Salsify - Anyone have a good casserole recipe?

[FarmerJamie]

I am a sucker for my wife's "can you grow that in the garden" for the unique vintage vegetable-of-the-year request. This year's request was salsify. I'm learning to curb my enthusiasm, so I only planted a dozen or so seeds. It's now ready to harvest.

I've looked on the new BYC Recipe page, a Vintage Recipes site, and can't find any recipes that sound good for fresh salsify.

Maybe just through it in a baking dish with some cauliflower?

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.....

thanks!

 

[redhen]

What the heck is Salsify?

 

[FarmerJamie]

Its a turnip-like root vegetable that supposedly tastes mildly like oyster. She and my mom had it somewhere years ago and liked it.

I just grow the the stuff. (well, I do can too, but I only stick with what I know).

 

[shortstaque]

You could just leave it in the garden, it gets beautiful flowers next year, but they only bloom until midday. Following the blooming period they get these beautiful, large, golden seed puffs. Be forewarned, if you let them self-seed, it will try to take over the garden.

Ok, back to your question. Salsify is very popular in Germany, where it is called Schwarzwurzeln, or black roots. It gets its name because it turns black almost instantly when you prepare it. To prevent this, prepare a cold water bath with lemon juice or vinegar added. Use a stainless steel blade to trim and cut the root into slices, and place immediately in the prepared bath. Drain immediately before using. Heat a pot of water, add a bit of salt and the sliced salsify and simmer (like cooking potatoes). From here you have some choices as to how to use it. According to my German cook book, "this delicately flavored root vegetable is extremely popular throughout Germany, and is prepared with melted butter and breadcrumbs, au gratin, fried or creamed. It is also mixed with other vegetables and added to soups and stews."

Salsify au Gratin. (überbackene Schwarzwurzeln)

Cover your steamed and drained roots with cheese sauce or bechemel (white sauce) in a casserole dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese, dot with butter and bake in upper third of oven preheated to 475 for about 10 minutes until golden and bubbly. What's not to like about that?

 

[FarmerJamie]

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The entire crop will be harvested soon. I do not want a repeat of the sunchoke experiment that took 5 years to eradicate from the garden.

Thank you so much! This sounds close to the dish she described. If I remember, I'll post afterwards on how it went.

If anyone else has a recipe, please post it. I have plenty to cook up.

 

[redhen]

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Sounds interesting!!

 

[shortstaque]

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Sunchokes are great, if you don't plant them in the garden. Need a living fence plant sunchokes. Mow it down on either side where it tries to expand. Here in Eastern PA we didn't have much in the way of rain this summer. My sunchokes shriveled to nothing. The lack of rain helped me irradicate them from one of my beds.

 

[FarmerJamie]

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Any recommendations on the cheese to use?

 

[shortstaque]

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Gruyere or any other cheese that melts nicely is great for the sauce.

 

[FarmerJamie]

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Gruyere or any other cheese that melts nicely is great for the sauce.

Checked it out at the store tonight, $22/lb for Gryere cheese? Do you think Velveeta will work as well?