Kohlrabi!

This is the post you have all been waiting for... Kohlrabi!

When The Husband first brought this monstrosity home with his manic laughter at my general fear, I went straight to The Google Machine and got myself an education. The Google Machine brought me to the ultimate provider of knowledge on the internet, Wikipedia, which informed me of the following:

Kohlrabi (German turnip) (Brassica oleracea Gongylodes group) (Ulkobi in Assamese and Bengali) is a perennial vegetable, and is a low, stout cultivar of cabbage. Kohlrabi can be eaten raw as well as cooked. 

Informative, but not extraordinarily helpful. I didn't really need to know that it came about from genetic selection on the part of farmers who liked the way the fat ugly thing looked. I needed to know what the heck to do with it. Fortunately two items down on The Google list was a New York Times article usefully titled Discovering Kohlrabi (It's a Vegetable). 

In this perfectly helpful  and mildly entertaining article were 5 recipes of varying difficulty: Kohlrabi Home Fries, Kohlrabi Spring Rolls, Kohlrabi Risotto, Kohlrabi Puree and this: A Greek Style Kohlrabi Pie. 

• Me: It's too hot to make and eat risotto
• The Husband: What about home fries?
• Me: It looks way too easy, how about the pie? Kinda looks like Spanakopita, I can handle that. (famous last words, I know) 

So we set to work.

The recipe told us to remove and save the greens and then peel the Kohlrabi.

• Me: any ideas on how we peel this thing?
• The Husband: Hmmmm
• Me:  YouTube?

a quick search found us this helpful guy:

He makes it look so easy, with his confident hands and down south style. He peeled that thing in less then three minutes. The Husband and I had way less luck. See, Kohlrabi has a thick fibrous layer that you have to get through in order to reach the edible part of the plant, and when the root is larger then a softball, that fibrous layer, apparently, can be a half inch thick. We barely got the knife through to chop off the greens.

So I peeled:

and peeled: 

And tried not to kill myself with the knife:

And then The Husband peeled some thinking bigger hands might help:

Not really:

Until we got this:

Which, after all that effort, I then fed to Tyler who made a quick mess of things:

 The rest of the recipe was very straightforward. I chopped up the onions that came in the prior week's box.

So pretty:

and got to sauteing in the old cast iron the onion, some garlic and the shredded Kohlrabi. The recipe said to saute 'til the Kohlrabi colored. This was not specific enough and we were left to guessing. Looks about right though.

 We then mixed the Kohlrabi mixture with the eggs, dill, parsley, and feta and it looked... like a mixture of stuffs.

We then took on the arduous task of working with phyllo dough. Now The Husband and I didn't get any pictures of this process because, and if you've worked with phyllo dough in the past you understand, phyllo dough goes from workable pliable paper to shattered mess really, really quickly. Let's just say there was a lot of yelling and way too much oil used. The end result was this:

Which was baked off and turned into this:

Cut:

THE VERDICT:

Despite the generous amount of onion, garlic and feta, this pie still tasted kinda meh. This may have been a combination of factors, one being not enough salt in the recipe, the second being that I really am not a fan of dill outside of salmon-based applications. Needless to say I ate a piece, The Husband ate a piece and the whole thing then was left on the table until we finally threw it out.

For all the work this recipe required it was definitely not worth it.

As for the Kohlrabi, if it comes in The Box ORIGINALLY (ahem... Husband) then I suppose I would give the home fries a shot. Even the husband suggested we make Latkes with it, and that sounded good. But let's leave the Phyllo-based pies to Spanakopita.

The Recipe:

Greek Style Kohrabi Pie with Dill and Feta

• 2 pounds kohlrabi, with greens if possible
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium or large onion, finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 12 sheets phyllo dough (1/2 pound)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted (optional)

1. If the kohlrabi still has greens attached, stem and wash the greens and blanch in a pot of salted boiling water for 1 minute, or steam. Refresh with cold water, squeeze out excess water and chop coarsely. Set aside. Peel the kohlrabi, making sure to remove the fibrous layer right under the skin, and grate using a food processor fitted with the grater attachment.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until it is tender, about 5 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt, stir together, and stir in the garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds, and stir in the kohlrabi. Add another tablespoon of olive oil if necessary. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is very tender and beginning to color, about 10 minutes. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan from the kohlrabi, turn up the heat and cook, stirring, until it boils off. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the kohlrabi greens, dill and parsley, and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 10-inch tart pan or cake pan with olive oil. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, and beat in the crumbled feta. Stir in the kohlrabi mixture and combine well.
4. Line the pan with 7 pieces of phyllo, brushing each piece with olive oil, or a combination of olive oil and melted butter, and turning the dish after each addition so that the edges of the phyllo drape evenly over the pan. Fill with the kohlrabi mixture. Fold the draped edges in over the filling, then layer the remaining 5 pieces on top, brushing each piece with olive oil. Tuck the edges into the sides of the pan. Make a few slashes in the top crust so that steam can escape as the pie bakes. Note: If making a gratin, use a 2-quart baking dish, brush with olive oil and fill with the kohlrabi mixture.
5. Bake the pie for 50 minutes, until the crust is crisp and dark golden brown. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.