Rutabaga, Anyone

Do you eat rutabagas?

I have to confess, until I was about 20, I never did.  Not sure if I'd even heard of a rutabaga. My introduction to the rutabaga was through my boss sharing a pasty with me one lunchtime.  I'd never had a pasty either, being as I'd lived the majority of my life in Michigan's Lower Peninsula, just having moved to the UP roughly four or five months previous, and pasties are a definitive Upper Peninsula thing.

That pasty (thanks, Art, for sharing), had been made by his wife, and was delicious.  Without that positive introduction, I probably wouldn't still be making pasties from scratch more than 26 years later.  And I know I definitely wouldn't be eating rutabagas, let alone growing them in my garden year after year.

Pasties are the main recipe I use rutabaga in. But, slowly, I have branched out a little and occasionally serve them mashed, or as part as a roasted root vegetable dish.  This year I have found (thanks to the recipe included in the 2018 Maine Potato Lady catalog), a tasty soup to use my rutabagas in.

My pasty recipe, I've already given here.

You can throw rutabaga and carrots into this dish instead of using all potatoes.

And, giving all credit to the 2018 edition of The Maine Potato Lady catalog, this is the recipe I used for the very tasty (especially as a leftover) soup using rutabaga.

1 pound bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
4-5 cups scrubbed and cubed potatoes--about 2 pounds
2 cups rutabaga, peeled and cubed
water or chicken stock, enough to cover (I used chicken bouillon mixed with water)
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 branch fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
grated Romano or sliced Cheddar cheese for garnish

Cook the bacon in your soup pot just until it is crisp.  While the bacon is cooking, prepare the vegetables.  

Remove the bacon from the pot, drain, and set aside.  Remove all but 2-3 tablespoons of bacon fat from the pot, add the onion and garlic and saute just until translucent.  Add the potato and rutabaga, saute for 5 minutes, (I ended up adding back in an additional 2 tbsp of bacon fat with the potato and rutabaga), then add water or stock to cover.

If you are using fresh thyme, add it now.  Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rutabagas are tender.  Stir occasionally, adding more water or stock as needed.  Cut up the bacon into large pieces. When the rutabagas and potatoes are tender, add the bacon and (if using) dried thyme to the pot, season with salt and pepper to taste.  If you used fresh thyme, remove the branch.  Garnish with the Romano or Cheddar cheese.  Serve with hot cornbread (I had freshly made, buttered slices of wheat bread).  Serves 6 generously.

I forgot to get a picture of the soup until I was on the very last serving of leftovers