I finally got round to it. For dinner we had the much awaited turnip soup and it was good!
The turnips were a little bit larger than I would have liked, but I can only really blame myself. If I had got onto it sooner the turnips would have been the ideal halfway between and golf ball and tennis ball size. These ones were closer to bowling ball size than golf ball but they were still edible so nothing was really lost.
To avoid further turnip expansion I decided to harvest the lot or I would feel guilty about not using them all over again. The up side was I made a lot of soup.
Now I’m not one for following instructions and I didn’t have a particular recipe in mind, so I typed turnip soup into Google and clicked on several links, quickly gleaned the general gist of them and shut the computer and went into the kitchen and started to cook.
To start with I fried up loads of yummy bacon from our half a pig with chopped onion, crushed garlic and finely chopped rosemary. The smell throughout the house was incredible. As the flavours all caramelised I added a large glug of white wine to deglaze the pan. I’m not a great chef – I just pick up all the right words from watching celebrity chefs doing their thing on the telly.
Then I peeled and chopped all the turnip and some potatoes and added the turnips to the pot, where by now the wine had reduced and any alcohol cooked off. I stirred them around for a bit so the turnips would pick up the lovely flavour. At this stage it would have been good to add stock, but I didn’t have any. I chucked in the spuds and topped up the pot with water so all the chunks of turnip and potato were covered and brought it to the boil, then I put the lid on and left it to simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.
Once the spuds and turnips were soft, I fired the whole lot through my food processor and came out with something that seemed a little bit like porridge in texture, consistency and colour. I should have added more water to thin it down, but then my tribe were starving so I served it up as is with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of rosemary to make it look pretty.
Hubby the Un-Gardener bought into the whole turnip soup concept and made a lovely loaf of bread to go with it and the general consensus was it was delicious and soup bowls were emptied pretty quickly. The Joeyosaurus and Hubby the Un-Gardener went back for seconds.
It was a cold night and a bowl of steaming turnip soup was just the ticket! Yummo!
Come again soon – it may be cold, but it’s not raining.
Sarah the Gardener : o )
You had me at bacon.
Sounds like the soup was worth the wait.
Hi there. Anything goes with bacon ! – Especially homegrown bacon. It was definitely worth the wait.
Cheers sarah : o )
Mmmm. I have been craving turnip soup something fierce.
Hi there. It was really good. Hit the spot on a chilly night.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Yeah, you’ve got me thinking soup, and it’s summer here!
Hi There. There is nothing like a hot bowl of soup when it’s cold outside. I tried some of the chilled soups in the summer but it just didn’t feel right.
I hope I haven’t made you long for a cold winters night?!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Yay, number one completed! So what’s at number 4? Your soup looks yummy but I think I may wait a couple of months to try it, as warming soup is not required over here right now 😉
HI Elaine. Number 4 needs me to go and buy more compost to enrich my garlic and onion bed, but my onion seedlings are still really little so I’m torn as to whether to stick to the list or skip a task – number 5 is to sort out the raspberries – but they always scratch me!
So maybe it’s the onion bed after all.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Okay, I just typed a comment and hit ‘post comment’ and it’s disappeared and so I’m going to try posting it again and i apologise in advance, Sarah, if it appears twice.
Yay! Number one completed. So what’s at number 4? Your soup looks yummy but I think I may wait a few more months before trying it, as warming soup is not required over here right now 😉
Hi Elaine – I fixed the problem my end so it’s all good. now.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Thanks Sarah, much appreciated 🙂
Mmm…that looks and sounds like such a comforting, warm meal! My turnips NEVER get that big, and it’s not for a lack of trying. I must plant midget turnips. 😀
Hi Jenn. These were the Japanese ‘Hakurei’ variety and they were very tasty.
In a gourmet shop midget turnips and midget any veggie are all the rage and they charge extortionate prices for them. You have trendy gourmet turnips and are the envy of fancy food lovers everywhere!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Not raining…yet! ;). Love that soupy goodness. It IS good when kids will scoff down a bowl of something as dubious as turnips and you have done your job well young padawan to get them to eat it even though it is suspiciously white and obviously thick and unctuous…either that or they truly were starving 😉
Hi Fran. I was actually quite surprised that the kids liked the soup. I guess they haven’t grown up with negative connotations around certain foods. They get all excited when I suggest lentil burgers for dinner! Either that or I have strange kids!
Cheers Sarah : o )