Cook Turnips
An excellent way to cook turnips is to cut half a dozen of them into thin slices and boil twenty-one minutes. Remove them from the water and, after draining, place in a baking dish and pour over them a half pint of clear soup stock, heated and seasoned with salt, cayenne and sugar. Bake until tender and baste from time to time with the stock. If the turnips are old, it will be necessary to leave them in the oven from half hour to an hour. Serve on a hot platter with the pan gravy, to which have been added butter and flour to thicken.
A straightforward braise: parboil, then finish in stock in the oven. The only real judgement call is how old the turnips are.
- Oven temperatureNo temperature is given. Something around a moderate 350F will do; the turnips are already partly cooked and only need to soften and absorb the stock.
- Half a pint of stockOne cup. It will not cover the slices, which is the point — hence the basting. Use a shallow dish so the liquid pools rather than spreading thin and scorching.
- Twenty-one minutes is too longTwenty-one minutes -- Long for young or small turnips, which want more like 5-10 minutes, only until a knife meets slight resistance, or they will collapse in the oven. The recipe keeps the boiling time fixed and adjusts only the time in the oven.
- Which turnipA recipe of this kind most likely means white purple-top turnips rather than rutabaga. Rutabaga works but is sweeter and denser, and wants the longer end of the baking time.
- Thickening the gravyThe simplest way to do this is what is now called a beurre manie: knead equal parts soft butter and flour, drop it into the simmering pan liquid in small pieces, and whisk until it thickens. A tablespoon of each is enough for a cup of stock.
- YieldSix turnips serves four to six as a side dish.