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Rutabaga
Rutabagas, like parsnips and turnips, are in need of a go-getting PR agent.
A search on www.foodnetwork.com garners 26 recipes that include rutabaga; a similar search for strawberries snags 412. By gosh, even liver 138 recipes has excited the TV chefs more.
It's time for a root awakening.
Rutabagas are sometimes mislabeled "yellow turnips," writes Jack Bishop in Vegetables Every Day (HarperCollins, 2001; $30). Though they are both round and slightly bumpy with a purple tinge, they are not the same vegetable though it is believed the rutabaga is the offspring of turnip and cabbage. Rutabagas have the peppery taste of turnips but sweeten when cooked.
Rutabagas are almost always huge; usually 1 pound or more. Growers cover them in wax, much like cucumbers, to help retain moisture. Because the tough outer coating must be peeled anyway, the wax doesn't much affect the taste. The earthy exterior belies the lovely yellow-orange flesh within.
The garden giants are best when boiled, braised or roasted. Because the flesh is starchy like potatoes, rutabagas take well to mashing. We like them cut in chunks and roasted with beets, onions, peppers, or other hearty vegetables. Coat the veggies with olive oil and season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. An hour in a 400-degree oven intensifies the flavors.
Constant comment
"Leave your drugs in the chemists' pots if you can heal your patient with food." - Hippocrates, the father of medicine
Cooking class
To facilitate peeling peaches, first place the fruit in a pan of boiling water for about 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peaches to a large bowl of ice water until cool enough to handle. The skin should slip right off.
What is that?
Superfine sugar is granulated sugar that has been finely ground to quicken its dissolving properties. It's used in uncooked or quickly cooked dishes and beverages, such as lemonade, meringues and souffles. Buy it in 1-pound boxes manufactured by familiar companies such as Domino or make your own by grinding granulated sugar in a food processor.
Talk about a buzz
On an episode of CSI, a criminal was caught because he drank "the world's most expensive coffee" which is first passed through the digestive tract of an animal. Fiction or fact? Vietnam's civet cat coffee, or caphe cut chon, is real, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee and costs about $300 a pound. This cult food promoter's dream reportedly tastes rich and earthy (no wonder). It is the result of wild foxlike civet cats (related to the mongoose) feasting on ripe robusta coffee berries. The hardiest beans survive the trip through the animal's digestive tract.
A fading sip
Sake has fallen on hard times in Japan. The number of breweries there is down 50 percent since 1955 and consumption has fallen 30 percent from 1989 to 2001, reports the New York Times. One brewer blames cheap, strong-tasting versions marketed to young adults. It doesn't help, either, that police use pictures of sake bottles with X's marked on them in their anti-drunken-driving campaigns. The good news is that exports could save the industry. Sake drinking - like sushi bars - is on the upswing in the United States.
Thin and thick
Following the trend of American waistlines, skinny Corelle dinnerware is getting thicker. Corelle Luxe, which comes in 13 patterns, is more like Stoneware than the paper-thin original Corelle. With pattern names like Alpine Glade, Autumn in Hanover and Rusticana, you'll certainly feel internationale eating off these dishes. The Luxe line sells for $59.99 to $129.99 for service for four. Find Corelle products at Kmart and some Winn-Dixie stores. For more information, click on www.corelle.com