ATF Investigation In Milwaukee, TV Political Messaging 2014, Root Vegetables

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• Lighter Ways To Prepare Root Vegetables

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  Wisconsinites are getting a little bit more sunshine every day, but the temperatures are still cold here and none of the spring produce is in season yet.

  If you’re sick of eating root vegetables, you’re in luck. Wisconsin Public Radio music host and resident foodie Lori Skelton has some lighter preparations to get people in the mood for spring.

  One of the recipes that Skelton shares is a golden buttermilk borscht. The recipe is from “The Moosewood Cookbook” from the 1970s.

  “Instead of using some of the heavier things that can be used in a borscht, like cabbage and potatoes and heavier sour cream, this had cucumber, and fresh dill, and scallions, and buttermilk instead of the sour cream. So it was lighter,” she said.

  Skelton brought some of the borscht in for WPR staff to try, and one taste tester said it looked like “chunky sunshine” and tasted like spring.

  To add more green to root vegetables, Skelton recommends a parsley sauce.

  “You pound a little parsley in with garlic and sea salt and peppercorns in your mortar, and then you add a little more fresh chopped parsley and scallions and lemon peel and olive oil. You can serve that on top of any root vegetable,” she said.

  She brought in turnips and sunchokes to go with the parsley sauce for WPR staff, and that was the first dish to disappear. She advises that if someone isn’t comfortable with root vegetables, start small. You can boil them and mash them in with your mashed potatoes. Parsnips would be a great way to try this–they lighten up your potatoes.

  “That’s another good way to get more root vegetables into your life. Just slowly introduce them to your mashed potatoes and see where they go,” Skelton said.

  Here are two recipes:

  Lori’s Golden Buttermilk Borscht

  (adapted from “The Moosewood Cookbook”)

  • 6-8 golden beets (2-3 inches in diameter)
  • 4 C. water
  • 2 t. sugar, honey or frozen orange juice
  • 1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced
  • 1 T. fresh or 1 t. dried dill weed
  • 1/2 C. finely minced scallions
  • salt and pepper (or French Four spice) to taste
  • 2 C. buttermilk

  Peel beets, quarter them, place them in saucepan with water and salt and cook, covered, for 15 minutes over medium heat. Cool until you can handle them, remove with slotted spoon and either coarsely grate them or chop them in a food processor. Return beets to cooking water, add remaining ingredients, EXCEPT buttermilk, mix well and chill until very cold (at least three hours). Whisk in buttermilk just before serving.

  Serves six people.

  Parsley Sauce

  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 t. coarse sea salt
  • 8 black peppercorns
  • 1/4 t. fennel seeds
  • 1/4 t. dried tarragon
  • 3/4 C. finely chopped parsley (preferably Italian flat-leaf)
  • 1 large shallot or 4 scallions, finely chopped
  • grated peel of 1 lemon
  • 3/4 to 1 C. extra-virgin olive oil
  • Champagne or red wine vinegar to taste
  • salt

  Pound garlic in a mortar with sea salt, peppercorns, fennel seeds and tarragon to make a smooth paste. Add 2 T. of parsley and work it into the paste. In separate bowl, combine the rest of the parsley, the shallot or scallions, lemon peel and olive oil. Add parsley paste, mix well, then let stand, covered, for an hour for the flavors to mingle. Just before serving, add vinegar and salt to taste. Ladle onto plates arrange vegetables on top.

  Serve this with vegetables of your choice. Plan about a cup of vegetables per person. This recipe makes about a cup of sauce, enough for four to six servings.

• Investigative Report Tracks ATF Problems In Wisconsin

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  An ongoing report tracks the activities of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in Wisconsin–and finds a lot of mistakes and questionable tactics. A Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter joins the show to share the report’s findings, and the Congressional reaction.

• Food Friday: Root Vegetables

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  The classic way to prepare root vegetables is to roast them in the oven with olive oil and sea salt. Lori Skelton shares some different ways to prepare root veggies, from pickled carrots and rutabagas to a glazed parsnip soup.