(updated May 3, 2023) // by Phoebe Lapine // 12 comments
5 from 1 vote
Print RecipeJump to Recipe
Turnips are not my favorite vegetable. They’re a little bit too watery and bitter for my palette. But every year when Food Network Fall Fest turnip week rolls around, I try to find ways to love them. Last year, it was via a rustic hash and this post about other bittersweet, non-turnipy things…like break-ups.
Since I’m supposed to be talking about turnips here, and my last turnip recipe was almost exactly a year ago to the day, I went back and read my post. And it got me thinking not at all about turnips. So I’m going to roll with that…
I’ve always hated going back and rereading my diary entries. I remember doing it a few times in high school and getting serious tard-tingles. This is a made-up word that my old co-worker invented for the type of secondhand embarrassment you feel when watching things like bad stand-up comedy, male acapella groups, or Chris Jenner’s talk show. But it works perfectly for what I feel when reading old writing of mine.
Everything just sounds so melodramatic and overwrought. Granted, if this is my high school diary we’re talking about, it probably was. But I got a similar feeling when re-reading last year’s turnip post.
Part of this feeling is a good thing. I’m in such a different, more positive little-black-dress-wearing place now that I can’t remember a time when I was so freakin mopey. This fall I’ve been running around like a mad woman, embracing my single city life and having a ball. Some weeks I would kill to have a quiet night in with a salmon steak and some turnip hash. But I have the rest of my life to watch bad TV and eat my omega-3’s. Right now, there are glow sticks that need wearing and hangover Chinese food that’s not going to order itself.
But really the take away in reading last year’s post is that I was depressed. I assume most of you have had a period like this in your life and know how hard it is to recognize when you’re sitting in the middle of the cloud. I’m so glad to no longer be feeling like a million saddie face emoticons, and more like a little emoji monkey.
So in the spirit of being back to my sassy self, I’ve jazzed up my turnip offerings from the depressing days of yore with a little miso butter in this mashed turnips recipe. I’ve never been one to shy away from a little fat to make my vegetables worth eating. The sweet, salty miso helps to tame that bitterness that I keep mentioning, and the butter makes watery mashed turnips a silky, elegant dish. There, I did it. I talked about turnips.
Do you have any foods that you’ve turned to during a dark patch? Let me know about them in the comments. Perhaps we can reinvent them in your life as something new and sassy and not so bittersweet.
Place the turnips in a saucepan with water to cover and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until easily pierced by a paring knife, about 35 minutes. Drain and return to the pot.
Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, miso, and half the scallions. Microwave until melted, about 10 seconds. Whisk until smooth.
Add fat – Adding butter and heavy cream to the mashed turnips helps to counteract the bitter flavor from the turnips. If you find your turnip mash still tastes bitter, add more fat. Add sweetness – A tablespoon or two of sweetener will decrease the bitterness from the turnips.
In very basic terms, miso butter tastes like salty, sweet and earthy butter. And it is these unique qualities that make it shine stirred into pasta, brushed on roasted salmon or even topped on grilled steak.
It's not essential to peel turnips before cooking. If this skin appears to be thin enough you can leave it on and cook as is. However if the skin feels thick and leathery, you can peel it off with a sharp knife or vegetable peeler. Both the roots and leaves, also known as turnip greens, are safe to eat.
A variety of herbs and spices can be added to the mashed turnips. Try a tablespoon of finely chopped sage or rosemary, a clove or two of roasted or sautéed garlic, or a pinch of paprika or ground ginger. If your turnips came with the greens, don't throw them away.
Turnips can sometimes taste bitter due to the presence of certain compounds, including glucosinolates and phenols. These compounds are natural plant chemicals that can contribute to the flavor and nutrition of the vegetable, but in some cases, they can also create a bitter taste.
Place the turnips in a pot and cover with about 2 inches of salted water. Bring to a boil, adjust the heat and simmer until the turnips are tender when pierced with a toothpick or the tip of a paring knife, 20 to 30 minutes. Step three: Season and serve. Drain the turnips and season with salt and pepper.
This is a bad practice, however, and you should avoid adding baking soda when boiling any type of vegetable. It has various unwelcome effects, such as softening the vegetable, altering the vegetable's flavor, destroying thiamine content, and hastening the loss of vitamin C.
The texture is similar to nut butter and the flavor is rich, complex, salty, and packed with umami. Miso is an important ingredient in Japanese cooking but it's becoming increasingly popular to use miso in every kind of cuisine because of its power to transform any dish with a punch salty, sweet, fermented flavor.
Miso is generally safe for most people; however, if you follow a low-salt (sodium) diet, you may wish to limit your intake because miso has high levels. Soybeans are considered to be goitrogenic. This means if you have a thyroid issue you may be advised to minimise your intake.
Older, big turnips won't have as mild a flavour so you won't want to use them raw. But overcooking any turnip, whether young or old, makes them taste “turnipy” — as in the overboiled turnip taste so many people grew to hate.
You can tell if turnips have gone bad if any part of them is soft or has dark patches. If the color changes from what it was when you purchased the turnip, they have likely gone bad, and you should discard them.
Rutabagas are also generally much larger than turnips. So for a quick rule of thumb, the brownish-yellowish ones are rutabagas, and the smaller white and purple ones are turnips. In terms of their flavor, rutabagas are slightly sweeter-tasting than turnips whereas turnips have a slightly more radishy flavor.
If your turnips are more bitter than you care for, try a pinch of salt if you're salt is not optimized or try a tiny pinch of sugar, although salt is purported to be better at decreasing bitterness: http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/salt-trumps-bitter/?_r=0).
Salt is one of my favorite ways to cut the bitterness in turnip greens. I then add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the broth and simmer for the last 20 minutes.
Cook the rutabaga cubes in boiling salted water and the ½ teaspoon sugar. This will help take out some of the bitterness. Cook until the rutabaga is very tender.
Introduction: My name is Domingo Moore, I am a attractive, gorgeous, funny, jolly, spotless, nice, fantastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
If you make this, tag @phoebelapine and #feedmephoebe - I'd love to see it!
Steph says 
