Scottish food has the best names! Neeps (turnips), tatties (potatoes), clapshot (mashed neeps and tatties with chives), skirlie (suet-fried oats and onions)... the list goes on.

I was initially going to make some clapshot to go with the haggis, skirlie, and whiskey sauce for Reiver's birthday. But it ended up working out better to do a pot of plain mashed potatoes and then have the other veggies separate. At which point I figured it might be fun to just do up a few extra tatties, grab some cabbage, and turn it into rumbledethumps. (I mean, it's worth making for the name alone!)

Rumbledethumps

From BBC.co.uk

Ingredients

• 600g potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
• 400g turnips, peeled and cut into large pieces
• 75g butter, divided
• 250g cabbage (preferably savoy), sliced thin
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 25-50g cheddar cheese, grated

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a 23cm (9") square baking dish or other large casserole dish.
2. Place the potatoes and turnips in a pot with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil.
3. Cook until tender, then drain and return to the pot.
4. Meanwhile, melt 50g of the butter over medium heat.
5. Add the cabbage to the butter and cook until tender.
6. Add the cabbage and the remaining 25g of butter to the pot with the tubers and mash.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
8. Transfer the mash to the prepared baking dish and top with cheese.
9. Bake at 180°C (350°F), covered, for 30 minutes.
10. Uncover and continue baking for another 15 minutes.

Braised Turnips with Mushrooms and Peas

I dropped the ball last week and forgot to tweak our produce basket. Which means that we ended up with a surprise assortment of fruits and vegetables. One of which was a bag of turnips. TF and I don't really eat a lot of turnips. I've never particularly cared for them. That said, I wasn't about to let them go to waste once we had them. So that meant scrambling to redo this week's meal plan to work in all the random extra veggies we got.

It turns out that the Vegetable of the Day cookbook doesn't have much use for turnips either. They just don't appear in that many recipes. So when I came across this braised turnip dish, I jumped on it.

Sadly, I wasn't that impressed with how this came out. It was edible, but that's about the best I can say for it. The braising didn't really do great things for the turnip. And the mushrooms and peas weren't really harmonious with it either. It just seemed like a bunch of disparate elements that were all fighting with each other. Not a great success.

Maybe one day I will find a really great turnip recipe, but this definitely wasn't it.

Braised Turnips with Mushroms and Peas

From Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 225g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 450g turnips, peeled and cut into wedges ~1cm thick
• 2/3 c. chicken or vegetable stock, divided
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Heat a pan over medium heat.
2. Add the mushrooms, cover, and cook until they release some liquid.
3. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
5. Melt butter over medium heat.
6. Add the turnips and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
7. Add 1/3 c. of the stock and cook until mostly evaporated (3-4 minutes).
8. Flip the turnip pieces, add the remaining 1/3 c. of stock, and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
9. Add the peas, return mushrooms to pan, and cook for a minute or two longer.
10. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Couscous with Seven Vegetables

Wolfert gives a lot of variations for this seven-vegetable couscous. The "default" is the Fes version, but she also offers a Marrakech rendition as well as "mountain-style" and "with lamb's head". I haven't had a chance to try the mountain-style couscous with seven vegetables yet and I'm not planning on making the lamb's head version¹ at all, but I've now tried the other two, so I figured it was time for a write-up!

I am not completely confident that I managed to do the Marrakech version as I was supposed to. The Fes version involves separately cooking pumpkin with raisins and then adding them to the couscous afterward. Since I wasn't using pumpkin in the Marrakech version, I omitted the raisins as well, but I now wonder if I should have included them. (The couscous was still delicious either way. I'm just not sure if what I made was what the author intended.)

It's been a while since I made the Fes version, so I'm mostly going to be transcribing the recipe out of the book for that one without much in the way of additional notes or personal commentary. The Marrakech version is fresh in my mind though, so that one should be a little more fleshed out. As for the mountain-style and lamb's head variants, those I can't offer any insights on at all. But I'll include them anyway in case there is any interest. I can always come back and update this post if and when I get around to making the mountain-style recipe.

Couscous with Seven Vegetables in the Fes Manner

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried chickpeas
• 2-3 cracked lamb shanks
• 4 chicken wings + 2 backs
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. saffron water²
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 (7-8cm) cinnamon sticks (preferably cassia)
• small bundle of cilantro & parsley, tied together
• 4-5 very ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 3.5L water
• 200g carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm sticks
• 200g turnips, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
• 450g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 450g instant couscous³
• 200g pumpkin, peeled and seeded and cut into chunks
• ~1/4 c. dark raisins
• 200g zucchini, trimmed and quartered
• 1 small cabbage, halved
• 1 Tbsp. ghee (optional)
• red pepper sauce (or harissa and extra broth)

Directions

1. Place the chickpeas in a bowl and add enough water to cover them by several cm. Soak overnight.
2. The next day, drain the chickpeas. Peel if desired⁴.
3. Place the drained chickpeas in a pot and add enough water to cover them by several cm. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
4. Place the lamb, chicken, salt, pepper, saffron water, turmeric, onions, cinnamon sticks, herbs, tomatoes, and half the butter in a very large pot and cook, covered, over low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Add the water⁵ and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat and cook, partially covered, for 3 hours. Remove the chicken wings and backs after ~90 minutes of cooking.
7. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
8. Skim and discard fat from the surface of the broth.
9. Cut the meat into chunks. Discard any fat, gristle, or bones. Return the meat to the broth.
10. Bring broth to a boil and add the carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas. Cook for 30 minutes.
11. Prepare the couscous through to the end of the second steaming (third steaming if using hand-rolled/non-instant couscous).⁶
12. Soak the raisins in water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
13. Label a bit of the lamb broth into a separate pan and add the pumpkin and raisins to it. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook until the pumpkin is tender. Drain and set aside.
14. Steam the couscous once more (just 10 minutes this time).
15. Add the zucchini and cabbage to the broth and bring back to a boil. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
16. Strain the broth, reserving the meat and vegetables.
17. Correct the seasoning of the strained broth and return to a boil. Cook down to a volume of ~8 cups.
18. Dump the couscous into a serving platter and toss with the remaining 4 Tbsp. of butter.
19. Toss with the ghee (if using).
20. Use a fork and/or a whisk to break up any clumps and ensure the grains are all light and separate.
21. Gradually add up to 1 1/3 c. of the lamb broth to the couscous. (Hand-rolled couscous may be able to take up to 1 2/3 c. of broth.) You may find that you do not need all the broth.
22. Toss the grains again, making sure to break up any lumps. Let stand for 10 minutes.
23. Make a well in the centre of the couscous.
24. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat and vegetables to the well.
25. Add the drained raisins and pumpkin on top.
26. Serve with red pepper sauce and any remaining broth.

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Variations

Couscous with Seven Vegetables in the Marrakech Manner

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split fava beans⁷
• 2-3 cracked lamb shanks⁸
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. saffron water
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 (7-8cm) cinnamon sticks (preferably cassia)
• small bundle of cilantro & parsley, tied together
• 4-5 very ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 3.5L water
• 200g carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm sticks
• 450g sweet potatoes⁹, peeled and cut into chunks
• 450g instant couscous
• 1/4 c. raisins (optional)
• 2 bell peppers, cored and sliced
• 200g zucchini, trimmed and quartered
• 1 Tbsp. ghee (optional)
• red pepper sauce (or harissa and extra broth)

You may also optionally include pumpkin, turnips, hot peppers, and/or cabbage.

Mountain-Style Couscous with Meat Confit and Seven Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried chickpeas
• 450g lamb neck
• 450g shredded "express" meat confit
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. saffron water²
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 (7-8cm) cinnamon sticks (preferably cassia)
• small bundle of cilantro & parsley, tied together
• 4-5 very ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter + 4 Tbsp. meat confit drippings, divided
• 3.5L water
• 200g carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm sticks
• 200g turnips, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
• 450g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 450g instant couscous³
• 200g pumpkin, peeled and seeded and cut into chunks
• ~1/4 c. dark raisins
• 200g zucchini, trimmed and quartered
• 1 small cabbage, halved
• 1 Tbsp. ghee (optional)
• red pepper sauce (or harissa and extra broth)

Couscous with Lamb's Head and Seven Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried chickpeas
• 2 lambs' heads
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. saffron water²
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 (7-8cm) cinnamon sticks (preferably cassia)
• small bundle of cilantro & parsley, tied together
• 4-5 very ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 3.5L water
• 200g carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm sticks
• 200g turnips, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
• 450g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 450g instant couscous³
• 200g pumpkin, peeled and seeded and cut into chunks
• ~1/4 c. dark raisins
• 200g zucchini, trimmed and quartered
• 1 small cabbage, halved
• 1 Tbsp. ghee (optional)
• red pepper sauce (or harissa and extra broth)

The lambs' heads will need to be soaked in water, halved, cleaned, and tied together before cooking. Wolfert does not specify how long they need to be soaked for or how to cut or clean them. Perhaps this is something that is normally done by the butcher?
Once the heads have been sorted out, you may proceed with the recipe as outlined above.

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¹ I'm not put off by the lamb's head itself, but I worry about prions... I'd honestly really love to try brains at some point, but I don't think I ever will because it's just not worth the risk. ^Back
2 I don't use saffron water in large enough quantities often enough for it to be worth it for me to keep it on hand in the fridge. I usually just mix it up as I need it. In this case I crushed a scant 1/8 tsp. of saffron threads and poured over 2 Tbsp. of boiling water. ^Back
3 The original recipe was for 680g of couscous, but I got mixed up and only did 450g. That said, I don't think I would've been able to handle more than ~500g in one go anyway, so it was just as well. Even with just 450g, this produced A LOT of couscous. I'd advise against making more than that in one go unless you a) have a very large steamer/couscousiere, b) have a very large platter and c) have a huge number of people to feed! Seriously, we fed 7 people out of this, sent leftovers to two different households, and still have a huge container of couscous sitting in the fridge the next day. Proceed with caution! ^Back
4 I never bother peeling my chickpeas. I don't mind the skins and I find peeling them annoying (despite Wolfert's clever tips). ^Back
5 I could only fit 3L of water into my pot. Given the reduced amount of liquid, I opted to cook my broth fully covered rather than partially covered. This seems to have worked out fine. ^Back
6 Wolfert notes that the dish can be prepared in advance up to this point. Warm everything back up 30-60 minutes before serving and continue with the recipe as directed. ^Back
7 The instructions for this variation said to omit the chickpeas and chicken, but to optionally include fava beans. It was unclear whether fresh or dried fava beans were intended. Looking at the recipe again, I think it was probably meant to be made with fresh fava beans, but I made it with dried, so that's what I've written instructions for here. That said, feel free to leave out the fava beans entirely and substitute some other vegetable instead. ^Back
8 Although the recipe calls for lamb shanks, we were already having a lot of lamb for dinner and we have a lot of beef in the freezer right now, so I opted to use two beef shank steaks in place of the lamb shanks to make the broth. ^Back
9 I was intending to use sweet potatoes for my couscous, but I was unsure of the quality of my remaining sweet potatoes and I had some lovely fresh potatoes out of my parents' garden, so I just used those instead. Different flavour, for sure, but still very nice. ^Back

Rajmah Shalgum (Turnips and Kidney Beans)

I really like this curry. The tomato and spices give it a deeply satisfying savouriness. I served it up along side a few other curries, but it's hearty enough to stand on its own if you only want to worry about making a single dish for dinner. All that being said, I do question the cooking instructions. Iyer instructs to cut the turnips into 1" cubes and cook them for only 15-20 minutes. He claims that they should be "fork tender" by this point. My turnips were still rock hard. Even after an extra half hour of cooking, they still were more "al dente" than tender.

I ended up making another curry involving turnips shortly after this one. In that one he also advises cutting the turnips into 1" cubes and simmering for 15-20 minutes. Although, that recipe also calls for a few minutes of stir-frying before the simmering. After my experience with this recipe, I opted to cut the turnips for the next recipe into 1cm cubes rather than 1". Even with the smaller size and the stir-frying, 20 minutes did not seem like enough to get the turnips sufficiently tender. I think, in the future, I'd keep the smaller cube size but also plan to simmer them for at least half an hour. I don't know, maybe I was using a different kind of turnip than Iyer. But my turnips certainly weren't cooking fully in the times he was recommending!

Rajmah Shalgum

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 4 black cardamom pods
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 2 tsp. fennel seeds, ground
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1/2-1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies¹
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 4 c. water, divided
• 3 c. cooked kidney beans²
• 4 small turnips, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 6 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, divided

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion, ginger paste, garlic paste, and cardamom pods and stir-fry for 15 minutes.
3. Add the tomato paste, fennel, cumin, coriander, chilies, and turmeric and stir to combine.
4. Add 1 c. of the water and deglaze the pan.
5. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
6. Add another 1 c. of water and simmer, covered, for a further 8 minutes.
7. Add the remaining 2 c. of water along with the kidney beans, turnips, salt, and 1/4 c. of the cilantro.
8. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer vigorously, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~30 minutes.
9. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 Tbsp. of cilantro and serve.

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¹ Or substitute 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne + 3/4 tsp. sweet paprika ^Back
2 Use tinned beans if you're in a hurry or get a few dried beans cooking in advance. If you're cooking your beans on the stovetop, it's best to give them an overnight soak first. If you're using a pressure cooker, you can get away without the soaking: Place 1 c. of dried beans in a pressure cooker/InstantPot along with 3 1/2 c. of water, stock, or a mix thereof and cook (on high pressure) for 40 minutes with a 15-minute natural release. Release any remaining pressure, drain, and your beans are ready to go! ^Back

Shalgam Gosht (Lamb with Turnip)

I don't buy lamb often because it's so expensive, but I do like to get a little bit every once in a while. Especially since we've made so few of the lamb recipes we have in our various cookbooks. Sometimes you can get away with substituting beef for the lamb, but a lot of the time the dish really does need the lamb unless you want to completely rewrite it to rebalance the flavours.

I've recently started shopping at a nice halal grocery store downtown and they have a nice selection of Ontario lamb and goat available, so I figured I'd treat myself to a little bit and try out a new recipe.

Shalgam Gosht

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp. mustard oil, divided
• 450g turnips, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 slices ginger (~5cm by 3cm by 3mm), chopped
• 1 c. water
• 600g boneless leg of lamb, cut into 2cm cubes
• 4 black cardamom pods
• 1 Tbsp. bin bhuna hua garam masala"
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. firmly packed fresh mint leaves¹
• 2-3 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat 2 Tbsp. of the mustard oil over medium heat.
2. Add the turnips and stir-fry until beginning to brown (~8 minutes).
3. Transfer the turnips to a bowl and set aside.
4. Add another 2 Tbsp. of oil to the pan.
5. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry until softened an onion is light brown (~10 minutes).
6. Transfer onion mixture to a blender, add the water, and purée until smooth.
7. Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil in the pan.
8. Add the lamb and cardamom pods and cook for 15 minutes.
9. Transfer the onion paste to the pan.
10. Add the garam masala and salt, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, mash the mint and chilies into a paste in a molcajete or similar large mortar and pestle type device.
12. Add the tomato to the mint mixture a few pieces at a time, pounding into a paste after each addition. Remove the pieces of tomato skin if desired.
13. Add the turnips, cilantro, and tomato-mint mixture to the lamb and continue cooking, covered, stirring occasionally, for ~30 minutes longer.

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¹ I didn't have quite enough mint leaves, so I made up the difference with some dried mint. Normally I wouldn't recommed using dried mint as I don't find the flavour to be very good, but the Qitaf brand mint that I got at the halal grocery store is excellent! ^Back

I've mostly been turning to my ATK Complete Vegetarian Cookbook for dinner recipes lately. And I've been pretty happy with that. I suddenly got a craving for Moroccan though, so I figured maybe it was time to bust out the tagine cookbook. Squash is in season and on sale right now and I have sweet potatoes left from the gratin that never got made, so a squash and sweet potato tagine made for a natural choice.

Sweet Potato & Squash Tagine

From 150 Best Tagine Recipes

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ras el hanout
• 2 c. cubed sweet potato
• 1 c. cubed squash¹
• 1/2 c. orange juice
• 2 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1 c. dried apricots, slivered

Directions

1. Melt butter with oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion, garlic, and ras el hanout. Cook until onion has softened.
3. Add sweet potato, squash, and orange juice.
4. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 45 minutes, adding more liquid as necessary.
5. Add chickpeas and apricots, cover, and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes.
6. Serve over couscous with condiment of choice. (I recommend chermoula, harissa, tamarind-date chutney, or cilantro-mint chutney.)

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Variations

Vegan

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ras el hanout
• 2 c. cubed sweet potato
• 1 c. cubed squash¹
• 1/2 c. orange juice
• 2 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1 c. dried apricots, slivered

¹ I used a white swan squash for this. I'm sure butternut or delicata would also work well. The recipe also recommends turnip in place of squash. ^Back