The Wrong End of the Turnip

I went to the Nashville Farmers' Market Sunday morning after work. The market was not officially open till 8 am, but there were stalls already manned and ready to sell. Local tomatoes had yet to come in, but there were enough squashes of every size, shape, and color to reach to the moon and back three times. One grower tried to sell me a yellow and green acorn shaped squash that looked like a gourd. I told him so.

"It's good grilled, " he said. But when I asked him what it tasted like to make it stand out from the others, he shrugged. "It tastes like zucchini".

At one stand I saw 2 African-American men buying a sack of turnip greens. A three foot sack. I hope they enjoyed them, though I must add that the charms of turnip greens are lost on me. I prefer turnips. The roots. Purple and yellow and mashed with butter. But in Nashville,they are the wrong end of the turnip.

One can find mashed turnip recipes, or receipts as the old timers used to call them, in the ring binder Junior League cookbooks of the South. Mashed turnips, sharp cheese, bread crumbs, and butter. With emphasis on the butter. I guess we would call them gratins, but the less pretentious just call them casseroles.

When I bought 5 small turnips at the Farmers' Market yesterday, I planned to cook them as Richard Olney did by his recipe in "Simple French Food". But then the Muse of Cookery came to me, and I improvised my own casserole, using Gruyere cheese as Olney did. I told a friend who is always looking for vegetable recipes about my success.

"Put it in your blog", she said, and so I will.


Turnip Casserole

4-5 small turnips

3-4 tbs heavy cream

1/4 stick butter, or more if you prefer

1/4 cup Panko or other dried bread crumbs

1/3 lb Gruyere cheese, grated

1/4 teaspoon Herbs de Provence

Sea salt to taste

2 eggs

Peel the turnips. Then either dice them or shred them through the julienne disc of a food processor. Put them in a saucepan with enough lightly salted water to cover, and cook them over medium heat till they are just soft. Drain them well, for turnips are watery enough without adding more liquid. Put them in a bowl. Sprinkle with the Herbes de Provence. Add the grated cheese, then taste to see if salt is needed. Now melt the butter and add it along with the heavy cream. Stir in the eggs, then pour the mixture into a medium casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with the bread crumbs. Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes.

This would be a good side dish to accompany chicken, turkey, anything. I will have it tonight, re-warmed with my "Oxtail stewed with White Grapes", a recipe collected by Elizabeth David in "French Provincial Cooking".