Rutabagas with Onions and Bacon
Are you stuck in a rut of presenting the same sides with your meals? Well then incorporating rutabagas into your routine may do the trick. At first I was not sure about this root vegetable. But it is starting to grow on me with each variation we try at home. The recipe below is by far the best tasting one. At first my husband and I were intrigued with making rutabagas when we saw Paula Dean make them on her Food Network show. Paula made her rutabagas with pork fat called streak of lean. Of course when she pronounced it it sounded more like “strick o’ lean.” Neither my husband nor myself had any clue what she said. And without the script the producer probably wouldn’t either. Luckily a caption came up with the spelling of the fat she was talking about.
So, we were off to the store to get something close to streak of lean. And we tried ham hock and bacon. Both times my husband made it, I was thinking of how to improve it. He kept mashing it at the end so it would be like mashed potatoes. But I did not like the texture or taste too much. He loved it. Finally I went to the farmer’s market and bought some rutabagas to make my own version. So, I present to you the best tasting rutabagas made to date. The best part is this recipe is all done in one pot with no cleaning required in-between steps.
Ingredients:
- 4 slices of bacon
- 1 small sweet onion
- 2 medium rutabagas
- Salt
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
Directions:
1. Chop bacon and cook in pot.
2. Set bacon aside to drain on paper towel lined plate.
3. Dice onion and sauté until browned in same pot as the bacon.
4. Set aside onion in a small bowl.
5. Fill pot ¾ of the way with water (do not turn on heat)
6. Peel and chop rutabagas.
7. Add rutabagas and salt to water and bring to a boil.
8. Boil for 25-30 minutes, depending on the size of your dice, until fork tender.
9. Drain the rutabagas in a colander.
10. Put butter, vinegar, onion, and garlic powders in pot.
11. Put rutabagas back in pot.
12. Turn heat on low.
13. Add cooked onions back into the pot.
14. Stir until combined and butter is melted.
15. Dish out rutabagas and top with bacon.
Some Thoughts:
- Consider making this recipe for the holidays to start a new tradition. I love making people what the heck we have made for the current year.
- You always know when rutabagas done cooking because they turn from a cream color to orange.
- Of course if you are vegan, vegetarian, or otherwise, you can skip the bacon.
- If you are a carnivore, then you can try other forms of pork for flavoring, like salt pork, ham hock, et cetera.
Something Different
It is always fun to try something new in the culinary world. Your palette will appreciate it, hopefully. And if you have kids, then they will learn to love trying new things.
