What Is It???? The humble Rutabaga

I love rutabagas.....adore them!  I am literally sad when they get finished up at my house.  Even my kids think they are fabulous.  Curiously, most people react negatively when I mention this veggie so then I ask, "Have you tried it?"  I almost always get a sheepish, "No". 

What, in fact, IS a rutabaga? First off, it is an ugly little booger, but don't judge a book by its cover.  This root vegetable is a relative of the turnip, originally found in Sweden and brought to England.  By the late 18th century, it had (a-hem) "taken root" (giggle) in that country's culinary culture.  The rutabaga is larger and mellower than a turnip and a bit sweeter; larger than a softball and hard.  If you remember a while back I did a blog on gnocchi where I mentioned my strictly English/Scottish heritage.  I did some light research on Scottish food and found that the rutabaga is firmly established there.  They are called "neeps" in Scotland and served with "tatties" (potatoes) dished up with haggis!  They are used in English cooking as well, often cooked together with carrots and mashed.

My Mom hails from the Eastern Shore, Virginia and many of the things I ate growing up were directly influenced from that area of the country.  Settled by the English, the Eastern Shore is not affluent, but rich in seafood and produce, like turnip greens, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and our root vegetable of the day.  I grew up eating them cubed and cooked with a good portion of salt pork.  Mom's family called it "fat meat".  Mom would peel and cut up the rutabaga and boil them with the fat meat until they were super tender. The pale, yellow flesh of the rutabaga would deepen in color and soften in texture as they cooked for over an hour.

When you see rutabagas in the store, they covered in a layer of wax.  Rutabagas are harvested in the fall and dipped in wax to help them retain their moisture and not shrivel up so fast.  You can clearly see the wax layer in this photo.

The rutabaga must be peeled before you cook it.  They can be roasted or boiled...I grew up eating them boiled.  So, first things first, peel your rutabaga.  I find that a heavy duty vegetable peeler does the best job.  The one I have is from Pampered Chef.  It does quick work of hard winter vegetables like butternut squash and rutabagas!  Careful, though, this instrument is SHARP!

It is now ready for cutting into cubes.  This can be quite a task since the flesh is very dense.

After your 'bega, is cut into cubes.  Cover them with water, salt like you would for pasta, at least 2 t. salt. 

 Then add 2 T. of bacon grease......you heard me right, bacon grease!  I'm a typical Southern cook and I don't throw out my bacon drippings.  They stay in a jar on the counter.  If you don't have bacon drippings on hand, roughly chop 2 to 3 slices of bacon and add them to the pot.

Bring this to a boil and let it simmer for at least an hour.  They will be fork tender before they are completely finished cooking.  I actually test them by taking a cube out and popping it in my mouth.  If there is any resistance or crunch at all...I keep cooking them.  I like them to be completely soft.  After 60 or 70 minutes, they have deepened in color and are ready to eat!  Drain them, but don't throw out the water.  Use it as a stock for soup later!  The boiled rutabagas remind me a little of cabbage, a teeny bit of turnip and a whole lot of yum!

I realize that not everyone is going to LOVE rutabagas like me and my kids....Matt doesn't like them.  But if you've never tried it you should.   They are a good source of fiber and excellent source of Vitamin C.  If anything, you will increase your culinary knowledge and when someone asks you your opinion on rutabagas, you'll have first hand knowledge.

Money-saving tip #1: Bag your own salad.

When I was working full time, I was all about convenience.  I bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts, baby carrots and bagged salad.  Now that I am a stay-at-home-mom, my "job" is to save money.  If I save a buck here or there, I do it.  It has totally transformed my philosophy on food prep.  I look at most things and think, "Can I make that?"  I do save money, but end up using a bit more of my time.  You know the old adage, Time is money.  I started thinking about those convenient bags of salad....you can get spring mix, regular ol' iceburg blend, and fancy-smanchy bags with radicchio and frisee lettuce.  At my local grocery store, they are $3 to $4 a bag for 6 oz. of salad blend.  They go on sale from time to time, if you time that sale with a coupon, it is a good deal.  What can you do in the meantime?  Bag your own!

I bought two heads of lettuce, a green leaf one and a red leaf one.

I will spare you all the math, but I paid $3.50 for the nearly 19 oz. of lettuce above.  That is the price for ONE bag of lettuce from the store.

Now, it does no good for that lettuce to sit in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator to rot because either you forgot about it or don't have the time to tear up individual salad plates from it.  I found that was happening to me.  I'd pull out a slimy, brown-filled bag that used to have lettuce in it!  I decided to prep my lettuce when I got home from the store so that it would be ready when I wanted it.  I tore up all the lettuce in bite size pieces, like I would do for making a salad.  Then the lettuce was rinsed and run through my salad spinner.

There was a bit of waste in the core and some of the yellow-y/white-ish  pieces at the bottom of the leaves.  It added up to 6 oz.

 It took me about 20 minutes to tear, rinse and spin my lettuce.  I placed it in a large 2 1/2 gallon zip top bag, with a slightly moistened paper towel.  The paper towel does two things, sucks up any extra moisture so the lettuce doesn't get water logged and rot faster.  It also adds moisture back to the lettuce after it has been in the crisper for several days.  Either way, it extends the life of your leaves.

I weighed it afterwards...and taking into account the bag and some of the water weight from rinsing, I had 13 oz. of lettuce.  To me it is worth the time spent.  I have a re-useable bag so I cut down on waste AND I get twice the amount of lettuce (of my choosing, I might add) for half the cost. Save even more money by buying some iceburg lettuce to mix in. This certainly isn't for everyone, but if you plan your time right, you can certainly save some money.  Give this spin and see what you think!

Jenny and the Giant Turkey - Chapter Seven - Finishing Off the Last of It!

Each time we smoked at turkey, we eeked out seven full meals from it.  That doesn't include the regular ol' turkey sandwiches or any leftovers from the main dish.    I say for $0.69 a pound...that's not too shabby.  I spread these meals over the course of two weeks.  The few days after smoking the giant bird, I put some meat in the freezer for later use.  The last meal each time was taking the bones and the meat left on them from the smoked portion of the turkey (the legs, thighs and breast bones) and making smoked turkey soup.  I followed my previous soup method...but added a cup of brown rice instead of the noodles for a simple variation.

Other dishes that I did that I didn't include on this blog were turkey quiche.  I used Julia Child's quiche base: 3 beaten eggs and 1 c. heavy cream with salt and pepper.  I added 1 c. of chopped turkey and 1 c. of cheddar cheese.  Pour into a prepared pie shell and bake at 375 for 30 to 35 minutes or until just set.  The middle should be a little jiggly when you bring it out of the oven.  Sadly, I didn't take any pics of that meal....or I might have lost them when our computer crashed.  It was delicious!

I also made a curried turkey salad.

I took a basic turkey salad recipe and added a T. of curry powder.  My basic turkey salad is  2 c. of chopped turkey; 2 carrots and  2 celery stalks, chopped; a minced shallot; 1/2 c. mayo; salt and pepper and of course, the curry powder.

We like our turkey salad a little on the dry side...only because I go light on the mayo.  You can add more to your liking of course. It made a fabulous sandwich, with the right bread of course.  Matt used a tortilla wrap and said it was wonderful. 

Okay, quick recap:  We ate soup twice; quiche with one bird and bread pudding with another; Kentucky Hot Browns; barbequed turkey pizza;  turkey salad sandwiches and of course, the original smoked turkey.

I hope you've enjoyed this series of blogs; I've certainly enjoyed writing them.  It was fun coming up with new ways to use up a large, inexpensive, but yummy! ingredient like the massive turkey!  Next time you see a turkey on sale, consider buying one and seeing how many meals you can come with!

Jenny and the Giant Turkey - Chapter Six - Barbeque Turkey Pizza

This might be the least conventional of all the ways I used up our turkey leftovers...and it can be the most simple.  Who doesn't love pizza....besides my fifth grader?  (I don't know where she gets it!)   Enter the barbeque turkey pizza!   For this meal,  I made my own pizza crust (I'll have to tell you that later) and threw together a sauce (again, I'll tell ya later).  But if you use jarred sauce and a pre-made crust, then this is so simple and great for a quick, weeknight meal!

For each pizza:
One pizza crust (homemade or store-bought)
1/2  c. barbeque sauce
1/2 c. pizza sauce
3/4  c. chopped turkey
1/2 to 1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
jalepenos (opt.)

Preheat oven to 450.  Place pizza crust on a cookie sheet. In a small bowl, combine barbeque sauce and pizza sauce.  Spread sauce all over the pizza crust. Depending on the size of the crust, you may not use all of the sauce.  Sprinkle with the turkey and then with the cheese and jalepeno, if you want them.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

You can also use leftover chicken or pork....or anything else that tastes good with barbeque sauce!

Jenny and the Giant Turkey - Chapter Five - Savory Turkey Bread Pudding

After the Kentucky hot browns , soup , and maybe some sandwiches, you might still have over a fourth of your 20 lb. turkey left.  Try a bread pudding. I have to be honest, I didn't try bread pudding until I was an adult.  Up until then, it sounded kinda gross to me.  I don't know what I was thinking, maybe Wonder bread meets vanilla Jell-O instant pudding?  It just didn't sound appetizing at all.  Matt and I went out to eat one night and the restaurant had a bread pudding with a whiskey sauce.  I tried it and I have been in love with bread pudding ever since.

If you thought bread puddings were only sweet, think again.  With a base of eggs, milk and bread (omit the sugar, of course), they are a fabulous way to use up leftovers! The night before, I made a beautiful loaf of Italian bread, but I'd forgotten to add the salt, so the bread was flat and tasteless.  (It happens to the best of us!)   I also found myself with a single parsnip and a leek that needed to be used.   With my turkey leftovers, it sounded like a perfect bread pudding night.  I threw in some carrots, onion and celery since I nearly always have those on hand.  It was a hit.  Here's what I did:

Turkey Bread Pudding:
2 c. of chopped cooked turkey
1 T. oil
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 leek, trimmed, chopped and rinsed
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 lb. of hearty bread, cubed
3 c. milk
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. Swiss cheese (Parmesan would make a good substitution)
salt and pepper

First, chop all your veg.

I also had one green onion....it got added too.

Over medium high heat, add one T. oil and all your veg and cook for 8 minutes.

While the veggies are cooking,  if your bread isn't already cut up, cut it into cubes

 In a large bowl, combine your eggs and milk.  Toss in your bread, Swiss cheese and the turkey.

Then add all the veggies and salt and pepper to taste.  Pour into a 9 x 13 dish and place into a 350 degree oven for 30 to 45 minutes.

Test for done-ness by sticking a butter knife in the center; if it comes out clean, it is done.

My family loved it.  As a matter of fact, I warmed up a piece the next day for lunch.  As I pulled it out of the microwave, my son said, "Ooo, THAT'S what I want for lunch!"  He got it instead of me...ah, yes, the sacrifices of a mother.  (And don't worry if you don't have parsnips or leeks, just use whatever vegetable you have on hand!)

Jenny and the Giant Turkey - Chapter Four - Kentucky Hot Browns

Okay, you've eaten about a fourth of your roasted or smoked turkey, made some soup and possibly had some sliced turkey for sandwiches.  What's next?  How can we extend the life of these leftovers and keep them interesting?  Enter the Kentucky Hot Brown.

I will admit, I hadn't heard of this open-faced sandwich until I heard Bobby Flay do an episode of "Throwdown" where the subject was the hot brown.  Sandwiches aren't something we do on a regular basis as a main meal, but these are really good.  The first time I made them, my kids weren't so sure, but once they dug in, a conversation like this took place.  "So, is this meal better than pizza?"  "Yeah, I think so..."  "Mom, can you make these again sometime?"  "This is so good!"   When I made them a second time, Brandon asked what we were having for dinner.  When I told him Kentucky hot browns, he immediately started yelling so his siblings could hear, "WE'RE HAVING HOT BROWNS!"  ....over and over....  I actually had to tell him to quit yelling.

You might be in the dark about what a Kentucky hot brown is.  It is an open-faced sandwich, with slices of roasted turkey (usually white meat) covered in a Mornay sauce, a few pieces bacon and broiled until browned and bubbly.  It is then topped with a slice of tomato.  I found a recipe in Southern Living Magazine for "Lightened Hot Browns" several months after I saw the episode of "Throwdown".  A mornay sauce is typically full of calories.  My recipe cuts down a little bit on the calories of this rich food.  It uses Parmesan cheese only instead of the Gruyere or Swiss and Parmesan.

Kentucky Hot Browns:
2 T. butter
1 1/2 T. flour
1 c. skim milk
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
6 slices of bread
2 or 3 oz. of sliced white meat turkey for each slice of bread
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
one large slicing tomato, sliced

For the Mornay sauce: 
In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour, stir with a wire whisk and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, just to get rid of that raw flour taste.  At first, it may seem a bit "clumpy", but as it cooks, it will smooth out.  I also like my sauce to take on a deep yellow color, but not brown.

Now, it time to add your milk.  Do this slowly and whisk vigorously, keeping the whisk in contact with the bottom of the pan.

It is time to add the parmesan cheese and stir well.  After the cheese melts, remove from heat.

Adjust seasoning, if needed.  If you feel like the sauce is really thick, feel free to add more milk.  Now it is time to assemble the sandwiches.  Set your oven to broil.  Place your slices of bread on a cookie sheet and add the 2 to 3 oz. of sliced turkey.

Add about 1/4 c. of parmesan mornay sauce over each sandwich. 

Place 6 inches under the broiler and broil until bubbly and slightly brown.

 Take the equivalent of one slice of bacon and place it on each sandwhich.

Then top with a slice of tomato.  That is it, sooooo yummy.  Fast, easy and a great way to use up leftover turkey.  You could also use deli roast turkey as well. 

Jenny and the Giant Turkey - Chapter Three: SOUP!

Mmmmmm.....our second meal from the turkey, turkey noodle soup.  As it has snowed all day here in Pittsburgh, soup sounds wonderful.  With a rich broth, yummy veggies and noodles, what is not to love?  Remember the turkey wings, back and neck from when I butchered my mammoth bird?  The drumettes from the turkey wings were as large as a chicken leg!  Combined with the other pieces, there was plenty of meat left to make a good pot of soup. These pieces didn't make it onto the smoker...they ended up in the soup pot!

I almost never use a recipe when I make soup.  It is one of those foods that I prepare that remind me a lot of my musical background.  Soup (along with salads and quiche) is like improv.   12-bar blues is done by countless blues musicians again and again. Think "Johnny B. Goode" or "Come On" by Jimi Hendrix, "Pride and Joy" by SRV; these are all well known examples of 12 bar blues.  This method or formula was laid down by W.C. Handy over a century ago, so many songs hang on this simple way of writing music.  Other musicians come along and put their own spin on the formula.  B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Ray Charles...they all used it. When you hear it, you think, "That's the blues."  Same with cooking.  Like the 12 bar blues, there is a method that is used in soup making, but the whats and hows of a particular pot of soup is up to you!  You are the composer.  When you sample your creation, you think, "This is soup!"  I love throwing this and that in my Dutch oven and seeing what comes out!

The first thing you do in soup making is make a broth, whether it is chicken, or beef or in our case turkey. Broth is make by taking bones with meat on them and cooking them with some veggies and herbs to make a flavorful soup base.  Cooking for a long time brings out the richness of the meat and pulls flavor from the bones.  After you have a good broth, you can add whatever veggies you like.  You can add a starch like potatoes, rice or noodles.  Its your improv, you're the soup composer.  Rock on!

As soon as I butchered the turkey, I put the neck, the two wings and the back in my Dutch oven and covered with water.  They just barely fit.

Turkey pieces in my pot before I added enough water to cover.

I added two bay leaves, 2 T. of black peppercorns, probably 2 t. of salt and 2 cloves of smashed garlic.  This mimicked the flavor I put in the brine.  Also, added to the broth were coarsely chopped 1/2 an onion, 2 carrots and 2 stalks celery with their leaves.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat to keep a steady simmer.  Leave this on the stove for at least 4 hours, longer if possible. I think mine simmered for 6 to 7 hours this time.  The veggies here are going to get strained out of the broth, so don't worry that they are going to get soggy and smushy.  They are there to enhance the flavor of your broth.  After the several hour simmer, pull out the turkey pieces and let them cool. Strain this delicious liquid, toss the veg and other floaties and set aside the broth for the soup.  (This is also how I make my chicken broth....just as delicious!) I got about 12 c. of broth from this batch.  There will be a fair amount of fat that rises to the top of the broth, try to skim as much of that off as you can.

I recognize that not everyone has the time to make a broth like this.  If you have to, a store-bought broth is fine. I have some in my fridge right now as a matter of fact.  You should give this method a try at least once, you might find it isn't as time consuming as you thought.

Also, what if you didn't cut up your turkey?  This same method can be done with the cooked bones from a whole,roasted turkey.  Just don't use bones that have been gnawed on.  ;)

After the pieces of turkey have cooled, it is time to removed the meat.  From the neck, wings and back, I got about four cups of turkey.  I used 3 cups for the soup.  You could use all of it if you want!

Turkey noodle soup:
8 to 10 c. turkey broth
3 c. turkey
1 T. oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
4 to 5 carrots, chopped
3 to 4 celery stalks, chopped
1 1/2 c. egg noodles

In a  Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook for 8 minutes.  The onions should have taken on some color and the carrots and celery should have softened.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Now, add 8 to 10 cups of that yummy broth you made earlier.  Let this simmer on medium low heat for about 45 minutes.  Add your egg noodles and cook for 8 minutes.

Add the turkey last, just taking the time to warm it up.  Enjoy!