I've been absent from this blog for two weeks now. I would apologize except for the fact that I was VERY BUSY and full of important things to do (Gargtober and laying out the Fall issue), and thus I feel justified. But also guilty. Okay?
This week I went for my mystery root vegetable, something I grabbed at the store because it looked interesting.
Later, I realized I had no idea what it was. So that's a dilemma, right? Once I finally got around to using it, I decided that since it was obviously a root of some sort, it could be sliced and made into chips. So I whipped out my mom's old mandoline and a knife and went at it.
First things first: Mystery root vegetable was TOUGH. Once I finally managed to hack it in half and cut off its skin, I discovered that the root was too tough to be cut into thin slices using that less-than-perfect mandoline. So I ended up with some fairly thick chunks. I shrugged and carried out this general recipe:
The chips turned out...well...alright. Maybe not how I'd hoped. On the plus side, they turned a lovely deep yellow and they tasted fairly sweet and pleasant. Unfortunately, they were pretty tough and not very crispy. I can easily see it as an ingredient in something good, or a nice counterpoint to a main dish. Again, I can't really see this being the star of any meal.
So the end of the story is that I combed through Wikipedia's Root Vegetables entry and realized that it was rutabaga. I guess that's an anticlimactic way to end. Hm.
This week I went for my mystery root vegetable, something I grabbed at the store because it looked interesting.
Later, I realized I had no idea what it was. So that's a dilemma, right? Once I finally got around to using it, I decided that since it was obviously a root of some sort, it could be sliced and made into chips. So I whipped out my mom's old mandoline and a knife and went at it.
First things first: Mystery root vegetable was TOUGH. Once I finally managed to hack it in half and cut off its skin, I discovered that the root was too tough to be cut into thin slices using that less-than-perfect mandoline. So I ended up with some fairly thick chunks. I shrugged and carried out this general recipe:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover baking sheet evenly with:Bake for 30 min, turning chips every 10.
- 1/2 mysterious root vegetable, sliced thinly
- 1 Tblsp. olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
The chips turned out...well...alright. Maybe not how I'd hoped. On the plus side, they turned a lovely deep yellow and they tasted fairly sweet and pleasant. Unfortunately, they were pretty tough and not very crispy. I can easily see it as an ingredient in something good, or a nice counterpoint to a main dish. Again, I can't really see this being the star of any meal.So the end of the story is that I combed through Wikipedia's Root Vegetables entry and realized that it was rutabaga. I guess that's an anticlimactic way to end. Hm.
One of your grandfather Brown's favorite side dishes at Thanksgiving was baked rutabaga. He was the only one at the table who ever ate it!