Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Turnip. — This excellent vegetable is extensively used in cookery, either alone and boiled whole, mashed in stews, or to flavour soups and sauces. There are many varieties of the turnip. The best are small, finely-grained, juicy, smooth, and sound When turnips areused for flavouring soups and sauces, it should be remembered that the liquor in which they are boiled -will not keep very long, and also' that turnips boiled with onions will correct the very strong flavour of the latter. The peel of TUB ( 1015 ) TUH the turnip, if thoroughly washed, will flavour soup and sauce as well as the vegetable itself. Turnips are in season from May till February. They may be had all the year round, but in spring they arc only useful for flavouring. Turnip and Potato Soup.— Dissolve two ounces of butter in a stewpan, and fry in it two large onions sliced till they are brightly browned. Pour over them two quarts of stock made from bones or from the liquor in which meat has been boiled, and add half a dozen shced turnips, half a dozen mealy potatoes, and three or four crusts of bread, together with a bayleaf and a few sticks of celery if liked. Simmer all gently together till the vegetables are quite soft, rub the soup through a fine sieve, and season with pepper and salt. Let it boil up once more, and serve very hot. Serve toasted sippets on a separate dish. This soup is not likely to keep good more than a day or two. Time, two hours and a half. Probable cost, 3d. per pint, exclusive of the stock. Sufficient for ten or twelve persons. Turnip Broth. — This is made with about a dozen turnips peeled and cut into slices. Blanch them for a short time in water, and j drain them ; put them with a knuckle of veal, a I small piece of beef, and the half of a hen into | a stewpan ; and pour some rich boiling broth over the whole. Let the whole stew for about two hours ; then strain it through a double silk sieve, and use it with rice, vermicelli, &c. &c. Turnip-greens, To Boil {see Greens, Turnip, Boiled). Turnip Radishes, To Boil.— Radishes are generally eaten raw with salads, &c. The small white turnip radishes are, however, sometimes boiled and served as a vegetable, and the ordinary long radishes, when young, may be tied in bunches, boiled till tender and served like asparagus on toast. They are good with either boiled or roast meat. To boil turnip radishes proceed as follows : — Take the radishes when young and freshly pulled. Wash them | well, trim them neatly, leaving about an inch of the stalks, and lay them in cold water for half an hour. Drain them, and throw them into plenty of boiling water slightly salted. Let them boil gently till tender. Drain them, and serve in a tureen with melted butter poured over them. Time to boil, fifteen to twenty-five minutes. Probable cost. Id. or 2d. per bunch. Sufiicient, one bunch for one or two persons.