# Turnips?



## Catseye (Jan 4, 2005)

Here's the Dumb Question of the Day.  I bought a pound of this vegetable.  When I got it home, I realized it had been so many years -- literally decades -- since I cooked with turnips or parsnips, that I can't remember which one is which.    

These things are small and round, shaped sorta like a top.  They're whitish, with pale purple shoulders.  What the heck are they???

Thank you very much.


Cats, suffering brain-drain


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## robbdj (Jan 4, 2005)

Parsnips are shaped alot like a carrot.  Turnips are more, bulbous, like a large beet but diffrent texture and colour.  They usally have some purplness to them, but there are lots of diffrent varieties


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## Yakuta (Jan 4, 2005)

They are turnips.  Parsnips are shaped like a carrot they are blonde or pale white in color.  

Turnips are shaped like a top (sometimes can be much larger) and are white with a purplish color.


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## jennyema (Jan 5, 2005)

That's a turnip.  If it's yellow and purple, it's a rutabega.


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## Ishbel (Jan 6, 2005)

And just to further add to the confusion - what is called a rutabaga in US is termed a 'Swede' or Swedish turnip here in most areas of the UK, aka a 'turnip' in Scotland!  The smaller, whiter, flushed purple/lavender ones are known as French turnips and are wonderful just topped and tailed, scrubbes and roasted in the oven in a little olive oil!


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## Claire (Jan 9, 2005)

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  I too never cook with any of these and confuse the terminology.  And I have no idea why I don't use them.  Anyone have any interesting recipes?  The only place I've eaten them is in New England Boiled Dinner my Aunt makes, and they seemed fine, so don't know why I don't fix them more often.  Anyone know about the nutritional values or anything?


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## Catseye (Jan 9, 2005)

Claire said:
			
		

> Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  I too never cook with any of these and confuse the terminology.  And I have no idea why I don't use them.  Anyone have any interesting recipes?  The only place I've eaten them is in New England Boiled Dinner my Aunt makes, and they seemed fine, so don't know why I don't fix them more often.  Anyone know about the nutritional values or anything?




I don't, yet.  Thanks to the nice people on this thread I figured out what I'd brought home (turnips), and I'm halfway through the prep of a dish that involves butter-sugar glazing a mixture of carrots and turnips, cut to the same size and shape.  They're cut and living in a tub of water in the fridge until I can get to them.  The recipe is from my new treasure, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, snagged at bookcloseouts.com and marked down from $40 to $14, tra-la!


Cats


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## kansasgirl (Jan 9, 2005)

Here are two great recipes.

Turnip Casserole 
1 1/2 lb Turnips, peeled and thinly sliced (can also use rutabegas) 
2 tb Butter 
1 Onion, thinly sliced 
2/3 c Celery, chopped 
2 tb Flour 
1 c Milk 
1/2 c Grated sharp cheese (cheddar, swiss, gruyere, etc) 
Salt and pepper to taste 
3 tb Bread crumbs 

1.Cook turnips in boiling, salted water to cover until just tender. Drain. 
2.Saute the onion and celery in butter until tender. Sprinkle with flour and cook 1 minute. Add milk and stir until thickened. 
3.Stir in cheese, salt and pepper. Combine cheese sauce with turnips, place in baking dish and top with crumbs. Brown under broiler until golden. 

Turnip and Apple Bake 
1 Turnip or rutabega 
1 tb Butter 
Salt and pepper to taste 
2 c Thinly sliced apples 
2 tb Brown sugar 
1/4 ts Cinnamon 
1/4 ts Nutmeg, fresh grated 
1/2 c Dry bread crumbs 
2 tb Brown sugar 
2 tb Butter, melted 

Preheat oven to 350F 
1.Cook turnip in salted boiling water; when tender mash with butter, salt and pepper. 
2.Mix the apple slices with brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
3.In greased casserole layer turnip and apples, beginning and ending with a turnip layer. 
4.Mix bread crumbs with melted butter and brown sugar; sprinkle over turnip layer. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Allow to stand for several minutes before serving.


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