Day 151: Creamed Radishes with Pimentón ♥

~ recipe updated & photo added in 2007 ~

2005: [No photo, sorry, photographer malfunction.] In old cookbooks, vegetables seem to come creamed or fried, fried or creamed. So it is surprising that in 151 (!) days of cooking veggies in new ways here at A Veggie Venture, neither one's been done. But who'd think to start with creamed radishes??? Someone who's cleaning out the frig, that's who.

WOW. Awhile back, the nearby international market had exotic-looking black radishes that ended up tasting like plain-ol' red radishes in a so-so salad. But tonight, cooked and then creamed, they were, my oh my, very good. But it's possible that Creamed Kibbles would have been good too -- so long as pimentón was included. Tonight was my first taste of the smoky Spanish paprika. Wow.

2007: Well, maybe based on their homely washed-out appearance, creamed radishes should remain photo-less. But they sure do taste good! I recommend using them as a base for grilled or roasted meat, where they can remain out of the public view.

CREAMED RADISHES with PIMENTÓN
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 1 hour
Serves 4


Water to cover plus some
8 ounces of radishes (peeled and grated if black, grated if red)

White Sauce:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup hot radish water (or equivalent amount of milk)
1/2 cup milk (tonight, whole milk but I often use 2% or 1% or even skim, fyi the recipe does call for cream but I just don't find the extra richness necessary)
1 teaspoon sugar (next time, skip this)
1/2 teaspoon pimenton (or paprika or nutmeg might be good too)
Salt to taste.

In a medium saucepan, bring enough water plus some to cover the radishes (just estimate the right amount) to boil. Meanwhile, peel and grate the radishes. Add them to the boiling water and let simmer until cooked, about 20 minutes -- try to end up with about a half cup of radish water left over.

When the radishes are nearly cooked, start the white sauce by heating a medium saucepan over MEDIUM heat. Add the butter and let melt. Add the flour and stir in until all the lumps are gone, stirring the whole time, about 1 minute. (This minute's important to remove the a floury taste.) Slowly-slowly-few-drops-by-few-drops to start, add the hot radish water, stirring the whole while. As you stir, the liquid will be absorbed into the flour mixture and seize up. Add a few more drops, stir, a bit more, stir, a bit more, stir. If you add it too quickly, the sauce will be lumpy and nasty. The technique is quite easy, just start with a little til you get the feel for it. Add the milk in the same way. Stir in the cooked radishes, then the pimenton, cook for 2-3 more minutes until completely hot. Season to taste and serve.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 61 Cal (57% from Fat, 11% from Protein, 32% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 4 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 5 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 16 mg Calcium; 0 mg Iron; 39 mg Sodium; 12 mg Cholesterol, Weight Watchers 1 point


CREDIT WHERE CREDIT'S DUE
The Finnish Cookbook
Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Your recipe for Creamed Radishes with Pimenton was great! I had some Beauty Heart radishes from our CSA farm. We're not fans of raw radishes, but this is an excellent way to deal with them. I have smoked Spanish paprika from Penzey's and it really made this dish.

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