Terri Ramsey Beavers There’s scarcely anything I like more in summer than fresh fruits and vegetables. I practically live at the Farmer’s Market scoping out fresh goods to cook. One of the things I really love making is rutabagas. They go with anything in my humble opinion.
Before we get started on how to peel and cook rutabagas if you don’t know what in the world rutabaga is (don’t feel bad, many people don’t) click on the following link to learn more about rutabagas.
I have to confess, I had a family member that came to visit over the weekend, who had no idea what a rutabaga is. I asked her to bag me a couple when we were in Walmart and she looked at me like I’ was speaking in a foreign language.
Rutabagas used to intimidate me. I always cut myself trying to peel and dice them. But I kept cooking them regardless. These days, I have an easier way to get to the goods inside this delicious root vegetable. It requires a few things; a cutting board, a big knife, and a hammer.
I have to insert a shout-out to Talesha. My adorably cute and personalized hammer was made by my BFF with her cutting machine. It’s special and even though I thought I’d not use it much, I actually use it to death. It’s going to come in handy for my camping and glamping trips this fall. Be watching for how-to camping and glamping posts in the fall. In the meantime, I have a lot of helpful camping and glamping posts to tide you over for now.
Now back to my rutabagas… *drools*
After you get out your rutabagas, a cutting board, a big knife, and a hammer, please note that if you plan to dice them on the floor, throw a trash bag or something clean under your cutting board.
Place your knife where you want to cut the rutabaga and leave enough of the knife on each side of it because that’s where your hammer comes into play. Hammer, the knife on each side of rutabaga until it’s managed to go all the way thru the rutabaga. It’s a lot easier than it sounds if you have a really sharp knife. I use perforated knives for this step but it’s not necessary. A butcher knife would do just as well. I start by cutting the rutabagas in half. Then in half again. Then in half again and I keep repeating the process until they’re of a size that I can easily manage them to peel them.
It’s time to peel. I wash mine first and check through to make sure there aren’t any bad spots on them. After I get them to the size I want to peel them, I use a very sharp paring knife to peel them with. Make sure you can easily hold them in your hand. If they’re too big, you’re going to cut yourself. If they’re not big enough, you’re going to cut yourself. The sizes below work well for me. Don’t peel close to the surface or you’ll get a waxy-tasting vegetable.
After I get my rutabagas cut, diced, peeled, and ready to cook, I wash them again. I’m a clean freak especially when it comes to food.
Now for the fun part, let’s cook these delicious morsels.
After washing your rutabagas, cover with water in a saucepan.
You can use any type of seasoning you usually use for your vegetable but this time I had a new pack of bacon so I decided to use it. For two rutabagas, I used half of a pack of bacon. I cut it into small squares and they tasted I add about 1 tablespoon of salt and a few dashes of pepper. I am a pepper fan. It’s absolutely amazing.
