excess radishes in produce box--now what?

I got some Easter Egg radishes in my produce box from New Leaf Natural Grocery, and I don't know what to do with them. I've never been a big fan of raw radishes (as crudites, garnish is ok), but I'm determined not to waste them and could use some cooked radish ideas.

BTW, this is my first produce box, and I'm really happy with it. New Leaf has a very flexible program, with three pickup days, three box sizes, and choice of fruit, veggies or both. They only require you to pay one week in advance, unlike a traditional CSA, and you can change box sizes or skip weeks freely. I've never quite felt ready to sign up for a whole season with a CSA, and this seems like a great opportunity to get one's feet wet. It's all organic, from various sources, more local ones in season.

1261 W. Loyola Ave. (just west of the red line stop)
773.743.0400
http://www.newleafnatural.net

Uptown Holly,

Funny - I am near uptown and have the same problem. Produce box came yesterday and there were a lot of radishes.
I have a share with homegrown wisconsin.
http://www.homegrownwisconsin.com/

Here are 2 radish recipes we got with our box. Not sure about either of them, but thought I'd share. I am not sure how different spanish and easter egg radishes are.


Sweet and Sour Black Radishes
1 tbsp butter 4 onions, chopped
1tbsp canola oil ¼ c wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
2 black radishes, scrubbed ¼ c water
and diced 1 ½ tsp honey
In a skillet, heat butter and oil. Add the radishes and onion. Toss to soften a bit, about 3
minutes. Reduce heat and add vinegar and water. Stir often until radishes are al dente, about 5
minutes. Add honey and season with salt and pepper.
Compliments of Harmony Valley Farm

Radish Slaw
2-3 black Spanish radishes, 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
scrubbed and grated ½ tsp sugar
3 c finely shredded Savoy cabbage 2 tbsp olive oil
1 c coarsely grated carrots 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley, cilantro
½ c thinly sliced green or red onion or mint leaves
Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

It's perhaps not the best use of radishes but they are a secret ingredient in my cranberry bread. Grated fine and squeezed of excess liquid, you can add a fair amount (say, oh, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup) to your ordinary recipe. They add an indefinable tang and also have the benefit of keeping the bread moist. I would imagine that they would serve a similar purpose in other kinds of vegetable bread that might benefit from their slight pepperiness. You have to promise, though, not to tell anyone your secret.

Could you grate them and make fritters? Mix them with egg, a little flour, and some salt and fry them up in butter?

I just made the carrot fritters from the King Arthur Baking Book - thanks, gleam! - and I bet it would work just as well with radishes. I eliminated the sugar, swapped some fresh ginger for the cumin, and used a mix of besan and AP flour, and that level of screwing around with the recipe didn't mess it up, so I can't imagine that using a different firm veggie would be a problem either.

HI,

The Russians grate radishes, then mix in sour cream and chopped dill. Salt and pepper to taste. The sour cream takes away a bit of the bite.

Make pozole, then add sliced radishes in as a condiment along with whatever else you like.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

The Russians grate radishes, then mix in sour cream and chopped dill. Salt and pepper to taste. The sour cream takes away a bit of the bite.

And in the Jewish kitchen, black radishes are peeled, grated, and then mixed liberally with chicken schmaltz, and salt and pepper to taste. Try this mixture spread on rye or pumpernickle.

HoU,

Another serving suggestion, as they say...

Grijsbrood met boter, radijskes, ajuintjes, zout, peper, en een potje plattekeis...
daarbij een glas kriek van 't vat: da's lekker.


Whole wheat bread, butter, raw radishes (red or black, if available) and green onions, salt, pepper and fromage blanc (with a glass of kriek).

from:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=45657#45657
A la Mort Subite
Brussel /Bruxelles / Brussels

Antonius

HI,

My Dad daily eats radishes and green onions with lunch and dinner. While I never observed the same habit in my paternal relatives, from your illustration this is a familiar Germanic habit. He especially prizes the black radishes sliced thinly.

Dad considers it a waste of a good radish when I make it into a salad. I had never heard of the schmaltz version until today, this thread was the 2nd time just this morning.

Regards,

The radish slaw described above is also very similar to an Indian-Pakistani condiment used quite frequently in my household known as kachumar. Growing up, it was always my task to make the kachumar, and I usually was heavy-handed with the radish. I can't have daal chawal (rice & lentils) without it.

Since my encounter with it as a garnish in carne en su jugo, I've also started adding it to all kinds of other soups, and generally speaking, it's been quite successful.

Oh Antonius, Antonius, you've gone and done it again! Your pictures almost forcibly slapped back in to memory a night at a friend's local in München: great beer, thinly sliced onions, dark bread, salt and--very thin slices of a big, black, mild but extremely tasty black radish.

Now this was years ago, and I've lost a lot of details in the memory [and many other memories, too, sad to say!], but that radish was something special. I'd never seen one of its size and color before. When I got back to the States, I looked and looked for seeds of that kind of radish, but never found them. Nor did I find its equivalent Over Here, no matter where I looked.

So I forgot all about it. Until just this moment. And NOW we have the Internet! Here I go, I'm off on yet another culinary Wild [insert prey here] Chase!

Thank you Antonius!

Geo

OK I think I've found the black radishes. Two places:

http://www.mariquita.com/recipes/black% ... radish.htm

http://www.superseeds.com/products.php?cat=80

I note that superseeds even mentions the beer connection! Soooo, I bet they'd grow just fine in Montreal...

Tnx to all for bringing this back to me.

Geo

Paraphrased from All About Braising:

Butter Glazed Radishes

2 bunches small radishes (about 1lb)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup chicken stock
pinch sugar
salt+pepper

Trim off the roots of the radishes and pare the greens. Soak 'em in cold water for about 15 minutes, drain, and scrub. Cut any of the bigger ones (more than 1" in diameter) in half.

Pop the radishes in a 10-12" skillet over medium heat, add the butter, stock, sugar, salt, pepper, and bring them to a simmer.

Cover, lower the heat, and braise for about 20-25 minutes until you can pierce them easily with a skewer.

Remove the lid, shake the pan to move the radishes around, and simmer for 5 minutes or so until the liquid glazes the radishes.

A suggested variation is to add 1.5-2 cups of watercress and 1-2tsp of rice wine vinegar right as you finish up the radishes, letting the greens wilt.

Geo wrote:Oh Antonius, Antonius, you've gone and done it again! Your pictures almost forcibly slapped back in to memory a night at a friend's local in München: great beer, thinly sliced onions, dark bread, salt and--very thin slices of a big, black, mild but extremely tasty black radish.... Thank you Antonius!

Geo

Geo,

You're welcome. It's good to see you back on a regular basis!

Yes, those black radishes are wonderful... very popular in Belgium though only available at times... Do try them with butter and fromage blanc sometime.. a sublime combination...

Anyway, I'm very glad to have triggered an old and good memory. I will try to do so again for you regarding something German sometime in the near future, inshAllah... Check in the 'Beyond the Second City' forum in the days (well, weeks maybe) to come...

Tschüß!
Äntöniüs

Holly,

I'm a fan of braised radishes and Ed's Butter Glazed Radishes recipe looks particularly tasty. Lately I've been making this one courtesy of Rachel Ray* and food TV.

I enjoy radishes simply eaten out of hand, a good 20 seem to disappear when washing and trimming, and as Antonius outlines with butter and salt on good bread.

I'm also quite fond of baked radish and often toss in a handful of when I cook a chicken or roast. Next time you have the grill fired up toss a few radishes on there as well.

Enjoy,
Gary

*Yea, yea, Rachel Ray, save your derision, it's a damn good recipe.

Heh, I make a roasted cherry tomato salad RayRay recipe that everyone loves as well.

Toss some tomatoes with olive oil, saute in a hot pan till htey get spots ahnd start to burst, add some garlic, salt, pepper, and green onion. Finish with a shot of red wine vinegar and a handful of chopped parsely. I dislike tomatoes generally but this is tasty.

I like my radishes on a crisp baguette (like from Bennison's) with salted French butter. A favorits snack of mine.

Oh those memories keep rollin' in! My very first meal in France--at the Petite Marguery in the 9th--on Sunday evening, the 5th of July 1970--began with poulet froid au mayonaise and radi burre! Who could have thought of such a pair of simple things?! But they changed my life.

Radishes with French butter and a salt cellar to dip them in. Damn. Cold chicken with home-made mayonaise [I'd never heard of such a thing...]. Double damn!

This thread is throwing a life-saver to my memory!

Geo

Geo wrote:Oh those memories keep rollin' in! My very first meal in France--at the Petite Marguery in the 9th--on Sunday evening, the 5th of July 1970--began with poulet froid au mayonaise and radi burre! Who could have thought of such a pair of simple things?! But they changed my life.

Radishes with French butter and a salt cellar to dip them in. Damn. Cold chicken with home-made mayonaise [I'd never heard of such a thing...]. Double damn!

This thread is throwing a life-saver to my memory!

Geo

I understand completely. This only serves to emphasize the fact that the most memorable and enjoyable meals are usually simple ones. It's always the thought of another radish sandwich, steak taco, taste of fried chicken or leftover dry chili chicken that gets me out of bed at 2am, never the memory of the exotic construction I might have had at Trotters or some other esteemed fine dining restaurant. Not ever.

gleam wrote:Paraphrased from All About Braising:

Butter Glazed Radishes

ronnie_suburban wrote:
Molly Stevens' butter-glazed radishes by gastro gnome

Ronnie_suburban's great photos from the LTHForum 1,000-Recipe Potluck, June 22, 2008, appear here, including a shot of the butter-glazed radishes, as prepared by gastro gnome. GG also commented on making the dish.

Hi,

We like to high-roast radishes. Whole or chunks of radish, a little EVOO, salt & Pepper and 20-30 minutes at 400 - 425 degrees. You want good color.

We also saute radishes.

Tim

Though not the traditional white mooli radish, I suspect you could grate them & use to stuff paranthas similarly.