I got really absurd quantities of greens at the farmer's market today: spinach, curly kale, and turnip greens, my recent most favorite. One of the farmers has a particularly tender variety. Anyway, as faithful readers know, I like to prepare them for storage all in one go, bringing a big pot of salted water to a boil and then parboiling each type of green separately, then draining, cooling, and squeezing out extra water. Some nutrients are lost this way, of course, but they
a) take up a lot less space in the refrigerator,
b) keep better, because there's no risk of tearing and bruising that accelerates rot, and
c) are much more amenable to sautéeing and related cooking methods, because they don't express liquid that then makes them stew rather than sautée.
And Marcella Hazan backs me up on this!
The spinach got used tonight in a turnip curry. It turns out that turnips are a beautiful substitute in Indian recipes where potatoes are commonly called for. Those of you who do not spend time worrying about blood sugar and things, of course, don't need any substitute for potatoes. But they're awfully good anyway, especially if you like just a little touch of the sharp-and-bitter in your flavor mix, which harmonizes well with both Indian flavors and with gratin-ish things. Turnips seem to me to be the love child of a radish and a potato. And as I like both radishes and potatoes, I feel I should be giving turnips a bit more time in my diet.
Madhur Jaffrey has a tip where she suggests soaking your peeled and chopped turnips in salty water to help make the texture a bit denser. It works very well and coincidentally insures that the turnips are seasoned all through. These were particularly attractive and firm young turnips -- I should have bought more of them while I had the chance. Hopefully there will be a few more chances to get the young 'uns before the weather turns too cold.
My mother sent me a nice-sounding cabbage recipe today. I'll have to buy a cabbage and try it out, and then I'll report back. I do think cabbage is an unfairly maligned vegetable. I'm very fond of it.
a) take up a lot less space in the refrigerator,
b) keep better, because there's no risk of tearing and bruising that accelerates rot, and
c) are much more amenable to sautéeing and related cooking methods, because they don't express liquid that then makes them stew rather than sautée.
And Marcella Hazan backs me up on this!
The spinach got used tonight in a turnip curry. It turns out that turnips are a beautiful substitute in Indian recipes where potatoes are commonly called for. Those of you who do not spend time worrying about blood sugar and things, of course, don't need any substitute for potatoes. But they're awfully good anyway, especially if you like just a little touch of the sharp-and-bitter in your flavor mix, which harmonizes well with both Indian flavors and with gratin-ish things. Turnips seem to me to be the love child of a radish and a potato. And as I like both radishes and potatoes, I feel I should be giving turnips a bit more time in my diet.
Madhur Jaffrey has a tip where she suggests soaking your peeled and chopped turnips in salty water to help make the texture a bit denser. It works very well and coincidentally insures that the turnips are seasoned all through. These were particularly attractive and firm young turnips -- I should have bought more of them while I had the chance. Hopefully there will be a few more chances to get the young 'uns before the weather turns too cold.
My mother sent me a nice-sounding cabbage recipe today. I'll have to buy a cabbage and try it out, and then I'll report back. I do think cabbage is an unfairly maligned vegetable. I'm very fond of it.
