Playing with Your Food: Radish Reenactments and Twirled Turnips

I will admit that the only reason I am writing this blog entry is to use this great photograph at left. Someone who obviously had a few too many radishes apparently decided to carve a nativity scene from the roots, and this was the result, I guess. Since we're expecting radishes in our serendipitous December pickup, I thought I'd post the photo in case you too are looking to make Christmas decorations from farm products.

Of course, there are better things to do with the produce. Nancy Sullivan found an article about roasting radishes in the NY Times and though I love radishes raw with butter on them, I have to say that roasting them also sounds pretty tasty to me, for a holiday dinner garnish or just a nice snack.

Now, we're also expecting to get a few turnips in the pickup, and my mom and I were discussing mashing turnips with potatoes, which is kind of a way of hiding the fact that you are serving turnips. I have nothing against turnips myself, but some people do, and you can get them to eat them just by cooking them with potatoes, mashing them together, and adding some milk, butter, and salt.

Then I found a recipe for turnips mashed with sweet potatoes. Well, not exactly mashed with them, mashed separately and then swirled together. I like food that looks lovely, and I am picturing this looking very much like the orange and cream colored circus-themed bedroom my sister and I shared in the mid-1960s. Ooh, dating myself there. Anyway, I think I have to try this one; it's pretty easy and quick, too.

Sweet Potato and Turnip Swirl
1/2 pound turnips, peeled and cubed
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1 tablespoon butter margarine
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange zest

Cook the turnips and sweet potatoes in separate pans over medium high heat with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain; transfer to a food processor and puree the two vegetables separately (turnips first, with a little butter and milk, then the sweet potatoes, and you won't have to clean out the food processor in between but the turnips will stay creamy white.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the ginger, butter, sugar, and orange peel. Allow butter to melt and mix ingredients together well. In a warm bowl, first add the turnip puree, then the sweet potatoes, then the ginger orange butter; swirl together and serve warm.

And--next post, I promise, will be about what people made from farm produce for Thanksgiving, just to give you some ideas for upcoming holiday meals. For now, don't forget the December pickup, Saturday, December 10, 10 am to 12 noon at the greenhouse.