This is from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. The recipe calls for rutabagas, turnips, and carrots. I bought what I thought were rutabagas and turnips, but what I thought were rutabagas were actually turnips and what I thought were turnips were actually parsnips. Confused? Yeah, me too. This recipe can use any root vegetables, you like, but carrots are probably a must because they give it a nice color. Don’t ask me to tell you all the root vegetables you can use – I just looked up “root vegetables” on Wikipedia and there are tons – most I had not even heard of, so just go to the store and pick a couple that look interesting.
Anyway, this turned out really good, except my bechamel sauce was too thick, so next time I will add more milk to get a thinner consistency. Madison’s recipe for Bechamel sauce was very fiddly and involved a double-boiler. I like easy, non-fiddly recipes and I don’t have a double-boiler, so I used Mario Batali’s recipe that I found on the Food Network site. I used my food processor to julienne the vegetables – my first time trying this. They came out a little small, not the long slender pieces I had envisioned, so next time I’ll try using my mandoline. Yes, I have a mandoline but no double-boiler. Really, a mandoline is useful, but what exactly do you use a double-boiler for, except making unnecessarily complicated bechamel sauce?
12 oz of rutabagas, or any root vegetable you like, peeled and julienned
salt and pepper
1 small onion, finely diced
1 T butter
12 oz of turnips, or any root vegetable you like, peeled and julienned
8 oz carrots, peeled and julienned
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 2-quart gratin dish. Prepare the bechamel sauce. If you are using rutabagas, boil them in salted water for 2 minutes and drain. Cook the onion in butter over medium heat for 8 minutes, then combine with the rest of the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to gratin dish. Pour the bechamel sauce of the top and cover with bread crumbs. Bake until bubbling and golden on top, about 45 minutes.
1 response so far ↓
J // April 11, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I love the site! I’m so glad you visited tendinners.blogspot.com, because it prompted me to come over here and check yours out! I feel like we cook very similar recipes!
I got a great tip for non-fiddly bechamel, watching Jacques Pepin on some talk show a million years ago: blended flour. This is a very finely ground flour (a common brand is Wondra, but Pillsbury makes one, and there are others)that virtually guarantees you don’t screw up your white sauce (right consistency, no lumps!). We’ve used it twice this week alone for mock risotto and fuscilli with creamy bacon and peas (sorry vegetarians!). Basically you blend a little of the flour with whatever grease you’re using in the pan you plan to cook in, pour in a bit of your milk (even skim works great!)and stir, then pour all the rest of the milk in and heat gently until thick (about 5 minutes on medium). You can use higher heat so less time is needed, you don’t have to pour the milk in gradually, and you don’t have to stir constantly! We have a few lactose intolerant friends and relatives and it even works great with Lactaid milk. It’s a miracle
Hope this helps 