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What’s a turnip?

Calculated Risks – Seanan McGuire

Disclaimer: This is the 10th book in a series, and the second in a mini-series featuring a recurring character, so to avoid any spoilers for anyone new to the series (and in an effort to hopefully convince anyone new to the series to give it a shot), I will simply (humbly) attempt to give a summary and review of the series overall. 

Summary: There’s a religious order that is aware of “monsters”—otherwise known as cryptids, or species as yet identified by (and maybe hiding from) science—that hunts them down. There’s also a family whose previous generations worked for this order and who recognize that these creatures are no monsters and are deserving of protection, and the books follow this family and their descendents in their efforts to fight the real monsters and save the creatures. 

At least one of the vegetables responsible for the brownish gravy that covered the whole thing shared enough of the chemical makeup of tomatoes to taste like paradise. The rest of the flavors were harder to define. 

If that sounds weird, you try explaining what a turnip tastes like to someone who’s never tasted one. If you can manage anything better than “like a potato, but maybe sort of sweet,” you’re a culinary genius. Now imagine the person you’re talking to has never had a potato either. You have no common point of reference. I could tell I was eating something close to root vegetables, and some kind of herbs, and some kind of fungus, maybe, along with the large chunks of what could almost have been shrimp, and a piece of what was almost but not entirely like bread.

p. 289

As soon as I heard of Seanan McGuire’s fae series about October Daye, I went to the library to give the books a try. Within a matter of a few weeks, I’d caught up on the series and was mad that I’d spent so long denying my own interests to even consider giving such a book series a try. And yet. And yet I kept putting off reading her InCryptid series because it seemed sillier. As if sillier wasn’t exactly the sort of thing to appeal to me. 

Then, well, you know, the world went into quarantine, and we all thought we might die of this new virus, and suddenly, silly was exactly what I needed. Then, like the Toby Daye series before it, I had caught up on the series within a matter of weeks, this time deciding to buy the trade paperbacks since libraries were often closed, or we feared this new virus as something potentially spread through touch (rather than air). 

I managed to catch up before the last two books were released, and it’s been a struggle since to wait the time between publishing, while recognizing that McGuire is one of the more prolific authors and that authors are people living through the same times as the rest of us. Still, this series captivated me. 

So, when the latest came out this past winter, I went back through not the entire series but more than half of it, the ones that centered on my favorite characters, and bits of my favorite moments. 

For me, while I’d enjoyed the series through all its twists and turns to date, I fell in love with the youngest daughter of the main family branch (so far). I’m the oldest and nothing like Antimony, but her stories spoke to me, mostly because she was the odd man out, and who doesn’t love the black sheep? (I mean, several assholes don’t, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about.) When a perfectly perfect and dramatic arc finished with her, I almost doubted I could love any family member as much, and then along comes cousin Sarah. Introduced in the first book (and per McGuire, one of the first characters she imagined in this world), Sarah is given the spotlight in books 9 and 10, including Calculated Risks. Again, I don’t want to spoil the series, but I am happy to say that the distance between her introduction and her turn in the main role was worth the wait for having all the background of the world and the family to truly want to wrap your arms around someone who’d probably prefer you kept your distance lest she manipulate your mind. 

While there’s plenty of other food items to spotlight throughout the series, I couldn’t help but return to the passage about the possible shrimp gumbo-like product discussed near the end of this book. I just loved the way McGuire both captured the flavors of something Sarah was bound to love while acknowledging how difficult it can be to define flavors, especially when the species you’re talking to may not be your own. I am a hater of the dreaded fungi, so I skipped that bit, but otherwise I did my best to envision what she described, and make it edible to a mere human palate. 

Extra-dimensional gumbo

Here’s what I did to make extra-dimensional gumbo: 

Ingredients

  • Oil, for sauteing
  • 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 12 oz. andouille/cajun sausage, sliced
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ c. lard (or butter or other fat)
  • ½ c. flour
  • 1 ½–2 qt. vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
  • 1 (14 oz.) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
  • 12 oz. frozen sliced okra
  • 1–2 T. creole seasoning
  • ½ T. dried thyme
  • 1 large (or 2–3 small) turnip, chopped
  • Cooked white rice, for serving
  • Scallions, for serving
  • Parsley, for serving
  • Bread, if desired and to match the book, for serving

Directions

  • Step 1: Add a small amount of oil to a large Dutch oven, and heat over medium heat. Add the shrimp and andouille, and saute until cooked through/browned. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat, and set on a plate or in a bowl to cool. 
  • Step 2: In the same Dutch oven, melt the lard/fat and slowly add the flour, whisking to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown, 3–5 minutes. 
  • Step 3: Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic, and cook in the roux until slightly softened, another 3–5 minutes. 
  • Step 4: Slowly add the broth, adding a cup or so at a time, to ensure the mixture remains thick. 
  • Step 5: Add the tomatoes, turnip(s), spices, and okra. Simmer the mixture for 40 minutes, covered, over low heat. 
  • Step 6: Add in the black-eyed peas, and cook for another 20 minutes, covered. 
  • Step 7: Add the meat into the mixture, and cook for about 5 minutes until reheated. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. 
  • Step 8: Serve the soup over rice, with scallions, parsley, and bread (if using), and enjoy!
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She’s got to have gumbo

With this post, I have only two more weeks with the Dutch oven, and I’ve had those last two recipes planned for a little while now.

The only question was what to do for my third to last post of the year. And as I searched through my list, and knowing that I had a recent shipment of Cajun meats, there really could only be one answer: Gumbo.

Gumbo ingredients.

Ever since I first tried this stew/soup, this Midwestern gal has loved every bit of it. The meat, the vegetables, the fat, the roux, the way the flavors combine, and the way it all comes together in a beautiful presentation.

I’ve made it several different ways over the years, one time cheekily making it vegetarian by using fake chicken meat and sausage. My typical method, though, involves actual chicken and andouille sausage.

But this time I’d ordered some tasso ham (and, of course, some andouille sausage) from my favorite D’artagnan along with some other meat I need for my last Dutch oven meal of the year. And I happened to have about a pound of shrimp in my freezer. I’d never made it with seafood or ham but gumbo is nothing if not adaptable.

Readers, I think it was my finest attempt yet. Of course, I probably say that every time (OK, the vegetarian one was not the best). It’s just amazing.

It doesn’t look delicious, but trust me, this is some of the best tasting food in the world. And I have leftovers.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • ½ c. oil/fat (lard or butter are my preferences)
  • ½ c. flour
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 ½ bell pepper, chopped
  • 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 10 oz. okra, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 quarts chicken stock (preferably homemade, and most stocks would work … maybe not beef)
  • ½ T. paprika (I like a combo of smoked and hot)
  • Cayenne pepper, to taste
  • 2 t. garlic powder
  • 2 t. oregano
  • 1 t. celery seeds (optional)
  • 1 t. dried thyme
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp
  • 1 lb. andouille sausage, sliced
  • ~1 lb. tasso ham, chopped (or other ham)
  • 1 bunch scallions, sliced, for serving
  • Chopped parsley, to taste, for serving
  • Cooked white rice, for about 6 servings

Note: The spices can be substituted with creole seasoning if preferred.

Directions

Brown the sausage and ham in your Dutch oven. Then remove the meat but keep as much schmutz as possible.

Add the oil/butter/lard to the Dutch oven and melt or warm (I’m partial to a mix of bacon fat and butter). Slowly add the flour and whisk to form a roux.

Cook the mixture until it’s somewhere between golden brown to coffee brown, depending on desired thickness and flavor profile. (This link provides a good explainer on how to make a roux and the pros and cons of cooking shorter or longer.)

Add the bell pepper, onion, and celery, and cook for about 5 minutes until slightly softened, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, continuing to stir.

Add the okra, herbs, spices, salt and pepper, and then slowly add the stock, stirring frequently. Add back in the sausage and ham. Bring to a boil, then cover, and simmer for about an hour.

Prepare the rice while the soup cooks. Just before serving, add the shrimp, and cook for about another 5 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the scallions and chop the parsley. Spoon rice into a bowl and then ladle on the soup. Top with scallions and parsley and enjoy!