Okay, so I made mashed turnips again last night! For those of you who have been following my blog, you might be familiar with my original post on how to make Mashed Turnips with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon. When I first made this recipe, I peeled and chopped the turnips prior to cooking them. With this method, the turnips were very hard and took a long time to peel and chop. Thus, the prep went on forever, and it was dark outside by the time I was able to serve dinner – not ideal!
This time, I researched how to soften turnips to prep for mashed turnips. I came across this recipe for Twice Baked Turnips from Food.com and decided to try their method of roasting the turnips in tin foil before mashing them. Although it still takes a while, I found this method to be much more efficient and reliable than the method I had used previously.
Process for Prepping These Mashed Turnips
So first, I gave the turnips a good scrub with water and a paper towel in the sink. Then, I blotted them off with another paper towel, chopped the ends off, coated the outside in one tablespoon of olive oil, wrapped them in aluminum foil, and placed them on a baking sheet. I roasted them in the oven for 90 minutes as per the instructions in the recipe from Food.com. This proved to be much more effective for softening them than roasting them for 30-40 minutes like I did in my initial recipe.
Options for Seasoning and Flavor
Another slight tweak I made to this recipe is adding more brown sugar. Instead of just a few teaspoons, I used three tablespoons for added sweetness. I really liked this adjustment. Although I haven’t tried it yet, I am thinking that adding a few teaspoons of applesauce might be good too, or cooking the applesauce over the stovetop like a reduction before adding it. Just a thought I had since it pairs well with brown sugar and cinnamon, and fruit flavors sometimes give a surprisingly pleasant punch of flavor.
