A different way of cooking swedes

[ina]

As MMM called swedes a "boring" vegetable (see Hints...), and I actually quite agree, at least as far as how they are usually cooked here, I thought I might pass on the way my mum made them, and I still do. They not only look more interesting, they also taste better - I think so, anyway.

Sweat off chopped onions in oil. Add swedes (quite chunky, but chunks just the right size so you can pop them in your mouth whole!), sliced carrots, chopped garlic (optional), some caraway seeds, a little water (just about 1-2 cm in the pot), veggie boullion or pinch of herb salt. The caraway seeds not only add flavour, they make it more digestible. You can sprinkle them with black pepper and chopped fresh parsley before serving. Particularly nice with mashed potatoes - if you make cheesy mash, it's a complete vegetarian meal.

I use about 3 - 5 parts of swedes to one part of carrots. White cabbage gets cooked in the same way - again, it looks more interesting, because more colourful (might even persuade kids to eat boring cabbage), and the caraway prevents internal gas production. Try about half a teaspoonful of seeds for 3 - 4 portions for a start.

Oh, and don't overcook! Cooking time depends on the toughness of the veg plus chunk size, so it's difficult to say.

Ina

[hedgewitch]

Sounds nice ina
I like to mash my Swede with Carrots, butter, salt and black Pepper.

[ina]

I like them mashed, too - but they need a lot of butter, I think - or roasted, but that's a bit of a bother for just one person! Often you just get them boiled, with absolutely nothing else in them. And if they used frozen neeps, you might as well not bother...

Ina

[Millymollymandy]

I thought neeps were turnips?

I remember mashed swede from my childhood as being quite nice, but when I bought a swede in France it was white fleshed and bitter and truly revolting.

...... and I DO know the difference between a swede and a turnip! Although my mother in law swears it's the other way around and everyone else is wrong.

[ina]

Neeps are Swedish turnips, just to confuse matters!

What you get as neeps here are definitely Swedes, but the word neeps comes from the turnip part of the full name...

The other turnips that are popular around here are mostly Purple top (white, with purple tops , but only the outside is purple...), or Golden balls. (Typical male gardener's joke: Do you like my golden balls?) The Purple tops in particular I prefer raw. Golden balls are yellow, but much smaller than Swedes; I've not had much luck with them yet, maybe I'll try them again next year.

Ina

[Millymollymandy]

I'm definitely confused now! So swedes are Swedish turnips? So do they grow ordinary turnips in Sweden too?

[ina]

No idea... Any Swedes around on this forum who could clear this up? (I'm talking about the human variety here, and not the human turnip heads... )

Never knew vegetables could be so complicated. And who called them boring a little while ago?

Ina

[Wombat]

I'm still looking for Inga!

Nev

[Helga]

Hulloooooo, my name is Helga and I am from Sweden......

[Wombat]

Alright, alright.........................................that is too cute!

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

LOL The funniest thing is that there is already a member called INGA!!

[marcherman]

Hi there,

I like to peel Swedes and Turnip, slice them about an inch thick, smear a little Olive Oil on them, salt and pepper them, place on a baking tray and bake them, Nice.

I do the same with Marrows, which I always find as a difficult to plan foodstuff. 8)

[Shirley]

From Scottish Cookery by Catherine Brown

Rutabaga, a variety of Brassica campestris, otherwise known as Swedish turnip since it came from Sweden to Scotland in 1781/2, for some reason was not, as in England, called Swede but plain turnip or 'neeps' in Scotland. This is a much larger variety of turnip than the one the Romans are credited with introducing to Britain, which is not only smaller but has a white flesh (Brassica Kapa) compared with the yellow/orange of the swede. It is obviously the yellow variety that Meg Dods was referring to and it is this one which accompanies Haggis and mixes so well with Orkney Clapshot. It had is main effect on Lowland Scotland while the potato was grown instead in the Highlands.

First grown as a garden crop, it was the white variety which the Romans had introduced which was made famous by men like 'Turnip Townshend"- the second Viscount Townshend (1674-1738) who pioneered the use of turnips on his Norfolk estates as winter feed for cattle, allowing them to survive through to the following summer and revolutionising our food supplies.

Bashed Neeps - 1lb turnip, cold water to cover, salt and white pepper, 2 tbsp butter, 1 tsp grated ginger root or ground ginger to taste, handful of chopped chives to garnish.

Remove all the hard woody outer skin and boil til soft, drain, dry off in the pan over a gentle heat for a few mins, stirring to drive off excess moisture. Add butter and grated ginger, stir and then mash thoroughly with masher or fork. Beat well till smooth. Taste for seasoning and then serve garnished with chives if you can be bothered.

To make Orkney Clapshot which is often served with haggis... mix the above mixture with creamed tatties - beat well til smooth. This mixture can be put into a pie or gratin dish, thickly covered with grated cheddar cheese and baked in the oven or browned under the grill. Does make the house stink for a while afterwards... both from the cooking and from the after effects.. perhaps I might try the caraway seed idea

[Millymollymandy]

I think I am still confused over this whole swede/turnip thing. So Neeps in Scotland are Swedes?

My mum cooked mashed swede (yellow stuff) when I was in England and it was lovely. The Swede (labelled Rutabaga) that I bought last year in France was horrible and white fleshed and tasted like a turnip.

[Millymollymandy]

Having read back through this thread I realise I am just repeating myself, repeating myself, repeating myself....... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz