Mashed Turnips with Celery Root


Turnips.  The enigmatic root vegetable.  Deceivingly peppery with a pretty fuchsia exterior and a perfectly white interior.  Typically for root vegetables, I either roast them or mash them.  Look at this picture, root vegetables appear imperfectly beautiful. I thought celery root would make for a good flavor pairing with the turnips, given its intense celeriac character.  Keeping it simple with rustic, with a dash of nutmeg, garlic, and white pepper for a hint of fall.  Here's the final product which I find rustic and comforting.



Mashed Turnips with Celery Root

Ingredients:
  • turnips: 2, peeled and cut into uniform medium cubes
  • celery root: 1, peeled and cut into uniform small cubes
  • butter: 4 tablespoons
  • salt, white pepper, nutmeg, granulated garlic to taste
  • milk or half and half: about 1/2 cup
Directions:
  1. In a large pan, bring salted water to a boil.  Add in the celery root first (takes longer to cook, and that's why we want to cut it smaller), followed by the turnips.  Cook until fork tender, about 30 minutes.
  2. Drain well.  In a bowl, or return to pan, mash with masher.  Add in the butter, and seasonings.  Taste while mashing more.  (Alternately, for a smoother texture, make this in the food processor.)  Once the desired texture is achieved, add in the milk or half and half.   Again, taste for seasonings and adjust.
  3. Makes about 4-6 servings.
-Erin Swing
Swing Eats

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Image
So continues Food Network's Fall Fest with squash. The first thing to come to my mind, as I sure most people's minds, is butternut squash soup. With good reason. It's comforting, warm, hearty, rich, and not that difficult to make. Most soups start with a mirepoix (onions, carrots, and celery), which creates the aromatic foundation. Then add in cooked tender squash, stock, seasonings, and puree. That simple. Well, I find the most difficult aspect is the handling of the butternut squash. Every time I break one down, I curse at myself for not buying a cheap work horse cleaver from the Asian market. Hence I prefer to roast the butternut squash split in the oven. Then it works it easy to scoop out and add into the stock pan. Roasting adds a great depth of flavor from the Maillard reaction: the browning reaction (think meats, caramel, etc) that breaks down proteins and carbohydrates into small tasty flavor molecules. I add the mirepoix on the baking sheet to roast with the squ
Read more

Long John Silver's Style Fried Chicken Planks (gluten-free)

Image
I only eat fried foods a few times a year, at most.  If you are gluten-intolerant, you understand.  It's damn near impossible to find safe non-contaminated fries at a restaurant, let alone gluten-free fried foods.  My favorite fried chicken was Long John Silver's chicken planks.  Ah, heaven.  Perfectly delectable battered chicken with no bones or fuss.  Personally, I'll take it over KFC any day.  I rarely make fried food because it's not the healthiest, nor the cleanest to make, the multiple batches of frying while keeping target temperature, and keeping your cool over the hot oil.  Yes, those are chopsticks in the top picture.  I found it easiest to use them to dredge the chicken in the batter, as well to turn and remove from the cooking oil.  This tastes exactly like how I remember LJS's chicken, even if it has been twelvish years for me!  Make this for loved ones to share - they won't know nor let alone care that it is gluten-free.  This chicken is so perf
Read more

Spooky Halloween Buckeyes

Image
Buckeyes are the confectionary for the state of Ohio.  They resemble the nut of the Ohio buckeye tree.  It's a confection made from a peanut butter fudge mostly dipped in chocolate, leaving a circle on top visible.  To make them festive for the season, I topped them with candy eyes I purchased to a cake and candy store.  I think they look adorable with the eyes - more adorable than spooky.  These are homemade Halloween treats that are easy to make and everyone loves, if they like peanut butter.  In this batch I added in a little bit of the fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice) which created a little bit of warmth and depth, but not necessary. Spooky Halloween Buckeyes Ingredients: Creamy Peanut Butter, 1 1/2 cups Vanilla Extract, 1 teaspoon Butter, Salted, 1/2 cup softened at room temp. (add in 1/2 teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter) Powdered/Confectioners Sugar, 3 cups, or as needed Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, 1 package/12 ounces Coconut Oil
Read more