Kohlrabi - an unusual looking vegetable!
You may have spotted Kohlrabi on the barrow in the walled garden this month and it can be a bemusing vegetable – it looks pretty scary but in fact it is mild in flavour and pretty versatile as you can enjoy it raw or cooked and you can eat both the bulb and the leaves. Kohlrabi is not a root vegetable but part of the brassica family with a swollen base to its stem. In flavour the bulb resembles a large radish or a mild turnip, the leaves resemble kale and can be prepared in the same way.
The smaller the bulb the sweeter the flavour (6-10cm is ideal) and it is good to buy bulbs with the leaves still attached. Remove the leaves and wrap them in damp kitchen paper and put in a sealed plastic bag and use within a day or two, the bulb will keep for a few weeks in the fridge. The bulb needs to be peeled as the skin is tough and doesn’t soften much even with cooking.
Kohlrabi has a delicate flavour and is best served in a simple way. It is perfect as a side dish; cut the peeled kohlrabi into cubes and steam them lightly until just tender and then dress with olive oil or butter, a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.
Kohlrabi crisps
This is a pleasingly simple recipe and the crisps are rather addictive.
Slice the Kohlrabi very finely (you can leave the skin on for this), toss the slices in olive oil and season with salt. Spread the slices in one layer on non-stick baking parchment. Bake in a medium/hot oven turning once for about 35 minutes or until nice and crisp and a rich brown. Drain them briefly on some kitchen paper and season to your taste.
Kohlrabi is great raw as you get to enjoy it's radishy crunch, it is a good ingredient for a coleslaw with a difference, and the salad below is an elegant use for Kohlrabi.
Kohlrabi carpaccio
1 medium (or 2 small) kohlrabi
4-6 anchovy fillets, cut into thin strips
50g hard goat's cheese (or crumbled Feta)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Peel the kohlrabi, slice it into thin slivers with a vegetable peeler and divide these between four plates (or even one larger platter). Scatter the strips of anchovy fillet on top of the kohlrabi, then shave the goat's cheese over, again using a vegetable peeler. Sprinkle on the thyme leaves, squeeze over a spritz of lemon juice and trickle on a little rapeseed oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve at once.
Kohlrabi, Album Benary /Farblithographie Botanik: Kohlrabi - Brassica oleracea. - Glaskohlrabi'. (Ernst Benary) 1876-1893