Scary Stuff

It's Halloween when we humans celebrate our fear of the onrushing dark and cold, the dying landscape and final food harvest. We've reach the annual moment the ghost of death brazenly stalks. In other words, it's scary time, what one elementary school is calling for its kids: a fright fest. So this seems the right moment to talk about frights and scary eruptions we get any time of year from our bodies, and how to trick and treat them. Yes, farmacy!

As it happens twice this past week I was literally called to help someone struggling with an agonizing physical problem. The first was a guy who hadn't been able for almost a week to leave the house because he couldn't go far from the toilet. Yes, it must have been something he ate and it did turn out, after I guided him, to be a bacteria traced to the oysters he'd consumed. But he had prolonged the problem by not fighting back sooner. I told him how to do that.

The magic cure is....yogurt! You can read all about this in my book, Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking. We have thousands of years of proof that unadulterated active cultures yogurt interferes with diarrhea and often terminates it. When the king of France was dying of supposedly incurable dysentery, the Ottoman emperor Suleiman the Magnificent send his ally envoys with yogurt and that cured him. Thirty years ago in Rio de Janeiro, I told someone suffering turista to eat local yogurt twice a day and by day 2 he was miraculously cured. There's no mystery to why and how yogurt works or why you need it: those active cultures that created it are probiotics that attack unleashed bad biotics but more importantly, diarrhea quickly removes all the good bacteria that helps fight the bad and helps keep stuff in the stomach. This is why even after the bad bacteria has been washed away, gut muscles continue to contract and diarrhea goes on. You need to get the good bacteria back to work. Yogurt does that.

Yogurt also figured in the second problem of the week: seeming migraine headache. The woman was dosing herself with ibuprofen. That's fine BUT ibuprofen is known to be so acidic in the body, it eats away the stomach lining. So you have to get a protective coat on it. How? Alkaline foods like milk in all its forms: milk, ice cream, yogurt, whipped cream. If you don't do this you may cure the migraine and get stomach problems.

Other foods that can relieve diarrhea symptoms especially combined with pure yogurt are honey which is an antibiotic and turmeric which is antibacterial and supposedly anti-inflammatory, Other easily available probiotic foods that help restore that fighting good bacteria are miso, sauerkraut, beer, kombucha and pickles.  Common foods that can help stop the flow but not get to its cause are bananas, chocolate and white rice. Do not use brown rice: its bran scrapes away the already denuded and inflamed gut. Nice spongy white rice or even white bread. And finally it may be safer to use these foods to block the flow than pills like Immodium which are dangerous because locking up the flow keeps whatever bad bacteria that caused it dammed in the stomach.

No one seems 100% certain that active cultures can stay active after being heated, so I can't wholeheartedly recommend cooked yogurt dishes. Here are a few ways to have it out of the box:

ALL PURPOSE YOGURT GARLIC MINT SAUCE

You can put this on top of cooked carrots puréed with caraway seeds, cooked shredded beets sprinkled with lemon juice, baked hummus, scrambled eggs or a baked potato. Or you can put it under a poached egg like Turks do.To make the sauce:
2 ½ c thick plain yogurt
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
pinch salt
1/2 tsp dried mint leaves
Beat yogurt with garlic until the garlic is totally blended and absorbed into the yogurt. Stir in the salt and dried mint leaves. Optionally, you can also stir in ½ tsp ground Aleppo, Chipotle or mildly hot paprika pepper.

Now for the poached egg atop a bed of this garlic mint yogurt:
1 egg per person (this recipe is good for 2)
vinegar
1 tsp Aleppo, Chipotle, mildly hot paprika or some ground chili pepper to your taste.
2 tbsp butter or ghee
1 tsp dried sage leaves crumbled

Make sure the yogurt sauce is very thick so it will support the egg. Drain if not. Fill a small/medium plate with a 4” circle of yogurt about ¼” thick for every serving. For everyone being served poach one egg. (Do this in boiling water laced with vinegar to keep the egg white together.) Lift the eggs from the water with a slotted spatula so they drain well and carefully place one atop every yogurt “mattress.”

Quickly melt butter or ghee in a small skillet and chili pepper and sage leaves. Just warm, the remove from heat and pour over the eggs.

LABNI: YOGURT CHEESE WITH OLIVES (an appetizer or party snack)

You can strain yogurt to drier and drier forms from sour cream to farmers’ cheese to cream cheese. This is a Persian/Lebanese favorite “mezze.” You can also use it to stuff cherry tomatoes or small bell peppers.
 
16 oz plain yogurt
1/8 tsp salt
1/3c pitted black olives, chopped
1/3 c scallions, chopped
¼ tsp Aleppo or Cayenne ground pepper (this is the call for hot stuff)
1 tsp dried crushed mint

Mix yogurt and salt. Line a colander with cheesecloth, muslin or a handiwipe and fill with yogurt. Put colander over a larger bowl to get the drips. Refrigerate uncovered 10 hours draining and stirring at least once. Put your new labni into a serving bowl with all the other ingredients. Blend everything. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. It will keep 3-4 days.

Tsatsiki (Greek/Turkish Yogurt sauce/dip)

The Indian version, made with mint instead of dill, is known as raita and it is just as effective.

1 pint very thick plain yogurt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Persian or pickling cucumber, halve, seeded and sliced paper thin or grated and drained—they need to be as dry as possible
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice

Mix everything in a non-metal bowl and chill so flavors mingle.

Pakistani Yogurt Chutney

Normally you would avoid fibrous nuts if your stomach is suffering. The trade-off with walnuts is that they're known in Chinese medicine to strengthen the kidneys and the body's chi (energy).
a condiment for 6-8

  

¾ c shelled walnuts, lightly toasted

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 serrano chilies, seeded and minced

½ tsp salt

2 c fresh mint leaves, clean and dry

juice of 1 lemon

4 oz very thick plain yogurt

In a food processor, combine walnuts, garlic, chilies, salt, mint, lemon juice with 1 tbsp water and make a smooth paste, remembering to scrap down the sides. (If the mix is too dry to congeal into paste, add an extra tbsp. water.) Put the yogurt in your serving bowl and with a fork, stir in the walnut paste.
Garnish with chopped mint and a whole shelled walnut to serve.

THE LAST WORD

If you suffer from any of these scary conditions, remember also you must drink lots of water. It's probably wiser to drink it boiled because boiling water is by itself a disinfectant and is considerably purer than tap water.
Back to autumn cooking (e.g. braised cabbage, tomato sauce) next time.

Taking the Trash In

Clean the bin soup

With the overwhelming wealth of vegetables at farmers' markets, I keep finding my fridge bins full of halves, bits, stalks and chunks that never made it into the original recipe. So about once a week of late I've been combining the leftovers into a very yummy and healthy minestrone. It's never the same but there are some key ingredients I don't vary and that's the trick to making the mess delicious. First is to throw in at the beginning a small piece of parmesan rind or if you don't have one, grate in about 1 tbsp parmesan cheese to get the same depth of flavor. Second the spices: sage, thyme, rosemary and Aleppo pepper (the mildly hot Syrian ground chili) for which you could substitute chipotle chili powder or a pinch of smoked paprika. Third, you have to toss in something starchy that will thicken the broth: leftover potatoes, small macaroni (tubettini, ditalini), fregola, or short grain rice. You can also add substance with canned beans like cannellini beans or chickpeas or red kidney beans--especially if you have some leftover from something else.  And finally, parsley or cilantro. All this sets up fabulous flavor and texture no matter what veggies you've got to work with.

What to do:

There is no fixed recipe here but you do need these basics:
 1 sm/med onion
1 med/lg carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk or small piece of celeriac diced or 1 tsp celery seed
1" sq of Parmesan rind or cheese
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
 1 qt veg broth
2-3 c chopped vegetables (parsnips, cabbage, leeks, peas, mushrooms, corn, summer squashes including zucchini, sweet potato, white potato, green beans, green/red bell pepper, tomatoes etc)
1/4 c small lentils or 1/2 c cooked beans (cannellini or kidney or chickpeas)
1/4 c small pasta (fregola, tubettini, ditalini, orzo) or short grain rice or barley--whatever you have
handful freshly chopped parsley or cilantro or arugula or spinach or all or a mix
Optional: 2 tsp tomato paste

You coat the bottom of a medium sized pot with olive oil and warm it on medium heat. Add onion, carrots,

herbs and stir to coat in the oil. Add the remaining vegetables, salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste. For a bit of zip add a tsp mildly hot chili powder. Stir to blend and sauté 5 minutes. If you are using barley which needs time, add it now. Add the broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover the pot and cook 20-25 minutes. This is very forgiving so if you cook it longer, no worries. Stir in the pasta/rice and the parsley or whatever green you have. Cover and cook another 10-15 minutes until the pasta is soft.






Mixed Vegetable Slaw

This is not my photo. I can't find mine.

Again there is no recipe to follow here. You just need to grate whatever of these veggies you find in the fridge:
red cabbage
green cabbage
salad/Japanese turnip
kohlrabi
daikon
red radish or watermelon radish
carrot
golden beet
celeriac

Put whatever you grated into a serving bowl. Season this with
1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and freshly grated black pepper

Dress the melange with:
2 parts cider vinegar to 1 part olive oil (I can't give exact measurements because everybody will have a different amount of grated veggies.)

Garnish with chopped cilantro or celery leaves to serve.

Parsnip Lentil Soup

This is a perfectly normal, flavorful and nourishing recipe I include here because when i went to make it, I didn't have enough of one kind of lentil. So i cleaned out my lentil jar by combining all the odds and ends that were never going to stand alone: French puy lentils, baby green lentils and red lentils. Turns out, the soup is forgiving. It works as long as you have 2 cups of lentils, mixed or one kind. It's super easy to make and very soul warming.

2 1/2 lbs parsnips, peeled and chopped in chunks
1 med yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 c olive oil (doesn't have to be top quality)
2 tsp ground cumin plus pinch of cumin seed
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp Aleppo or other mildly hot ground chili
2 c lentils (the original recipe called for red or baby green)
1 lemon, zest and juice from all of it
3 qts water or vegetable broth
1 tbsp salt
garnish: chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Put parsnips, onion and garlic in a food processor/chopped and whiz into a grated cheese consistency. (see photo) Warm olive oil in a medium soup pot over med/low heat. Stir in the spices. Add the parsnip mixture and stir to blend well with the spices.  Add lentils, lemon zest and juice. Add the water/broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover the pot and simmer until lentils are soft and the soup is thick, 45-60 minutes. Season with salt and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro leaves.





THIS IS A SHORT POST. I WILL HAVE MORE NEXT WEEK.

Celeriac, the wallflower that shouldn't be

The gnarly, hairy (the farmer barbered the one in the photo!) celeriac bulb is easy to pass by and pass up. It's relatively new to most of us and unfamiliarity is off-putting. I never knew it existed until my French "mother" who was my ad hoc cooking teacher in the mid 70s made it for Christmas dinner. I fell instantly in love and began to transport it from the worldly markets of Manhattan to Maine, particularly for Thanksgiving dinner where I got everybody hooked. Now it's so widely grown in the US, I can buy it at farmers' markets and supermarkets almost anywhere. And I do. I urge you too because it is a fabulous ball of flavor. Celeriac is the root, the bulb, of the plant which gives us the familiar above ground celery. In its case, the sprouts (that celery we know) are kept to a minimum to promote the bulb. So flavor-wise it's celery. You don't have to do anything complex: you can just peel and chop or grate it into stews and soups to add that flavor. Last week I posted the traditional French recipe for celery remoulade, which is the bulb grated and dressed with a sharply flavored mayonnaise, If you want to explore and enjoy more, here are a few ways including my first and still favorite, the mashed celeriac my French "mother" made every Christmas dinner to go with venison. I still serve it every Turkey Day because nothing beats it.

Mashed Celeriac
This is my basic go-to celeriac recipe for Thanksgiving and anytime I want a comforting foil to roasted meat. It's basically less fattening mashed potatoes without potatoes but with celery flavor. Very calming. This recipe is in my book How to Fix a Leek and Other Food From Your Farmers' Market.
serves 4

1 2-4 lb celeriac bulb                     

1½ c vegetable or chick broth

½ tsp celery seed                          

2 tbsp crème fraiche or sour cream*

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste

*or thick yogurt or heavy cream or ricotta cheese—your choice here

Peel the celeriac bulb and cut away as much of the inner brown hairs as you can. If you can’t get them all out, just discard those parts. Chop the useable bulb into 2” chunks and put into a medium saucepan. Add celery seed and broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook uncovered on low heat 30- 40 minutes or until celeriac is soft and liquid is reduced.  Pour contents of the pot into a food processor or blender. Add salt and pepper to your taste and the crème fraiche or your substitute. Process to the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Celeriac with Green Lentils and Mint

Dressed as it is with vinegar and oil, this could be a salad but I like it served warm on my main dish. There just aren't many recipes that put vinegar flavor on a dinner plate. So you can do it either way. If you are vegetarian, you can serve this with rice, fruit chutney and another vegetable for a colorful, tasty meal. If you have roast chicken or pork, put this alongside. Or should you be serving burgers on buns, spoon some out as a side--cold or hot. The combo of celery and mint is refreshing.

serves 4-6
3/4 c French green or puy lentils
1 sm/med celeriac bulb (see above: I used 2/3 of that)
4 c veg broth (use water if you don't have any)
2 bay leaves

French (green) lentils

2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp dried sage
1 tsp celery seed
2 tbsp roasted cashews or hazelnuts, skinned and chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp sherry (Jerez) vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp hazelnut or walnut or almond oil (if you don't have just use more olive oil)
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh chives or flat leaf parsley

In a med saucepan, combine lentils, 3 c broth/water, bay leaves, thyme and sage. Bring to a boil, lower heat to med/low and cook 15-20 minutes until lentils are just tender. Drain.

While lentils cook, peel the celeriac bulb and slice it into thin disks. Then quarter each disk. Put the celeriac into a saucepan with celery seed, 1 c broth and enough water to cover it. Add a good pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat to med/low and cook 10-12 min until celeriac is tender. Drain. (You can save the celery flavored cooking liquid for risotto or pasta.) Drain.

Put the hot lentils in a serving bowl with the oil and vinegar, sea salt to your taste and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Blend. Stir in the celeriac, mint and nuts. Garnish with chopped chives or parsley to serve.

Celeriac Soup
This shows up its creamy texture when mashed or puréed. You can't do that with celery stalks.
serves 4-6

4 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lg onion, peeled and sliced into very thin rings
1 med leeks, cleaned and sliced into disks
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lg celeriac bulb (about 2 1/4lbs) peeled and cubed
2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tsp celery seed
6 1/2 c veg or chicken broth
2/3 c heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste
chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish

In a large heavy gauge saucepan or soup pot, melt the butter with the oil over medium heat. When it's bubbling, add onion and leeks. Sautée stirring 10-12 minutes. Don't let anything burn or stick. Add garlic, celeriac, thyme and celery seed. Season with salt and pepper. Blend everything well and continue to sauté 8-10 minutes.  Pour in the stock. Bring to a bubbling simmer. Cook (uncovered) 20-25 minutes until celeriac is very tender.

Ladle the hot soup into a blender or processor and puree until smooth. (Do in batches if you need to.) Return to the pot, stir in the cream and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Warm on low heat. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle chopped parsley on top to serve. Optional: top with small croutons.

Baked Celeriac with smoked fish

This is a fancier dish suitable for special event or nice luncheon or guest-filled brunch. It comes via London chef Yotam Ottolenghi from the north of Scotland with its abundance of smoked fish. Here the delicate celery flavor balances the smokiness and saltiness of the fish and calms the sharpness of the horseradish. All perfect autumn flavors! serves 4

1 medium celeriac, skin scrubbed but unpeeled, cut in half lengthwise
2 tbsp olive oil
4-5 thyme sprigs or 2 tsp dried thyme leaves
Flaky sea salt and black pepper
1/3 c creme fraiche
1 1/2 tbsp fresh horseradish, peeled and finely grated or  jarred "prepared" horseradish
2/3 lb sliced smoked trout or salmon, each slice cut into 1” wide strips
2 tsp lemon juice, to serve
For the salsa
1½ tbsp small capers (or normal capers, chopped)
1 tbsp parsley leaves, minced
2 tsp tarragon leaves, finely chopped  
1½ tbsp olive oil

Heat the oven to 350º. Put each celeriac half on a separate piece of foil large enough to wrap it in. Dribble a tablespoon of oil over each celeriac half, scatter the thyme and 1/2 tsp of salt on each half, and rub all over. Add a generous grind of pepper, then tightly wrap the celeriac halves in the foil. Bake 1 hr until soft, then unwrap and set aside 30 min to bring to room temperature.

Meanwhile, mix creme fraiche and horseradish with a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper. Refrigerate. Mix the salsa ingredients in another bowl.

To serve, cut each celeriac half into four even wedges. Put two wedges on each serving plate and spoon over  some horseradish cream. Lay a few fish strips on top and drizzle them with the salsa. Squeeze half a teaspoon of lemon juice over each portion and serve immediately.

Baked celeriac plain
This is about as easy as it gets and it's plenty tasty too.

serves 4
1 lg celeriac bulb (3 lbs), cleaned of roots and huge hairs
1/3 c olive oil
1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed with a knife
Coarse or flaked sea salt
1 lemon, in wedges
 
Heat oven to 350º. Using the tip of a small, sharp knife, pierce the unpeeled celeriac bulb all around about 20 times. Put it on a baking dish and rub generously with olive oil, coriander seeds and 2 tsp salt. Roast 2 1/2 hrs, basting every half hour, until it is soft all the way through and golden brown outside. Cut into wedges, sprinkle with a drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt and the juice of a lemon wedge to serve.



 

White Out

Surrounded as we are by so much autumn color, a white out can be respite. And as it happens, white veggies are piled high, their ghostliness standing out at market booths: salad turnips, daikon, parsnips, cauliflower, celeriac and potatoes (white inside). So here are a few ways to enjoy them now. Added bonus: if you like them, you've got the savvy for winter treats because these are winter vegetables. P.S. You can get back to your roots here with preparations for Japanese (Hakurei/salad) turnips and celeriac. More celeriac coming soon because underneath that off-putting hairy, gnarly exterior is a very tasty and versatile vegetable that can brighten winter meals. NOTE OF APOLOGY: I HAVE BEEN FIGHTING OVER AN HOUR WITH THIS TERRIBLE BLOGSPOT JUST TO GET THE PRINT SIZE READABLE AND EQUAL AND I GIVE UP. I SO MUCH DON'T WANT THE MESS TO DETER YOU. IT ISN'T ME.

Spanish Cauliflower with capers

We went through a more elaborate caper studded Venetian cauliflower earlier in the season, later roasted cauliflower with Yemeni Zhoug dressing, and most recently pureed Greek cauliflower dip. This is a tribute to the tasty simplicity of Spanish cooking. It can be a side dish or tapa.
serves 4

1 large cauliflower, broken into florets, leaves reserved
Pinch of salt
1 scant c milk
Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
5 garlic cloves, sliced
5 tbsp drained capers
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika
¼ c sherry or other white vinegar

Place the cauliflower florets in a large pan and cover with water. Add salt and milk. This will make the cauliflower whiter and prevent odors. Cook over a high heat until the florets are al dente – 8 min. Drain and refresh under cold running water, then set aside.

Pour a good drizzle of oil into a cold frying pan, add the reserved cauliflower leaves, garlic, capers and cumin seeds. Turn the heat to high. When the garlic turns golden, add the paprika and the sherry vinegar. Reduce the liquid for 30 seconds. Put the cauliflower in. Blend everything well and serve.

Tibetan Lamb with Daikon

before greens added

This one-pot meal comes from Kham, the far eastern quarter of Tibet famous for its fierce warriors and devout Buddhists. Tibetans use the daikon to absorb the lamb fat,--a neat trick. Labu Drikul, as it's known in Kham (labu means daikon), is a two-stage affair, so it can be made ahead. Traditionally it is served with rice or steamed bread to soak up the delicious gingery broth. P.S I will post a vegetarian daikon recipe in the next batch of roots.

Serves 4

1½ -3/4 lbs. stewing lamb pieces with bones
1 lg. daikon, peeled
2 med./lg. onions
3 inches fresh ginger, peeled
7 lg. garlic cloves, peeled
¼ tsp. Szechuan pepper or ¼ tsp. coarse ground black pepper & 1 dried chili
½ tsp. salt
4-6 cups water
1 lg. tomato, cored
¼ tsp. mild chili or 1/8 tsp. cayenne powder
1 tbsp. corn, safflower, canola, mustard oil
6-8 med. Asian mustard greens (1/2 a bunch)*
*You can substitute Spinach but you won’t get the pungent flavor. Turnip greens would supply it.

Cut the daikon into 2” long pieces (probably 5 to 6). Quarter one onion. Smash the ginger and 6 garlic cloves with the back of a knife. Put the lamb, daikon, quartered onion, ginger, garlic, pepper and ¼ tsp. salt in a medium casserole or lidded saucepan and barely cover with water. Depending on the width of the pot, this will require four to 6 cups. Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and simmer for 80-90 minutes, until the lamb is tender enough to fall easily from its bones. Remove the lamb and daikon from the broth. Boil the broth hard for 15 minutes to reduce it. (This is the point at which you can cool everything and put it in the refrigerator until you want to serve it.)

Take the lamb meat off the bones, discard the bones and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Cut the daikon lengths into thin (1/8”) discs, then cut them in half lengthwise so you have semicircles. Chop the remaining onion finely. Chop the tomato finely. Mince the remaining garlic clove. Degrease the broth and strain it.

Over high heat, heat the tbsp of oil in a wok or large sauté pan that has a lid. Add the onion and garlic. Stir fry to brown. Add the chili or cayenne pepper and blend. Add the lamb. Stir to blend. Keep cooking on high about 90 seconds to brown the lamb slightly. Add the chopped tomato, another ¼ tsp. salt and ½ cup of the broth. (If you’d like this really “stewy” and not braised, add ¾-1 cup of broth.) Cook about five minutes until the tomato dissolves into the juice and the broth is boiling. Coarsely chop or break the mustard greens in half or thirds (depending on their size), lay on top of the lamb and daikon, cover the pot and steam for two minutes. Remove the lid, stir the greens into the “stew”, adjust for salt and pepper and serve. You can use the remaining broth to make Scotch Broth or to pour over rice.


Hakurei Turnips with roasted sesame oil

These Japanese turnips, sometimes called "salad turnips" because of their mild flavor and the fact that you can eat them raw, resemble both beets and radishes when piled high at markets. They are often not available in retail stores so farmers' markets are where to find them and where I first discovered them about six years ago. In spring, they are really useful sliced in salads especially with buttermilk dressing. They brighten a summer slaw or stirfry. But right now they become absolutely addictive sautéed in sesame oil: sweet, peppery, and crunchy. If the greens are fresh throw them in.



The bunch of 7 you see in the photo will serve 4-5.



Wash and trim the roots off the turnips. Slice them into the thinnest disks you can. Coat the bottom or a medium skillet or frying pan with 2 tsp roasted sesame oil and 2-3 tsp corn oil--enough to coat the pan so the turnips don't stick. Get the oil hot over medium heat, add the sliced turnips and stir fry them a minute to get them going. If you need more oil add it. Continue to sauté the turnips until they soften and start to turn brown. Sprinkle on 1 tbsp sesame seeds and continue cooking until the edges of the disks start to really brown. Cook another minute or two to really caramelize them. Season with salt or soy sauce and serve immediately.

Kohlrabi Gratin 

This sci-fi seeming bulb, white but sometimes purple, is the long time hybrid of cabbage and turnip. Kohl
is German for cabbage so not surprisingly, this variation remains a German favorite. It's often grated into slaw. Baby ones can be stewed with chicken into a very comforting one pot meal. (Recipe in my book How to Fix a Leek...) Those with gout, edema and severe arthritis should avoid it, but for the adventurous it's worth a try. This Yotam Ottolenghi recipe is a simple, heart and stomach warming preparation traditionally used for potatoes. Vegetarians can serve with sauteed garlicky spinach, carnivores can serve with baked ham or roasted pork loin.
Serves 6

1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1¼ c vegetable stock
1¼c heavy cream
1½ tsp Dijon mustard
1+ oz parmesan, grated
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
8 large sage leaves, finely chopped or 1 tbsp dried sage
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 medium-large kohlrabi, peeled and cut into 1”thick rounds
2.2 oz gorgonzola, broken into small pieces
1 oz panko breadcrumbs

Heat the oven to 400º.

Put the oil in a medium saucepan on over medium-high heat, add onion and sauté 8 min, stirring often, until soft and golden. Add the stock, cream, mustard, parmesan, garlic, sage and a good grind of black pepper. Reduce heat to medium and cook so the liquid thickens slightly, maybe 4 min. Remove from heat and set aside.

Spread kohlrabi slices on a large board, sprinkle with three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt, then layer them in a large 8X10 (or similar) ovenproof dish or casserole pan, slightly overlapping the slices as you go. This will form about five layers. Pour over the cream and onion mix, making sure a good amount is spread over the top kohlrabi layer of kohlrabi. Dot the gorgonzola on top and sprinkle breadcrumbs everywhere.

Bake 1 hr until the cream has thickened, the top is golden-brown and the kohlrabi is soft enough for a knife to cut through. Remove, and let it sit 5-10 min before serving.

  Celery Remoulade

From a farm that "cleaned" it

This is the classic French use of the celeriac bulb: grated raw into a creamy, mustard laced slaw. It's a palate cleanser perfect for roast chicken or turkey, grilled sausages or baked ham. It's a traditional appetizer and frequent component of that colorful tapa like spread called Hors d'ouvres variees. Its own variations (variées) include grating in a Granny Smith apple, tossing in thin strips of baked ham or bits of minced olives or capers to add saltiness.

Serves 6

1 c mayonnaise, homemade or store-bought

2 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice
freshly-ground black pepper to your taste
2 1/4 pounds celery root (one large or two sm/medium
*2 tsp celery seed (this is my addition to the traditional recipe to rev the celery taste)

In your serving bowl, mix the mayonnaise, mustard, salt, lemon juice, and a few grinds of black pepper to make a dressing. If it seems very thick add 1 tsp at a time of olive oil. Peel the celery root and coarsely grate it.Add it to the dressing and blend well. Taste and adjust to your taste salt, pepper, mustard, and lemon juice. OPTIONAL: garnish with finely chopped flat leaf parsley leaves

Parsnip Chowder

This is a wonderfully tasty autumn variation on corn chowder, incorporating another great bounty of the moment: mushrooms.

Serves 4-5

3 lg parsnips, peeled and washed

1/3-1/2 lb. mushrooms, cleaned

½ sm roasted red pepper, chopped, or 1 tbsp chopped pimentos

1 sm onion, peeled and diced

1 lg shallot, peeled and diced

1 tsp. cumin seed

½ tsp. celery seed

½ tsp. ground coriander

½ tsp. ground cumin

4 tbsp. butter (1/2 stick)

3 c vegetable broth or water

1 12oz can evaporated milk (whole not skim)

½ c half ‘n’ half or light cream

½ tsp. salt (more to your taste)

Freshly ground black pepper to your taste

½ c cracker crumbs or crumbled croutons

¼ c finely chopped fresh flat parsley leaves or chives

Slice the peeled parsnips into thin disks. Cut the larger disks in half so all pieces are close in size for better cooking. Chop mushrooms.

In a medium size, heavy gauge pot, melt 3 tbsp. butter. Add onion, shallot, mushrooms, cumin and celery seed. Stir to blend and sauté until vegetables are soft.  Add parsnips, ground coriander and cumin. Stir to

blend and sauté 60 seconds. Cover the pot contents with broth or water, bring to a boil, cover the pot and lower heat. Simmer 10-12 minutes until parsnips are tender but not mushy. Add liquid if necessary so there is always some even with the top of the vegetables. Stir in the evaporated milk and half ‘n’ half, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat until soup is hot. Do not boil. Stir in 1 tbsp butter, the crumbs and parsley/chives. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve hot.