Grilled Hakurei Turnips with Lemon Cream

Last week I posted a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Six Seasons.

I, like you, have a lot of Hakurei turnips in my life right now and I was trying to think of something different to do with them that I hadn’t made before. Six Seasons cookbook was sitting on the counter and I was flipping through and saw a recipe for Lemon Cream and was intrigued with the description; “a light, almost feminine dressing”.

I love Hakurei turnips cooked. Whether roasted, grilled or pan fried, they become juicy and a little sweet, unlike their crunchy-sharp raw selves.

I decided to make the lemon dressing and grill some turnips.

Can you kind of see how they get juicy when you cook them? Look at the lightly dressed lettuce. The lemon cream was perfect for this salad.

To grill the turnips I cut them in 1/2, I left some of the stem on and tossed them with olive oil and salt and pepper and grilled them on a hot grill for 3 or 4 minutes each side.

My turnip leaves weren’t great or I would have grilled them separately and used those for a bed of greens and dressed them with the lemon cream. Instead, I used the beautiful lettuce we got instead and tossed the greens with the grilled turnips and the dressing.

Here is the lemon cream recipe and my notes, this makes about 3/4 cup

4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled (I used 2 garlic scapes chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
About 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil

Put garlic and cream in medium bowl and let infuse for 2 hours in the refrigerator, so the cream takes on a gentle garlic flavor (I just mixed it all up).

Fish out the garlic cloves from the cream (I left the garlic in), season generously with salt and lots of twists of pepper, and then add the lemon zest. Begin whisking the cream. Once it starts to thicken, add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and the olive oil. Keep whisking until it is light and airy. It won’t be thick like fully whipped cream, but it will have a nice creamy texture. Taste and adjust with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice. Use this dressing within a day.

I forgot to take a picture of the Lemon Cream mixed alone. It got nice and thick, but not too thick. It just coated everything and didn’t glob on the leaves and weigh the lettuce down but it coated everything really nicely.