food, glorious food, don't care what it-- no, actually, I care

[rushthatspeaks]

This year's farm share starts up pretty soon, and they have sent a list of the sort of thing they expect to send us.

The list includes kale, which ninety-seven separate cookbooks have now told me to blanch and then saute in bacon fat with shallots and cider vinegar, so I have that covered.

The list also includes kohlrabi, and I think cookbooks are allergic to kohlrabi, as the only cookbooks in the entire bookstore that dealt with it fell into the category of Too Vegan Cannot Cope, I mean the sort of cookbook that thinks the action of frying is morally suspect and that a great idea for a snack is to sit down and eat a whole raw beet*. And in point of fact they all insisted that one ought to eat kohlrabi raw and untouched with as little seasoning as possible, and I am not saying this is automatically wrong, but I mean I like beets and my experience with raw ones is that you need good teeth and it is rather penitential.

I now at least know enough about kohlrabi to pick it out of a lineup thanks to these cookbooks, but does anyone know what I ought to do with it when it happens? Experience appreciated.

* One of my favorite stories about Thrud's father involves her calling him up while her mother was out of town and asking what he was having for dinner.

"Well," he said, "I've just finished off the sorbet and then I thought I'd microwave this beet."

He did, too. I have never asked him whether he peeled it.

Comments

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I don't have a ton of experience with kohlrabi, but I've cooked it a few times and was pretty pleased with how it came out, so I'll share.

First time, I peeled it, cut it into julienne strips/matchsticks, and sauteed it in butter until tender (5-10-ish minutes) with salt and pepper. At the last minute I added some spicy greens (might've been watercress, might've been arugula, I don't remember) and lemon juice. Pretty good. Would've been nice with a different green or herb, too, and another seasoning (red pepper flakes, sesame oil, something like that) would not have gone amiss. Or some caramelized onion, or sauteed mushrooms, come to that.

Second time, I cut it into chunks along with carrots, parsnips and onions, added a few whole garlic cloves, tossed the mixture with olive oil, salt and pepper, and rosemary, and roasted in a 400F oven. I stirred every 10-15 minutes until done (so they'd brown evenly); the whole thing took around 45 minutes. Would work with any roast-able vegetable, I think, like potatoes or squash or something.

I have also seen recipes for thinly-sliced kohlrabi mixed raw with apple chunks, walnuts and a light, sweet-ish dressing as a salad, but have not actually tried that. I think it would also do fine in a vegetable soup.

[prosicated.livejournal.com]

I do actually eat kohlrabi raw a lot (with walnut oil, lemon juice, and whatever other yummy things I have about that play well with it, in which case think of it as jicama?), but coraa offers my most common cooking methods, too. It also makes a lovely cream-of soup, especially with chestnuts or something else kinda rich and nutty.

[fiddledragon.livejournal.com]

Kohlrabi is good raw shredded in salad, though you have to like raw broccoli relatives (it's a swollen stem, not a root). I had it in Germany quite a bit, generally well-steamed and seasoned with a little butter, lemon, and nutmeg. Cubed fine, it's delicious in soup or casseroles, and it adds an interesting flavor variation mashed into potatoes. It's good pretty much anywhere you'd use a turnip or broccoli stems.

The leaves are almost identical to collards, and so can be used anywhere you'd use collards or kale.

De-leaved, it lasts *forever* in the crisper drawer, so you should have plenty of time to weigh your options :-)

[fiddledragon.livejournal.com]

Also, very finely shredded beets (use a mandoline) and carrots with ginger and lemon juice make an amazingly bright and delicious salad. Though it's still not something I'd want to eat a whole bowlful; more in the same niche as kimchis.

[faerieboots.livejournal.com]

My friend Lori, who I think of as 'mildly hippie but certainly not vegan by any stretch of imagination,' enjoys eating kohlrabi raw. As I understand it, that really is widely considered to be the tastiest way to eat them.

However, if you want, I can get in touch with her and ask her if she knows any good recipes for kohlrabi that are easier on the incisors. ;) As she grows kohlrabi in her garden, she probably knows a great many things to do with the plant!

[breadandroses.livejournal.com]

Can't help you with the kohlrabi, but if you want to try some thing different for kale, after you blanch it, saute it in a mixture of olive oil, anchovies, red pepper flakes and garlic (cook the anchovies until they dissolve in the oil), and finish off with a splash of wine vinegar or lemon juice. This is also tasty without anchovies for vegetarians.

[larryhammer]

We've struggled with our CSA kohlrabi. The best I can offer is to peel and slice it, and include it in a stir-fry -- adding it late as you would water chestnut.

I suspect it would make a good cole slaw add-in.

---L.

[(Anonymous)]

My Chinese grandmother chops up the roots and either sautees them or dumps them in soup. They're quite mild and have a lovely firm crunch.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I love kohlrabi and unfortunately can't find it very often. Send me your surplus ;-)

I prefer to peel it generously (otherwise you can get bitter and/or woody bits), cube it, and sautee it with a bit of cream. But, really, the way forward is to just experiment - treat it like any other firm vegetable and see how you like it best.

<goes off to water mine>