Friend of Julie: Rutabaga French Fries

When I think about rutabagas, I reflect back to happy memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas family gatherings. The dinner table was so crowded that no one noticed my plate was filled with only vegetables. It isn't that I didn't like turkey, but if I could get away with eating just vegetables, that was my preference. Plus, it was always fun seeing if I could get away with it.

Rutabaga French Fries; recipe below. Photo source: Jacky.

l My mom never cooked rutabagas. It was my dad's mother who brought rutabagas and other root vegetables to our holiday table. Unlike me and my Dad, my Mom loathed root veggies and as they cooked on the stove Mom would turn her nose up and whisper unpleasant remarks about their aroma. But me, I loved how they smelled.

Grandma always boiled and mashed her rutabagas. I never saw olive oil in her kitchen, she cooked and baked with lard and bacon fat. I don't know if it was an economic or cultural factor, or her personal choice not to use olive oil. 

I do know that Grandma and Dad would have enjoyed these rutabaga french fries as much as I did.

Rutabaga French Fries

This rutabaga french fries recipe came from key friend Jacky and a few preparation tips from me.

1. Peel the rutabaga. This is actually quite easy to do, as the outer peel, which is usually waxed to preserve freshness all winter long, peels away easily with a sharp vegetable peeler. It's much like peeling the skin off an apple.

Peel the skin off.

2. Cut rutabaga into sticks. The flesh itself is very hard, but you can slice it away in thin slices, starting from the outside.

3. Spread the sticks out on a cookie sheet, coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and a little cayenne pepper or season to suit your taste (salt optional) and mix with your hands to coat all the sticks well with oil and seasonings.

4.  Bake at 425 about 40-45 minutes; turn them over when they're about half cooked. Optional: when they're almost done, sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and bake more 5 minutes.

I only set the oven to 400, next time I'll go higher so they are more crisp.

Here's what I had with my Rutabaga French Fries; yummy!

Rutabagas turn sweet when they're baked and having roasted or baked veggies along with a nice piece of meat makes for a nice dinner. Plus, they're high in antioxidant and anti-cancer compounds and one cup of rutabaga contains 53% of the daily recommended vitamin C. (Nutritional data from What are Rutabagas Good For? )