Issue #162: Pan-Roasted Turnips (or Other Vegetables)
Hot Days, Cool Kitchen, A Versatile Vegetable Stove-Top Technique
Happy July 4th to all who celebrate! I hope you have something fun and delicious planned. And a belated Happy Canada Day for my subscribers to the north.
Meanwhile, the vegetables keep coming—in our CSA, at farmstands, in the farmers market, from the garden. It’s an exciting time of year for a cook. But as the days get hotter, the thought of turning on the oven to roast anything gets less and less appealing. That’s why I like to use this stove-top method to pan-roast vegetables that I learned by watching my friend/chef Laurent Gras cook at our house.
Pan-roasting uses some fat, some steam, and the convection heat generated in a heavy, covered Dutch oven to create a kind of oven on your stove. You might call it the original air fryer. I’m providing the details of what I did this week to create the delicious maple-glazed turnips depicted below, but the technique is the same for just about any vegetable.
First, you prepare the vegetable, which should be cut to an even size, not much larger than a large radish or a small potato. (In fact, radishes and potatoes are excellent prepared this way.) It helps for browning if there are some edges and flat surfaces, so I usually cut round things like turnips or potatoes in half or quarters and I roll cut carrots. For proper browning it’s also important you don’t crowd the pan. Heat some fat in the bottom of heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable and a pinch of salt, some garlic, if desired, cover and roast, stirring often. Add a splash of white wine or other liquid and cover to steam. Then remove the lid to let the liquid evaporate. Add a pat of butter and a touch of maple syrup or other sweetener and cook, tossing, until the vegetables develop and nice glaze.
Among the vegetables that benefit from this technique are turnips, especially Japanese (Hakurei), radishes, carrots, cauliflower, kohlrabi, potatoes, celery root, Brussels sprouts, winter squash, and I’m sure there are more. You don’t want to do this with anything that is too wet, such as zucchini or yellow squash, which will stew in all the liquid thrown off rather than roast. The only variable is the length of time to cook covered, which depends on the tenderness of whatever it is you are using. Celery root and potatoes take the longest. Radishes are done relatively quickly.
A nice thing about pan-roasting like this is that because no extra water is added, the flavor of the vegetables concentrates as they cook. You can have multiple pots going at once or do a vegetable medley in one. If combining different vegetables, just be sure to add them to the pan in reverse order of how long they take to cook, longest first, so that you don’t turn anything to mush.
TECHNIQUE: Pan-Roasted Japanese Turnips (or Other Vegetables)
Makes as many as you’d like, but don’t crowd the pan
2 bunches Japanese (Hakurei) turnips or other vegetable
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, clarified butter (ghee), or canola oil
1 large clove garlic, peeled and split in half (optional)
Sea salt
3 tablespoons white wine, vegetable stock, or water
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons maple syrup, honey, or sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
To prepare the turnips, remove the green tops, leaving about ½ inch of the stem attached to the root. (Save the tops for another use, such as these long-cooked greens, Issue #161) Using a small paring knife, scrape off any brown spots from the turnips, especially around the stem area. Rinse well under cold water to remove any sand from between the stem ends. Trim the tail so it’s flush with the bulb of the root. Place in cold water to soak while you continue preparing the others. When done, drain the turnips. You can prep the turnips to this point several days in advance and keep them refrigerated until ready to use. Before cooking, cut any larger turnips in half or quarters so they are roughly the same size. Leave little ones whole.
Heat a relatively large Dutch oven, such as a Le Creuset or Lodge, over medium high heat. You want some room for the vegetables to move around and for the hot air to build up around them. Add the oil, the prepared turnips, and a pinch of salt. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the turnips just begin to soften and brown ever so slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic if using, and toss. Cover and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the turnips brown a little more, about 5 minutes. Add the white wine or other liquid, cover, and continue cooking until the turnips soften and brown more, another 3 or 4 minutes or so. Remove the lid and keep cooking until all the liquid has evaporated. Add the butter and maple syrup and continue cooking, tossing, until the turnips are nicely glazed. Remove from the heat, add a grind or two of black pepper, and serve.
I can do that! But will you make me the dish at the bottom! Looks delish!