I attribute my taste for turnips and turnip greens to having
been served them early in life. Maybe there's more to it than that, though. It
is like the smell of a geranium, you either like it or you don't. I find both
the taste of the turnip and the smell of the geranium earthy... in a
satisfying, basic way.
Hankering for turnips and wanting to not be the only one at the
table who would eat them, I was glad to find an interesting take on them.
Adjusting downward for my small stash stealthily slipped into our
shopping cart at the import store not to be noticed by un-enthused husband
until check-out, and settling on the already-on-hand fresh herb sweet basil for the recipe's herb,
jubilantly recalling I had a packet of apple cider mix that I had run across in
the pantry (probably vintage 2004-ish), using some pre-cooked bacon from the
freezer, half a Fuji apple purchased at that little fruit and veggie shop
on the west side of the station, thisBasil Bacon Fuji Turnip Dish came together without a
hitch. The man's big complement at meal's end was:
"If a person for some reason must eat a turnip, this is probably one of the less offensive ways to prepare it."
"If a person for some
reason must eat a turnip, this is probably one of the less
offensive ways to prepare it."
Success! (For him, regarding turnips, this is high praise, indeed.)
Oh! What surfaced in the move besides the old
recipe? Well, for one, that ancient
cider packet, and then also the brand
new notion that if I prepare turnips as the first "at
home" meal, and we don't have to spend money eating out, there was just
the chance that the meal would be consumed rather than "passed" on,
altogether. Part of the ploy was to have no alternatives. i.e. this side dish
was the main attraction. Yes, relocation weariness made for kitchen
intrepidity. Woot!
The HOW TO is basically: Peel and quarter the turnips, cooking them in
apple cider with a bit of butter and still less sugar. I used 1 Tablespoon
butter, and a teaspoon sugar for three turnips...simmering in half the pack of
prepared apple cider. I peeled and sliced a Fuji apple. Next was two slices bacon,
cooked and chopped. When the turnips are still firm, but can be pierced
with a toothpick or fork, you add the apples, and continue to cook till the
cider reduces to a syrupy glaze. Mine never quite reached THAT level, but I
like the "soup" it made. Salt fresh ground pepper pair for the
perfect basic seasonings; last thing is adding the bacon and chopped herb (just
a couple of leaves of basil did it for us).
Next move: parsnips! (Perhaps?)
-------------------------------
*The reicpe had been given to me by a
fellow gaijin ("outside person"; foreigner; non-Japanese)
whose husband managed a computer store down town. She often saw me come into
the store with my husband and so began giving me outdated magazines
whenever we came in. I think she was Filipino. The store is no longer there,
though I've seen her again at its new locale.
** This blog first appeared in June of 2010 as my blog post on Allrecipes.com (AR) under my AR name, Hezzy-tant-Cook...aka "Hezzy". When AR changed ownership the contributing members' blogs were eventually removed.
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