Turnip Souffle

Sometimes, before I go to sleep at night, I read cookbooks. I guess it comes with studying nutrition and dietetics.
This is one of my favorites to flip through- it is a bit too fragile to inhabit my kitchen, but resides in my bedroom.


This particular copy was given to my grandmother by her sister in 1951. Over sixty years of greasy fingerprints and splatters of cake, make this a book with sentimental value.

As I create dishes from this book, when I stumble across a recipe with notes, or take a moment to gaze at the bookmarks that litter the pages, reminders for prayer and thank-you notes from friends, I feel close to my grandmother.

Age has obscured the clarity of her mind, so the only way to really commune with her is through song. But memories of her are very much alive in this cookbook. Not just her ability to cook, but the care and love for her family that this demonstrated.

Last night I decided to do something with my turnips that were a bit past their prime.
I'm not sure if this is quite a "souffle" as the title indicates, but I'm not very familiar with souffles.

Here's the dish before it went in the oven.



And here's the recipe, as I modified it:

1 cup cooked turnips
2 tablespoons cream
1 cup bread crumbs (divided)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter

Mash turnips and add 1/2 cup crumbs, egg, cream, salt, pepper, and sugar. Mix together.
Add milk gradually.
Place in a greased baking dish (I used an 7 inch round casserole) and cover with remaining crumbs and dots of butter.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
Serve at once.
Serves 6.



This is a great way to dress up turnips that are too bitter to eat raw. Or rather, to just disguise turnips by mixing them with bread crumbs!