Radishes and turnips two ways (braised and pickled)

I had a super fun weekend in West Virginia with some great friends and food, including grape-flavored moonshine and biscuits ‘n’ gravy from Tudor’s Biscuit World. On my way home, I couldn’t help but think about all of the veggies waiting for me in my refrigerator. I decided to tackle all of these guys at once:

Gilfeather, kohlrabi, radishes, turnips

I came across a recipe for radishes in butter that called for 20 radishes and 6 Tbsp butter. This inspired me to look for a recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking…and voilà, a recipe for turnips braised in butter. I chopped up and mixed together the radishes, turnips, gilfeather, and kohlrabi and used half in Julia’s recipe and did a quick pickle for the other half, recipe (for pickled green beans) courtesy of Martha.

Navets à l’étuvée (turnips braised in butter)
Source: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume 1
Serves: 6

Ingredients
2 lbs turnips, peeled and quartered (7-8 cups)
2 Tbsp butter
1 to 1 1/2 cups beef or chicken stock, or water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Blanch the turnips for 3-5 minutes in boiling salted water to cover. Drain, and place them in the saucepan with the butter and enough liquid (stock or water) to barely cover them. Season lightly. Cover and boil slowly for 20-30 minutes or until they are tender but retain their shape. If the liquid has not evaporated, uncover and boil it off. Correct seasoning.

Braised

Spicy pickled green beans
Source: Everyday Food, September 2012
Makes: 2 pints

Ingredients
3/4 pound green beans, trimmed
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 cups white vinegar
2 Tbsp coarse salt
1 Tbsp black peppercorns
2 tsp sugar
2 dried red chiles

Directions
1. Arrange green beans and garlic slices in clean glass jars.
2. In a saucepan, bring white vinegar, salt, black peppercorns, sugar, and dried red chiles to a boil. Carefully pour mixture into jars, secure lids, and let cool to room temperature.
3. Refrigerate, up to 1 month.

Pickled