To be more accurate, perhaps, should I say “A Turnip Tale.. in the making”? Because, you see, I haven’t cooked these turnips yet. No, they’re still sitting in my fridge, in their little green-tinted Whole Foods bag.
I had a lovely “date” for Valentine’s Day this year, a good friend of mine who had recently broken up with her long-term boyfriend. She called last month, asking if I would be her Valentine, and of course I said yes. To avoid having to watch couples be disgusting with each other in restaurants, we opted to eat dinner at my house. Looking for the easiest, and best, of all possible solutions for dinner, I roasted a chicken.
It turned out great. But I’m a huge fan of roasted vegetables (there are few treats in this world more tasty than a properly roasted carrot, and get away, those are MINE!), and I went a little overboard. Carrots, farmer’s market yukon gold potatoes, onions, a tomato, a couple bulbs of kholrabi, two sweet potatoes from the farmer’s market (this was a good opportunity for me to roast off the rest of my farmer’s market potatoes and make space for this week’s market trip), garlic, basically I stuffed my roasting pan so full of vegetables that I had to let them cook for way longer than the chicken. The ones on the bottom simply got reserved to be re-cooked yesterday, and gobbled for dinner. Which I did.
And, thinking the would be delicious (considering that “roasted” is the only way I’ve ever eaten them), I picked up four turnips that, ultimately, never even made it onto my cutting board for lack of space in the pan.
And now I have turnips.
So.. what do I do with them?
Do any of you remember the American Girl book series? Specifically, Molly, the child of the 1940’s, who knitted socks for the troops and talked about rationing and grew her own vicotry garden? (An aside: I cannot tell you how badly I want to start a victory garden this spring. SO BADLY. I’ve never been so frustrated with renting an apartment before in my life.) In the very first book, “Meet Molly,” the author describes an epic dinner table faceoff betwee Molly and her mother, who had prepared mashed turnips for dinner, and which Molly brattily described as “old, cold, moldy brains.” And as unappealing as that sounds… well, I’ve been fascinated ever since.
So I’m thinking, to go with the leftover chicken meat still clinging to that carcass, perhaps I’ll make mashed turnips tonight? Any recommendations? Anyone? Recipes? Tips? Please? Help?
