Heather says:

Winter will be here for a couple more weeks, it won’t be until April that the fun produce really starts to arrive.  At least there is asparagus and broccoli. So I’ve continued to work with turnips and rutabagas for my Fearless Friday endeavors. This week, I tried out a recipe for scalloped turnips and rutabagas, it’s not the most exciting in the world, it is a great alternative to rice or potatoes.

Have you tried any new recipes or techniques? If so, you’re invited to participate in this week’s Fearless Friday. Either take a moment and tell us your adventure in the comments or if you have your own site you are more than welcome to link to your post. This carnival isn’t about success, it’s about making the attempt. So don’t worry about the outcome, just share the experience.

Scalloped Turnip and Rutabaga Recipe

Scalloped Turnips and Rutabaga Ingredients

• 2 diced peeled turnips 1/2″ to 1″ dice
• 1 diced peeled rutabaga 1/2″ to 1″ dice
• 6 cups water
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 2 TBSPs butter
• 3 TBSPs all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt, optional
• 1-1/2 cups milk – variation – substitute up to half the liquid with vegetable or chicken stock
  Omit the salt if using commercial broth or bouillon
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 2oz shredded cheddar cheese or grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Scalloped Turnip and Rutabaga Instructions

Place the diced and peeled turnips and rutabaga in a pot and cover with the water and add the sugar. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes. Drain the root vegetables and place in a baking dish.

Be aware that the baking time will need to be increased for deep casserole dishes, such as the one shown. Shallow, dishes such as a 9 x 13 will only need the suggested 20 minutes. The deep dish needed an additional 10 – 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a heavy pan over medium low heat,  melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Whisk until the flour butter mixture has darkened by a shade or two. We’re making a basic bechamel, slowly add the milk a few ounces at a time. Whisk briskly with each addition.

In the very beginning there will be some ugly moments, your roux will look as though it as turned to dough.

Do not freak out, keep whisking and adding your milk or chicken stock and your sauce will soon become smooth, keep whisking until it resembles frosting. At this point, you can become slightly more generous with each addition of milk until it is all incorporated.

*Note to those just learning to cook* This step feels awkward and difficult at first. I promise it gets easier each time. There’s a slight knack to it and practice is the only way to get there. Just keep whisking. There’s no crying in baseball cooking, unless onions are involved.

Once all the milk or milk and chicken stock has been added, turn the heat up slightly to medium and cook, stirring for 2 – 3 minutes. We are NOT bringing this to a boil. Taste your white sauce, it should have a very mild flavor, if necessary add a little more salt and some fresh ground pepper.

Pour the sauce over your turnips and rutabaga. Top the dish with breadcrumbs and cheese, if desired.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, unless of course you’re using a deep casserole dish, then bake for 35 – 40 minutes. Keep an eye on it near the end, if the cheese is browning too much, consider covering with foil.

Heather says:
Since Fridays are for being fearless, I’ve decided to share two things with all of you.
First is the YouTube of my appearance on Lowcountry Live. Yes, I was very nervous. If you listen, you’ll hear I received a promotion. Also, I went completely blank when he asked me about staples. Oh well.

What I should have said: Olive oil, canned tomatoes, garlic, herbs, eggs, potatoes, rice, and pasta

Next I have the slideshow from Saturday’s workshop at the Center for Women. While you won’t get the benefit of the hands on knife-skills demonstration, I think it’s a decent overview of what I’ll be covering. It will be edited a little more to smooth some of the transitions, get rid of some visual clutter and to add a few more pictures.

Have you been brave, tried any new recipes? Share your experiments in the comments or feel free to link to your own site. A more traditional Fearless Friday will return next week.

Heather says:

Fearless Fridays are about pushing our culinary boundaries, lately I’ve done well with purchasing seasonal vegetables, but the actually cooking the produce in a recipe part has been kicking my butt. I suppose I should cut myself a little slack, as I have been out of town. What have you done fearlessly in the kitchen? Please share your adventures in the comments and feel free to link to your own sites.

The mashed rutabaga I prepared a few weeks ago inspired me to purchase a couple more and continue the experimentation. This week I turned to my favorite ingredient, bacon. It would be possible to make a vegetarian version of this recipe with butter or olive oil (2 – 3 TBSP of either) and vegetable stock, but rendered bacon plays exceptionally well off of the apple and onion. Unless bacon is verboten, try the recipe as written.

For those unfamiliar with the term to braise means to brown and then cooking slowly in a wet heat. Braising is similar to how a crockpot is used, but for the best results the browning step should not be skipped. There is a magic, known as the Maillard reaction that occurs when amino acids and sugars are exposed to heat, it’s nearly impossible to recreate this flavor without browning; some things can’t be rushed.

Braised Rutabaga Recipe

Braised Rutabaga Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 rutabaga
• 1 tart apple
• 1 medium yellow or sweet onion, sliced thin
• 2 strips of bacon
• 1 cup chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Braised Rutabaga Recipe Instructions:

In a heavy, oven-proof pot or dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until the fat has rendered. Remove the bacon, chop, and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350F.

While the bacon is cooking, peel and dice the rutabaga and apple. The diced rutabaga should be no more than 1/2″ cubes or the baking time should be extended.

Add the onion to the rendered fat and cook until soft. Add the apples and cook for an additional minute. Add the stock, but begin with approximately 1/4 cup and use your spoon or spatula to scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. NEVER use a metal utensil to scrape your cookware, unless you particularly enjoy scratching the finish and spending a lot of time scrubbing the food that gets caught in the scratches. Even then I suggest a more productive hobby.

Bringing those browned bits of goodness into the stock greatly increases the flavor of your dish, even if you plan on finishing in a slow cooker.

Add the rest of the stock, the diced rutabaga, the bacon crumbles, and salt and pepper to the pot. Cover tightly and bake for 1 hour.

If you would like to make this in a slow cooker, place the diced rutabaga in the cooker and pour all of the other ingredients over top. Cover and cook on low for at least 4 hours or on high for 1.5 to 2.

Enjoy!

Heather says:

I had pretty much written off Fearless Friday for this week. Since I’m out of town, without a real pantry, that’s about all the cooking adventure I was willing to handle while working under the pressure of a big deadline. Then last night, I saw a tweet from Candice of Ragamuffin Design. She had taken my favorite pizza dough recipe, tweaked it slightly and used it to make flatbread for a Greek meal. She sent me her technique and I thought it would be fun to share with you. Did you do anything for Fearless Friday this week? Share a link at the end of the post or tell us in the comments.

Remember, Fearless Friday is about our sharing failures -I like to think of them as learning experiences- as much as it is our successes.

Home-Ec 101 and Ragamuffin Design Flatbread

Flatbread Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 TBSP active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour + a little more for dusting
• 1 1/2 TBSP olive oil + extra to grease the bowl for rising
• 1 TBSP molasses
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 minced, grated, or pressed garlic clove

Flatbread Recipe Instructions:

Add the yeast to the warm water and set it aside.  Place the flour in a large bowl and whisk it to fluff it up.  With your hands, clean please, create a well in the flour.  Remember when you used to make a volcano with mashed potatoes and gravy? Yes, just like that.

To make clean up easier, measure the olive oil and then the molasses.  There is no chemical reason for doing this, other than the oil lubricates the spoon so you don’t have to struggle with the sticky molasses.  Add the salt and garlic clove, add all of this to the well in the flour.

Does the yeast and water look foamy?  Wonderful, add that to the well.  If you are using a stand mixer, use your dough hook to stir and knead.  Use the lowest setting and only knead it for about a minute after the dough comes together.

If you are kneading by hand, stir the ingredients until they are moist and well mixed.  Flour your work surface and knead the dough for around three minutes.  Estimate, this is pretty forgiving.

After kneading shape the dough into a ball. (Just like playdough folks, just like playdough).  Set aside.  Grease a large bowl with olive oil.  Place the dough in the bowl, turning it several times to coat with oil.  Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise  / rest for thirty minutes. This gives the yeast time to develop flavor. It’s not going to rise a whole lot.

Divide the dough into balls about 2TBSP each. One at a time, lightly coat each ball with flour and roll very thin on a floured work surface.

Heat an ungreased skillet over medium high and cook each dough circle 1.5 minutes on each side. Stack until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Share your Fearless Friday feats.

Heather says:

Fearless Fridays are a chance for readers of this site to share what they’ve been trying in the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be fancy, all I ask is that it be a new recipe or a new technique. Share a link to your effort in the McKlinky or tell us about it in the comments. There is even a Flickr group that everyone is welcome to join and share.

What did you try this week?

I know I’ve been talking about eating seasonally, but there were green beans and they were cheap, so I cheated and bought them. Why? They were whispering to me, “Remember when you heard someone say after they tried roasted green beans, they’d never eat them any other way” Why yes, I did remember that. So the green beans were soon bagged, taken on a car ride, and tucked into the crisper.

I roast root vegetables, broccoli, and cauliflower all the time. The high heat does a beautiful thing to the natural sugars. So I decided, what the heck, why not try it with green beans?

Preheat the oven to 425F make sure one rack is in the top position.

Wash the beans, pinch off the stems and the tips -I had only done the stems in my batch, next time the tips come off, they crisped too quickly.-  Place the trimmed beans in a large bowl and toss with a small amount of olive oil.

Spread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with kosher salt. Cook for 10 – 15 minutes, watch them carefully the last few minutes as brown yields fabulous flavor, but if it turns black you may as well suck on a charcoal briquette.

Verdict? Fabulous. It’s an easy side for any evening where the oven has already been in use. It’s a side dish that can be prepped at any time during the meal preparation and finished at the last minute while the table is set and drinks are poured.

Enjoy.

Heather says:

Welcome to the Fearless Friday that almost wasn’t. I’ve been under the weather and limited to soups and very soft foods. Being the masochist I am, I’ve also been paging through and drooling over my cookbooks waiting for the day I can manage them. Thursday’s dinner prep rolled around and as I stood there, I realized I had given absolutely no thought to this week’s Fearless Friday.

I looked around the kitchen somewhat desperately, trying to find a balance between something I had the energy to try and the ability to eat. Since I’ve been trying to focus on seasonal cooking my eyes landed on the rutabaga lurking on my counter. Perfect, I thought.

Fearless Fridays are a weekly event where readers of this site share their culinary adventures. For some, it’s simply the act of preparing a meal in their home instead of hitting the drive through. For others it’s trying new foods, recipes, or techniques. It’s a chance to push against our boundaries and maybe discover new favorites. Not every attempt will be successful  but everyone is encouraged to share, if you have a blog post a link to your post below, if you have a Flickr account share a picture, and if you have neither? Just share in the comments.

What do you do with a rutabaga?

I had planned roasting this rutabaga with turnips and carrots. Instead I decided to try mashing it. It was ridiculously easy. Cut off both the top and root, then use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to remove the waxy outer layer. Cut the vegetable into equal size pieces and steam, either in a steamer or in a pot with an inch or so of water.

Steam until tender, I was distracted, but I think it took 30 minutes.

At first, I tried to use a pastry blender to mash the steamed rutabaga, but I quickly gave up and broke out my immersion blender. Rutabaga is not as starchy as potatoes and even using a stick blender, it did not become gluey. Since I had never used rutabaga before, I simply added butter, salt, and fresh ground pepper.

The results?

Delicious.

The mashed rutabaga is slightly sweeter than a mashed potato, but not as sweet as a squash. It has a faint “root” like taste, I don’t know how to describe it, other than it reminds me of the smell of pulling weeds in the summer.

Before experimenting, I wanted to try it plain, I wanted a feel for the vegetable with the silly name. In the future, I’ll steam it with stock, either chicken or vegetable and I’ll add herbs that complement the main dish. I’ll experiment with adding a splash of milk or cream, as I do with mashed potatoes, but mostly I’ll just be sure this previously ignored vegetable becomes a part of our diet.

What did you do for Fearless Friday?

Heather says:

Fearless Friday is back! I took a break around the holidays, but I’m ready to host this carnival once again. To participate all you have to do is push your culinary boundaries and tell us about it. Does it have to be successful? Nope, Fearless Failures are absolutely welcome and a part of the game.

Share what you tried in the McKlinky if you have a blog or Flickr picture of your adventure. If you don’t, please just share your story in the comments.

So what did I do this week?

I was cruising YouTube, I can’t remember why and came across this video:

I love sushi and so does my husband, yes even the grocery store kind. The problem with this love is that it isn’t exactly frugal. So this week I decided to start learning one of the techniques.

So it’s not exactly riveting, but I’m starting with the cucumbers. I may never approach the speed of the man in the video, but I think in a week or two I’ll be able to to get the knack of turning the cucumber flesh into a spiral.

Oops, I forgot to add the results:

Neat!

Heather says:

Well, it’s the morning after one of the biggest cooking fests of the year (Christmas and Easter are close on the heels of Thanksgiving in my home).

How was your holiday? Apologies to my Canadian and other Home Ec readers, sometimes you just have to put up with my American perspective.

Did you attempt anything new? How did it turn out?

I admit it, after this year’s pre-Thanksgiving day photo shoot I totally took it easy and enjoyed dinner at my mom and stepdad’s. I brought the broccoli salad and apple pie. I nearly ate myself sick on collard greens (he uses bacon instead of smoked sausage).

Sweets for the Season launches tonight tomorrow, but I have a big, new project on my plate. So this year I am approaching it a little differently. I will be re-visiting many of the previous years’ recipes and taking new, hopefully better pictures. Look for one recipe a day, tomorrow through Christmas Eve.

If you have a request for a cookie or dessert recipe, please feel free to send it my way. Additionally, I would love to do a recipe carnival that includes your favorite cookie recipes.  The deadline for that will be December 11. If you don’t have a blog, you are still welcome to participate and your recipe / photo will be included in the post.  If you do send me your favorite recipe, make sure the narrative is your own. This is important, so I don’t accidentally infringe on any one’s copyright. Send links to posts or your recipes to Heather@home-ec101.com and be sure to put Cookie Carnival in the subject line. (This will help me not lose anyone’s entry in a deluge of spam). I’m hoping to get the carnival posted on the 15th of December.

This really is my favorite time of year.

Heather says:
Guess what! Chiiiiiiiicken butt.

Sorry, my two year old has been saying that all week and it’s stuck in my head. It’s already Friday again, how does that happen? It’s a good thing I was ahead of the game by being fearless on Sunday when I played hostess to a large group. Everyone knew when I sent out the invite that chaos would reign supreme and the point of the gathering was to keep me from drowning in leftovers. There were kids zooming around hopped up in a post-Halloween sugar frenzy and at one point, every inch of counter space was in use.

I need to publicly thank Heidi, Eugene & Yaenette, and Don D. Lewis for all their help. From scut work to picture taking without your help it wouldn’t have turned out half so well.  For me, the biggest part of this Fearless Friday was delegating. I’m sort of a perfectionist -Seriously!- and I have this weird idea that if I don’t do it, it’s not going to turn out. This is patently false and something I’m working on. If you browse this gallery you’ll see many of the upcoming pictures for this month’s Countdown to Turkey Day, as well as what I mean when I say it looks like my kitchen exploded. Also, somewhere in those pictures and I’ll give you a hint, it’s not the staged (albeit gorgeous) magazine style ones, you’ll see that Don captured exactly how envision Thanksgiving.

Fearless Friday is about pushing our boundaries in the kitchen. Whether it’s trying out a new recipe, technique, or trying a new food. I invite you to share what you’ve tried, whether it was a success or not. Share your link if you have a blog or tell us about it in the comments below.

Heather says:

Does anyone ever notice how Thursday just seems to sneak up on a person? I mind my own business, but it seems to happen every seven days or so. This week I managed to squeeze in a quick Fearless Friday. I decided to try out making a homemade version of PopTarts™. Guess what? They are fabulous, absolutely butt ugly, but fabulous. I think with practice and tweaking the technique I’ll figure out how to make them pretty, but I don’t really care if they ever get there.

Fearless Fridays are a chance for cooks of any skill level to push their boundaries in the kitchen. We all have boundaries, whether it’s a food we don’t care for or a skill we’ve never attempted. Anyone is welcome to join in this carnival by sharing a link to their latest attempt at fearlessness (it doesn’t have to be from today, the carnival just runs on Fridays). This series isn’t about perfection, it’s about trying something new and knowing that sometimes we fail. So don’t worry, we want to hear about the flops just as much as the successful attempts. If you don’t have a blog, please share your adventure in the comments.

-Ugly- Toaster Pastries

There's room to grow here

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour + extra for dusting
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 6 TBSP room temperature coconut oil -I avoid shortening whenever possible, but you can use an equal amount here-
• 3/4 cup milk
• Egg wash = 1 egg + a few tsp cold water + beaten
• Filling = your favorite jam

Tools:

• Necessary
  bowl, fork, spoon or spatula, rolling pin, baking sheet
• Nice, but not necessary
  pastry blender, pastry brush, parchment paper

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and kosher salt.

Use two forks, your clean hands, or a pastry blender to work the 6 TBSPs of coconut oil into the flour mixture. Keep working it in until thoroughly blended. Add the milk and use a spoon or spatula to mix thoroughly.  The dough will be very soft and a little sticky. That’s normal.

Generously sprinkle your work area with flour and turn the dough out of the bowl.

Have you ever tried taking pictures one handed while kneading? That's an adventure.

Knead the dough 10 – 15 times. To do so:

1. push the ball of dough with the heel of your hand
2. grasp the edge of the dough with your fingers
3. fold the dough over
4. turn 90 degrees
5. repeat

Divide the dough in half. Next time I make this, I’m going to wrap it and let it chill in the refrigerator while the oven preheats to 350F and I hunt down my rolling pin. -One would think it would be in the drawer where it’s supposed to be, but no, not ever.-

Roll 1/2 the dough into a narrow strip about 1/8th inch thick. Try to keep the rectangle somewhere between 3 – 4″ on the short side.

I managed to do that with the second half of the dough.

Once you have a rectangle, use a butter knife to cut it into smaller rectangles of approximately the same size. Shoot for an even number.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or just grease a baking sheet.

Transfer half the rectangles to the sheet.

Grab your favorite jam, use a clean fork to give it a good stir, this makes it easier to spread. Add a generous dollop of jam to the center of each rectangle already on the baking sheet. (The blackberry was great, the peach was lovely, but the pastry where I mixed the two was divine.) Spread the jam as evenly as possible, but leave about 1/2 inch from the sides to prevent leaking during baking.

Beat the egg with the 2 – 3 tsps of water in a small bowl to create your egg wash. Use a pastry brush or your fingers to line the edges of the jam laden pastries. Carefully transfer the other rectangles from your work area and use a fork to crimp the edges.  Poke each pastry a few times with the fork to create vents.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350F. They will be very pale, but done. Transfer the pastries to a wire rack to cool and store in an airtight container.

Toast just as you would any other toaster pastry. Enjoy the fact that you know every ingredient that created these ugly little marvesl.

In the future, I will be experimenting with the jam to pastry ratio and I will lightly sprinkle the tops with a coarse sugar before baking.