Pickled Turnips

About a month ago I blogged on how much I loved falafel's.  The first time I ate a falafel I ordered some hummus with it and they served pickled turnips as dippers for the hummus.  I loved the pickled turnips, first time I had ever eaten them.  I get so hungry for them now.  I love garlicky hummus and these pickled turnips are so wonderful with the hummus.  Most people turn up their noses with the mention of turnips but even if you don't like turnips I would like to encourage you to try these.

These are very easy and inexpensive to make.  This is the recipe:

3 cup water
1/3 cup salt, white coarse salt, kosher or sea salt
1 bay leaf
1 cup white vinegar, distilled
2 pounds turnips, peeled and sliced (in the recipe they cut theirs like French fries)
1 small beet, peel
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced ( I used 4 cloves but I like garlic)

Peel and slice turnips and also peel beat and cut in half.  I placed the beet in the bottom of the jar and add the sliced turnips on top. 

Heat 1/3 of the water with the salt and bay leaf under a low temperature until the salt dissolves, stirring occasionally.  When the salt is dissolved remove from heat and let water come to room temperature and add vinegar, remaining water and garlic. Stir well and pour mixture over turnips.  Leave the bay leaf in the jar and I added a red pepper from my garden for a little zip.

Set sealed jar in relatively cool place for one week.  Once done the pickles can be put in the refrigerator and kept until ready to serve.  The pickles will keep up to 2 weeks in the frig.  They will be rather strong at first but will mellow after a few days.  They should be kept no longer than 6 weeks after being made.  If you like to tinker with recipes, you can add a few sprigs of dill or a dill flower which will take the taste in a different direction.

I read an interesting article about pickled turnips.  These pickled turnips contain a friendly bacteria called Lactobacillus brevis KB290.  It is a beneficial probiotic that enhances digestion and immune function.  There were several reports that said it would help fight off the flu.  These experiments were done in Japan and the article said there was not enough evidence to suggest fighting off the flu.  Personally, I think eastern medicine is far more advanced from traditional medicine in the U.S.  I'm not saying it does fight off the flu but you never know.  It sure can't hurt to eat a bunch of them and that is exactly what I plan on doing.

A little side note: My mother cooked turnips and I always loved them and so did everyone who ever ate her turnips.  She peeled and sliced them and put them in water with about a tablespoon of bacon grease and 1/3 cup of sugar maybe 1/2 cup, somewhere in between there and let them boil until they were tender.  Really good!  Our New Years Day dinner for as long as I can remember was always a pork roast, baked sweet potatoes, these turnips, slaw, blackeye peas and cornbread.