Rutabaga is like the last kid to be chosen for kickball. It’s not a vegetable that typically evokes emotion but when I was a child I became a super-fan. My grandmother BeBe, from Ireland’s County Kerry, served it in a rough mash, braided with butter, seasoned with lots of salt and pepper.
I know it’s unusual at Sunday supper to lust for rutabaga instead of mashed potatoes but I appreciated its bitterness and crunchy texture. It had more flavor, somehow. I didn’t understand it as complexity at the time. All I knew was it was both sweet and bitter and that it was dynamite when I had it with her caramelized pieces of lean pork roast.
The other day, I noticed a purple and orange root settled next to the mixer on my bread rack. Its waxed skin wrinkling. I was making homemade chicken stock and I thought, hmmm. I wonder if I could dice that and add it to the leek, chicken, and kale soup I was winging?
Earlier in the day I had watched Alton Brown’s video on making chicken stock, because the few times I have made it, I never wound up with something that had any savory depth of flavor. With no real plan for the stock other than adding what was in the crisper to make some soup, it occurred to me I could chop up the rutabaga and toss it in. But, I have never had rutabaga in soup. I wondered, was there something terrible that happens when you add this modest tuber to soup? Does it make it unpleasant? Add off-flavors? Makes it watery?
The stock simmered for six and a half hours. The whole house was scented with roast chicken, onion, carrot and bay. Once chilled, and after a night in the refrigerator, the stock was the epitome of a well-made fancy hotel bed – layers of crisp sheets and bedding combining to provide a luxurious foundation. Definitely worth the risk of tossing in rutabaga. And now I may have something new to crave on Sundays.
Rutabaga, Kale, Leek and Chicken Soup
4 servings
Ingredients
2.5 quarts chicken stock (half of Alton Brown’s recipe, i.e. one chicken carcass instead of two) https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/chicken-stock-recipe-1914051
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium sized leek, cut off the dark green part, thoroughly clean, halve length-wise and slice cross-wise
I bunch Lacinato kale, washed. Cut off the stems and slice into half inch strips
I half medium sized rutabaga, peeled and diced into half inch pieces
8 ounces pieces of chicken, torn into small pieces
1/4 serrano pepper, seeded and diced into small pieces
¼ cup dry vermouth
Half cup grated parmesan cheese
In a medium size sauté pan, over medium heat add the butter. Once melted, add the chopped leeks and sauté for 5-7 minutes until softened and lightly browned. Remove from heat.
Pour the chicken stock into a pot and put over medium heat. Add chicken pieces, leeks, sliced kale, diced rutabaga, serrano pepper and vermouth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook over medium heat until rutabaga is tender but not mushy (approximate 15-20 minutes). Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.