Then slice them thinly for salads, roast them, or steam them.

Starter Recipes:
This salad is a great way to try a bunch of different root vegetables raw. You could slice them thinly or use a vegetable peeler to create strips. We made it a few weeks ago and will have to make it again soon.

Here are a few cooked dishes that look pretty tasty.

• Latkes
• Soufflé

Sources:
Local Harvest
Wikipedia

It has a nice, crisp texture, and stands up well to roasting, instead of becoming mushy. It has a mild taste, similar to celery, but with a flavor that is a bit more sweet and sour. It matches up well with other roasting favorites such as carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, and broccoli.