In the fall of 2011 it seemed like you couldn’t go very far on Cape Cod without running into an Eastham Turnip. Workers at various small grocery stores urged me to purchase one and cook it up for Thanksgiving, praising the Eastham Turnip’s merits again and again. Due to a combination of being a bit intimidated and having already planned my shopping list, I decided to file that idea in my mind for another time. Here it is fall of 2012 so I decided to give the Eastham Turnip a try. Unfortunately I may have to wait until 2013 because not only can I not find any recipes for this rare rutabaga – there is a noticable absence of this rotund root at the local grocery store. I half-heartedly asked about it and was given a shoulder shrug. No Eastham Turnips this year. This heirloom vegetable only grows in the special soil of Eastham, Massachusetts. Perhaps this year the crop did not make it. I guess I will just have to ask around as news on Cape Cod is a lot easier to find in person than online – Googling has only brought up last year’s Eastham Turnip related news.
As you may imagine, we like to source local vegetables as much as possible. I suppose if I were to devote more time we could grow our own vegetables, but that is not in the cards right now. One of the few crops which we were able to grow with little supervision that escaped animal pilfering this year was a big batch of chives. These make up part of this yummy dish – which I will be baking this year instead of Eastham Turnip.
Potato Leek Gratin
- 5 Tbs. butter
- 4 lb. leeks cut into 1/4 inch rings
- 1 1/2 tbs. salt
- 1 tbs. thyme
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 cup half and half
- 8 oz. Gruyere grated
- 4 oz. parm cheese grated
- 3 lb. potatoes peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
- 6 tbs. minced chives
Saute butter, leeks and salt in large frying pan for 20 mins. Add thyme, nutmeg, pepper and half and half and saute for 15 minutes more. Remove from pan. Combine shredded cheeses in a bowl. Layer 1/3 of potatoes, layer 1/3 of leeks, 1/3 of cheese then 1tbs. of chives in a large baking pan. Repeat layering 2 more times. Cover loosely with foil and bake 45 minutes. Remove foil then bake 30 minutes more until potatoes are tender and crust is golden brown. Sprinkle remaining chives on top. Let stand 15 minutes. Serves 8-10.
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