Creamed Turnips (Page 588)

RECIPE #969

• Date: Monday, March 9, 2009 -- 8pm
• Location: Bloomington, IN
• Kitchen: My Apartment
• Recipe Rating: B
  

I'm not a huge turnip fan, and I think most people aren't, so I was hesitant to make this for company. Instead, I made this one evening when I was home alone a few weeks ago. I peeled and cut some turnips into 1-inch pieces. I then boiled them until tender. I cooked shallots in butter, then added thyme, salt, black peppercorns, whole cloves, and bay leaf and cooked for a minute. I added some flour to make a roux, then added hot milk and cream. I simmered the sauce until thick, then strained it and seasoned with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. I added the turnips to the sauce and heated through. Honestly, I expected to hate this recipe. But I didn't. Turnips can have a powerful bite to them, but the cream sauce did wonders in tempering that pungency. The sauce had an excellent flavor to it, and a nice creamy texture. Plus, the turnips were perfectly cooked. I probably wouldn't make this recipe again (there are so many delicious vegetables out there -- why serve turnips?) but if you like turnips you are sure to love this recipe. It was certainly the best turnip-centered dish I've eaten.

The recipe in The Book is almost the same as this one, except the one online has twice as much cream sauce as the one in The Book.

In November my dear friends Emilee and Rachel threw me and my special gentleman an engagement party in Boston. As part of the festivities, they organized a game that was meant to test which of us knew the other person better. They asked us each a bunch of questions privately, and then during the party we had to guess what the other person had answered. Generally speaking, it was pretty tough (and I am ashamed to say that my special gentleman beat me -- apparently he knows more about me that I do about him!). There was one question that was easy though: "Name one thing the other person is really dreading." We had both said that we were dreading the exact same thing, which made it easy to guess. That answer was, "Getting jobs together."

Math academia is very competitive and tenure-track jobs are tough to get. Getting two tenure-track jobs in the same location is a problem that has led to many couples spending years living apart. The so-called two-body problem can be a real struggle.

So I am beyond delighted (READ: completely ecstatic!) to say that we have solved it! My special gentleman had accepted a tenure-track job at Michigan State University last spring, and I just accepted my own tenure-track job there! And now I am sitting here, basically in shock, marveling at how wonderful it is. I had emotionally prepared myself for the two of us going on the job market year after year until we got two jobs that we were excited about, in the same place. That is typically what people with two-body problems in math have to do. But instead, we worked it out without ever doing that!

We are both so excited about Michigan State, and just delighted that it worked out so beautifully. I am staying in Indiana one more year to finish my post-doc, but then we will be living together in East Lansing, Michigan!!! Go Spartans!