I served baby turnips a few weeks ago and, as soon as he saw them on the plate, L. mentioned that he disliked turnips. My mother and I pointed out (in tandem) that these were BABY turnips, an entirely different thing, whereupon L. ate not only all the baby turnips on his plate but everything that was left in the pan after my mother went home. I am therefore taking advantage of baby turnip season.
I think that turnips and pork are an excellent match and came up with this dish, which was really a good pairing for the Brined Bone-In Grilled Pork Chops with Date Mustard with which I served it. This can be a vegetarian dish or, if you are making it with above mentioned pork dish, you can use the pork drippings to make the sauce even more delicious.
2 bunches organic baby turnips with greens attached
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tsps maple syrup
1 Tbsp white wine
1 cup cream
1 Tbsp butter (unless using pan drippings)
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
Salt to taste
Scrub the turnips well and wash the greens making sure that all grit is removed. Remove all leaves which are not perfectly fresh and green. Top and tail the turnips and cut them into quarters; you do not need to peel baby turnips. Roughly chop the greens and set aside.
Place the turnips in a steamer over boiling water and steam, covered, for 7-10 minutes over medium heat. Taste a piece after 7 minutes and see if it is tender enough for your taste. Remove from the heat, remove the steamer from the pan and set aside.
While the turnips are cooking prepare your sauce.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and, as soon as it sizzles, add the shallot and thyme and cook, stirring often, until the shallot pieces are translucent. If using the drippings from the pork, remove the pork chops to a plate to rest and, omitting the butter, add the shallots and thyme leaves directly to the skillet in which the pork chops cooked.
As soon as the shallot is cooked add the white wine to the pan and stir well. In the case of the version with pork dripping, use the wine to deglaze the pan and stir up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
Add the maple syrup and cook until the syrup has melted into the wine-shallot-thyme mixture. As soon as it has pour in the cream and add the turnip greens. Cook until the greens have wilted and the cream has thickened and reduced.
Add the turnips to the pan and stir to combine and reheat. Taste for salt and serve.