Thanks to John Irving (my favorite author) for the title of today’s post. Thanks to John and Brittany Denis at Sunset Harvest Farm for growing turnips! The small ones we have been getting have really been delicious and a revelation to me.
I haven’t used turnips since one Thanksgiving about 12 years ago when we decided to have a mixed pile of roasted root vegetables as a side dish. All we could get was a couple large, hard turnips, and I don’t think we knew so much what we were doing when we roasted them with some parsnips, carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Texturally, they were not the greatest and add to that I came down with a nasty flu the next day, and turnips went completely off my radar!
Until now…because of my anti-inflammatory meal plan, we decided to get into a CSA plan (community supported agriculture). Every week, we have been getting some amazingly fresh vegetables from Sunset Harvest Farm
Since that time 12 years ago, I have read more cookbooks, looked up more recipes online, and learned many other cooking techniques. So when dill was given to us for a couple weeks in a row, and I had organic cucumbers, carrots, and turnips on hand, I started dabbling in quick pickles and as quick as they jar up, I became obsessed with flavors! You can pickle most anything that is a firm vegetable or fruit (yep…fruit. I recently saw a recipe for pickled pineapple and I’m looking forward to trying that soon). You don’t always need dill, but it helps–especially when you pickle with cucumbers.
All you need to do is make a brine, which is your choice of vinegars (lighter ones are better in my experience so far–think white, apple cider, rice wine vinegar), water, sugar (if you’re into sweet/sour) ,and kosher or sea salt. Then, add spices, pour over whatever you are pickling, and refrigerate for 24 hours to get the pickle party started, and keep for up to 3 months (some loss of crunch may occur).
My favorite non-cucumber pickles so far have been these Spicy-Sweet and Sour Pickled Turnips
