moules a la mariniere

this week in megan's cooking class, we're discovering the humble rutabaga. ina garten says she loves it, so we're trying her mashed yellow turnips with crispy shallots recipe. fun fact: rutabagas are just giant turnips. a turnip is the size of a tennis ball while a rutabaga is anywhere from the size of a cantaloupe to a soccer ball. 

..just ignore that sushi in the corner. 

i also made my go-to smitten kitchen moules a la mariniere because it is so easy and tasty. ina tip: soak the mussels in cold water with a handful of flour so they take in the flour and push out any sand they have in their tummies. 

anyway back to the rutabaga. it comes dipped in wax.. presumably to make it last longer in the grocery store since i imagine they don't fly off the shelves. that being said though, they should fly off the shelves. the recipe was very yummy. i made it with 2% instead of whole milk, and it was still really good. 

in the great clean out of 2010, i convinced minky to get rid of our broken food processor. little did i know, ina uses it religiously. but we have an immersion blender, a regular blender and a mini chopper, and between the three, there's not a lot i can't do. and a mandolin. anyway tonight i mashed it with a fork and then used an immersion blender, and it was so easy and quick. 

i can't really think of anything else that tastes quite like it. it's earthy the same way that swiss chard tastes earthier than spinach. it's like it has more of an obvious dirt taste. and it's a little bit sweet.

the only thing that was a little laughable was how long the silly shallots took to get brown. she says to cook them in oil and butter for 30 to 40 minutes. i cooked them at least that long, and they only began to turn golden. in the picture in the cook book, they're really dark brown.. but i was not willing to wait any longer. 

all in all, a really good meal that met my desire for something a little bit complicated but mostly just easy and tasty on a winter night. 

i'm watching oklahoma and i haven't been able to stop singing. OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MOOOORNING. :)