Look at that! And I know nothing about turnips! But a quick browse through the Ball Blue Book tells me I can freeze them, can them, dry them, and teach them to dance jigs. Or, at least, most of those things.
I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten a turnip. I’m sure in my lifetime I have classified them right up there with the dreaded rhubarb, which I now love, so I plan to love the turnips! These turnips were FREE, by the way. We get free “bad” produce from the farmers market for our pig, because they can’t sell anything that’s not perfect. Once it’s blemished, even in a small way, it’s shipped to the island of misfit vegetables. Here is an “open secret”–much of that produce is GOOD. And I preserve it. And we eat free cast-off food, rescued on its way to the DUMPSTER.
Ha!
(You can, too. Don’t be shy about talking to the vendors at your local farmers markets.)
perry says:
One turnip is wonderful in a pot of vegetable soup. It enhances the all-around flavor.
On August 11, 2011 at 2:31 am
bonita says:
pickled turnips are a treat….color them pink with beet juice…great “What’s this? factor
On August 11, 2011 at 3:58 am
Cheryl LeMay says:
I love the greens but not the bulb so much.I eat it anyway in soups and stews.How is your pig doing? I’m hoping for a post on it.
On August 11, 2011 at 6:03 am
twoturkey says:
:purpleflower: Oh….how lucky to have gotten a box of turnips. If they were sitting here in my kitchen they would be peeled and cut in cut into pieces for stews and soups. Then put in baggies and froze.Yummy!
Mrs. Turkey
On August 11, 2011 at 7:12 am
sarainva says:
I love them roasted in olive oil. Yum.
On August 11, 2011 at 7:59 am
wvbetty says:
Turnips are great!
On August 11, 2011 at 8:14 am
BuckeyeGirl says:
I LOVE turnips! Mashed, either alone or mixed with potatoes are really good, (I confess I like them mixed better), roasted with other root veggies with olive oil and rosemary. A couple in soup or stew really do enhance what they’re put in, and roasted along with a roast or chicken makes the drippings and so the gravy taste better too. Turnips are wonderful. I have a friend who doesn’t like them as much so she cooks them in the soups and stews then mashes them for the dog who does love them. Turnips just DO something to other food.
Never had them pickled, but why not?
On August 11, 2011 at 8:21 am
Miss HomeEcs Daughter says:
I do love turnips :heart: . Boiled and buttered, mashed like potatoes, roasted, in soup, stew and with their greens…Yum, I do love turnips. Oh and a side of cornbread is a must :snoopy:
On August 11, 2011 at 8:24 am
Liz Pike says:
Another turnip lover here!!! My fav way to fix it is with parsnips, sweet potatoes and onions. Toss it all with butter or olive oil, salt and pepper,and roast at 350° for 45 minutes! Tempers the turnip “bitterness” and brings out the sweetness in all the veggies. We have this at least once a week in the fall & winter!
On August 11, 2011 at 9:30 am
tinamanley says:
Turnips boiled and served with pepper sauce and cornbread are wonderful! If they are rubbery, though, give them to the pig :eating:
On August 11, 2011 at 10:10 am
momtoadiva says:
I love turnips too! Tossed with olive oil, a little kosher salt and add some carrots and roast in the oven, baked like a potato, cut up in stews or soups – anyway I have fixed them we LOVE them!!!
On August 11, 2011 at 10:22 am
Bev in CA says:
I always slice and salt for a snack. Love them mashed, and of course my favorite is in a stew. So easy to raise. It doesn’t make sense that the store wants so much per pound. Great idea about getting outdated produce.
On August 11, 2011 at 10:25 am
sam says:
I love raw turnips..try one slice.
On August 11, 2011 at 10:32 am
holstein woman says:
I love turnips and have a row in the garden. In Virginia we had the tops when we thinned the row steamed with onions and vinegar over the tops when we served them. I love them straight out of the can or fresh out of the garden. This year I will can them so I can have them mashed. YUMMY! :snoopy:
On my last birthday DH took me to a very nice restuarant to eat and of all things they served “mashed turnips”. Oh they were so good!!!!!
On August 11, 2011 at 10:59 am
Miss Nellie says:
I’m glad you can get free good veggies from the farmers market up there. Around here that doesn’t happen. I went to buy advertised tomatoes the other day from a local farmer and when I told her I wanted them for canning she immediately started boxing up the ones with rotten spots and splits and all kinds of blemishes for me and expected me to pay regular price for them. If I know I’m buying culls ok but to pay regular price and get culls not so good. Glad you get them free then they are well worth the work to preserve them in some way.
On August 11, 2011 at 11:03 am
Raiquee says:
I’ve never had turnips either, but I think the purple top ones are gorgeous. So I may try growing them, just to pull it from the earth and say, “You, turnip, are beautiful.”
On August 11, 2011 at 11:25 am
JOJO says:
:happyflower:
Many years ago when I was a child living in the Philipines, our housegirl took me to the market with her to buy fresh produce, when we got home she peeled somthing she had purchased and gave it to me, it was sweet and crunchy–it was a turnip! Who knew?
On August 11, 2011 at 11:27 am
cabynfevr says:
Turnips were always a staple in my mothers beef stew…I picked them out along with the beef and parsnip. I ate just the carrots and potatoes. I love them now, along with the parsnip. Not so much the beef!
On August 11, 2011 at 11:31 am
Pete says:
Oooooh! Turnips are a great addition to the fall root veggie roast! Try some combination, anything, really, will do -sweet ‘taters, white ‘taters, parsnips, carrots, rhutabega, whatever, with onions and a bit o garlic (always), toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar with a good sprinkling of cracked black pepper before doing a slow roast.
And raw (with or without salt) is a must have around here.
On August 11, 2011 at 12:03 pm
joykenn says:
My mother, like a lot of southern cooks, used to boil turnips to pieces and I never liked the bitter taste. LOVE, LOVE turnip greens and corn bread. BUT now I’m beginning to re-think things like turnips and like the slight bitter taste. Thank goodness she never fed me brussel sprouts which I encountered as an adult and adore. My sons love braised brussel sprouts also. Now if I could just forget the awful pickled beets of my childhood, I might learn to like those also but think I’ll skip any pickled ones.
On August 11, 2011 at 12:32 pm
tractor57 says:
I love turnip roots raw! Second to that is steamed or lightly stewed with a couple pods of hot pepper. Third is to grate and ferment like sauerkraut.
On August 11, 2011 at 1:19 pm
texomamorganlady says:
Mmmmmm, potato, turnip and leek soup.
On August 11, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Vicki in So. CA says:
Roasted with a little olive oil and garlic… Yum! I’m all for mis-shapen vegetables, especially free ones!. Some of the stuff that comes from our garden is dented, twisted, folded or marked in some way from nature. It’s all good.
On August 11, 2011 at 3:05 pm
BunnyRuth says:
some friends of ours belong to a coop of organic growers, and one of the veggies that they grow is turnips. Their buyers only want the perfect looking ones (with tops) and so, once the tops die back they can not sell them on that market. And so, when we see them in winter they will offer us turnips by the bag full. I always make and can up a big pot of veggie stock (turnips, onions, garlic, carrots). We also mix them with ptatoes and mkae an au gratin using blue cheese.
On August 11, 2011 at 3:17 pm
BuckeyeGirl says:
Oh MY BunnyRuth!!! Would you consider posting a recipe for the Blue Cheese Potato-Turnip Au Gratin on Farm Bell? That sounds absolutely wonderful!!!!
On August 11, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Estella says:
I like turnips raw.
On August 11, 2011 at 3:51 pm
mommy7 says:
That is too funny! We got turnips from the food bank for our pigs yesterday and I thought of eating them but they look like radishes, which I HATE, and I haven’t tried them because of that. I am now going to go get a few and cook them up. I also read that you feed your cast off food to the cows. We too do that, and like another person said I’ve heard of cows choking, so we cut up the big stuff making it easier for them to chew. So far it’s working great. I also wanted to pass along some knowledge on cows getting pregnant. I too have two miniature Jersey’s and we were told that if they are having difficulty breeding it could be an ovarian cyst. There is medication to help and I will gladly give you more info if you need it. I do hope GB gets pregnant soon. 🙂
On October 26, 2012 at 6:55 pm