|
Kohl-rabi, also known as turnip cabbage, is best harvested when it is about golf ball size; this one, grown by a neighbour, is tennis ball size so, since they've got a tendency to go woody, I'm going to take a thick layer off as I peel it, even though some writers say it has more taste if it's cooked with the skin left on it. When it's young and tender you can eat it raw but this one will need cooking. The books say that you can slice, dice, shred or julienne it; boil, bake, stuff, braise, casserole or stir-fry it. The recipe with a cheese sauce appeals to me but we'll probably layer it with onions and cook it with a bit of butter and milk in an ovenproof dish. You can use the young leaves as you would any greens; this is a variety of cabbage where the nutrients are stored in the stem instead of in the leaves. You can tell that it's a stem and not a root because of the leaf-joints springing from it. Kohl-rabi means 'king of vegetables' but Benjamin Franklin thought it might make good cattle fodder. It's rich in potassium and low in calories (see link below). Related Link
After reading this you might think, like me, that it would be worth sowing
a row of them now - there's still time for them to grow. But we'll see
how we like this one first. Richard Bell, richard@willowisland.co.uk |
