Sunday, October 16, 2022

Turnip Hash?

      Turnip hash. 

      It was inevitable.  Given my assertion that turnips can be used anywhere you'd use a potato and my fondness for "breakfast hash," fried diced potatoes with crumbled bacon, scrambled eggs and often a little onion, sooner or later I was going to get around to finding out how a turnip would do in the central role.

      The brassica gives the spud a serious run for the money.  As Tam pointed out, "This doesn't need extra seasoning, because turnips have flavor!"

      Indeed they do, a mildly peppery bite that goes well with the breakfast staples.  It browns up in bacon fat about as well as a potato, with a little more cooking time.  I added a very small amount of diced carrot and celery shortly before pushing the vegetables to the side and scrambling a couple of eggs in the middle.  It also got a few dashes of a mixed-spice blend while it was cooking, and parsley with just a little salt before crumbling the bacon back in at the very end.

      It's good.  Tam says it's better than scratch-made potato hash, and she may be right.  I'd like to try it with diced ham or even Spam in place of the bacon; the flavors should work nicely.

      My non-recipe:
      I used a large turnip, almost the size of a softball, and diced it between 1/8" and 1/4".  You've got to peel large turnips carefully, as the thick skin can be bitter.  A swiveling patent peeler makes short work of it, though it takes me a couple of passes to get it all.
      Using a large skillet, I fried a half-dozen strips of bacon (with pepper) and set them aside (they stay warm on a paper-towel covered plate n the bottom of the oven).
      Save about half the grease* (adjust as needed), and add the diced turnip, spread out in one layer.  I used medium heat and flipped/stirred them every five or six minutes for fifteen minutes.  They'll go translucent once they're done, and brown a little.
      I added the carrot and celery at the last, gave it a few minutes and a good stir, then pushed it all to the sides, turned the heat to high and scrambled a couple of large eggs in the middle.  Constant stirring with a bamboo skewer or disposable chopstick is the best way to go until the eggs are well-cooked, then you can use a spatula to mix it all back together, add a little parsley or whatever appeals (garlic/onion seasoning would do well), turn the heat to low and crumble the bacon back in.  I use kitchen shears for that step, but work low, the bacon breaks as you cut it.
_________________________
* You save left-over bacon fat, of course.  It's all-around useful; one of my fonder childhood memories is having to remove road tar (how it bubbled up in the summer!) from my bare feet with bacon fat and then wash them before being allowed back inside the house, smelling faintly of yesterday's breakfasts.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Bobbie, I never ate a turnip until last year, and I'm 57. I agree that they'll fill any niche a potato will. Have you tried them steamed?
It was a natural progression for me. I turned my girlfriend onto steamed potatoes, and she went home & steamed some for mashed taters. She immediately swore that she'd never boil another potato again, and the steamer preserves turnips' flavor just as well.
--Tennessee Budd