Five-Farm Fritters

I had never tasted a rutabaga (or swede, as it's known in some places) until about a month ago. But as it usually happens, the power of suggestion won when a person in front of me at the farmer's market asked how to cook rutabaga.  My ears perked up as Letty described how easy it is to grate the rutabaga, mix it with sliced onion, flour, egg, salt, pepper, and fry it in a pan like potato latkes.  When it was my turn I bought two bunches of rutabaga and a dozen eggs.  They were, of course, a hit.  Each week I find myself making a larger batch in order to appease my hungry veggie-lover family.

These tasty fried treats are similar to potato latkes, only without the starchiness of potatoes. Rutabaga are in the brassicaceae family, which basically means they are cousins to mustard and cabbages. The greens and roots are edible, and the flavors are all similar to turnips, kohlrabi, broccoli, collards and cabbage...all of which are in the same family of plants.

This time of year brassica's are the highlight of farmer produce... which got me thinking as I made my way around the market.  What else could I put in these fritters?  I've played with the recipe several times over the last month, and this is the most recent version, using an assortment of goodies from last week's market.

Ingredients:
3 medium rutabaga, plus greens
1 fennel bulb
1 kohlrabi (purple or green), plus greens
1 yellow onion
1/3 cup Sonrisa Farm stone ground whole wheat flour (can substitute quinoa flour to make this recipe gluten-free)
2 tsp kosher or sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 Local farm eggs
3 Tbs canola or olive oil, plus extra for frying
Garnish with Hoe Hop jalapeno pepper jelly.

Method:
Remove the greens from the rutabaga and kohlrabi, wash and set aside. Peel the kohlrabi and grate with a mandolin slicer, food processor or cheese grater.  Leave the skin on the rutabaga and grate.  Thinly slice the yellow onion and fennel.

Chop the leaves of the rutabaga and kohlrabi, removing the stems first if you don't want the coarse texture.

Place the vegetables in a large bowl, then add the remaining ingredients. Mix until combined evenly.  Heat enough oil to coat the bottom of a heavy skillet on medium to medium-high heat.  With a fork, scoop dollops of the mixture into the skillet, flattening somewhat with the fork or a metal spatula.  Let brown, then turn and cook the other side until browned.

Let rest on an absorbent cloth or paper towel to blot excess oil before serving.  Try with jalapeno pepper jelly or one of your favorites.