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Friday, February 2, 2024

NEW EXPERIENCE RUTABAGA COOKING

With our new eating style, we're trying new things.  One thing we neither of us had ever had, rutabagas!


First I had to find them in the store.  You can see here, they were near the corn.  Not sure how you pick a good one, so I picked a couple that looked OK, ha.


We had read up on them and you have to peel them, not only to remove the outside skin, but rutabagas are usually covered in wax, one of the few vegetables that is treated in this manner.  They are very prone to drying out and contain a lot of water as they have no natural shield against evaporation water loss so during shipment, they are waxed.  We peeled them well...


...and sliced and diced them up.


2nd Man took them and added them to a skillet with a little bit of olive oil and a few seasonings (no salt) and just cooked them like you were cooking potatoes.


After a few minutes of cooking on medium high heat, they had nice color on them and resembled diced potatoes you might have for breakfast.  They were great!  They are in the brassica family which includes mustard, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.  I thought they tasted similar to a less sweet carrot and 2nd Man thought they tasted more like a turnip.  We really liked them though and will definitely add them to our rotation of vegetables.

Not sure if they will grow here (they are a Winter vegetable so we'd have to plant them in the Fall), but we'll check that out.  They apparently store very well so it has the potential to be a great option at the farm.

Anyone else ever cooked with them or have a great method/use for them?

11 comments:

  1. We always have rutabagas (we call them turnips) at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I usually boil them and then mash with butter, salt and pepper. Years ago we drove by a turnip waxing plant and my sister commented that she thought the turnips grew already waxed. We tease her about it everytime we have turnip at a family get-together. Elaine (in Toronto)

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  2. Never tried or eaten them but fried like that, they do look yummy.
    Enjoy your weekend.
    Having a very light drizzle here; just enough to get the walkway wet.

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  3. Love rutabaga! The classic way is boiled and mashed with potatoes. A little salt and pepper and dab of butter. Delish.

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  4. Had them. Hate them. And, they are no way like turnips that I also refuse to eat.

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  5. I do believe rutabagas and turnips are two separate vegetables! I love turnips cooked or raw! Rutabagas ... I don't believe I have ever cooked one myself!

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  6. Turnip is white when cooked, rutabaga is yellow, with more flavor

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  7. 2nd Man’s skillet of diced rutabaga looks delicious. I read that they can also be roasted or boiled. And that they are sweeter than turnips.
    I have never eaten them but being in the brassica family, I wonder if they have any similar tastes to other brassica vegetables.
    I love the brassicas that I grow in my fall-winter garden - broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale. I just now made a stir-fry with them, put them on a bed of lettuce from my garden, and tossed - yum!

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  8. i love rutabagas. they are good raw just to munch on. a bit like a mild radish. i put them in my pasties as they are a very important ingredient for them.

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  9. In the U.K. they are called swede. I love them. I usually roast them or microwave and mash.

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  10. Boil with an equal amount of carrot, drain and mash with a dash of butter and a bit of brown sugar. Delicious with pork or poultry. Save the cooking water to use in your poultry gravy.

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  11. Rutabagas ate delicious in a pot roast!

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