Week 18, Box 18 and G*d Damn It

Last week I happily looked forward to the delivery of The Box. You see it's fall, and fall means butternut squash and I had this feeling that this week The Box would contain at least one of the big fat orange veg. I went about my day with a skip in my step, researching recipes making grandiose plans and greeted The Husband joyfully at the top of the stairs eager to break into the box and start cooking away. When I saw that sly smile on his face, the one that indicates he knows he is about to bring my day to a screeching halt, my heart dropped low in my chest and with a sudden sense of foreboding. This is what the box contained with in it:

• Butternut squash
• Fava Greens
• Two decorateve Pumpkins
• three cippolini Onions
• Six apples
• Four Tomatoes 
• And wait... WTF are those black things marring up the Far right corner of The Box?

Let's get a closer look:

Yup, Black Radishes. WTF. I mean seriously, I was sooooo looking forward to a fancy butternut squash post. Something easy and whimsical to welcome in the fall. But NOOOOO of course not, I had to get Black Radishes in The Box, and I COULD just ignore them right. No one would blame me for ignoring them. Except EVERYONE would call me a coward. I was going to deal with this big fat veg. Even if I wasn't too happy about it. So here we go.

The Google Machine told me that the Black Radish tasted like Radish but could be a little bit more peppery. OK not to helpful. And although The Google Machine also told me they were common in France, it failed to provide me with any fun or fancy french cuisine applications. IT seems like you have three options when it comes to  Black Radishes, or Radishes in general: 1) Salad, specifically Korean Salad, 2) Chips and 3) Mash. I decided I would make Salad and Chips. Because why not.

For a change of pace - The End Result up first:

THE RECIPE: Korean Salad
The Salad Recipe credit goes to Chris Clarke  at Door to Door Organics and can be found HERE:

First step was to cut off the stem and the root and then peel the radishes. This was actually quite easy, the Radish, although quite hard, did give into the knife fairly easily, and the skin, although tough, came off just as smoothly.

I then broke out the mandolin and went about trying to find the right width of Julianne. First they were to small, then they were too big, then I just stopped caring.  Next I salted the slices and let them sit for 10- 15 minutes. The recipe told me this was to take away some of the bite. Ok then.

Once the salt had done its work I gave the slices a quick rinse and wrung them out in a dish towel. All that remained was to dress it up with the final ingredients.

THE VERDICT:
Black radishes do have a peppery flavor to them and this dish was well balanced. we ate it along side some soba noodles and a citrus dipping sauce. Was it edible? yes, was it bad? no. Was it notable. Not really. They tasted mostly like radishes.

THE RECIPE: Radish Chips
Recipe Credit goes to Clotilde Dusoulier at Chocolate & Zucchini and can be found HERE:

To make the Radish Chips I sliced them thinly on the Mandolin and Coated them in some olive oil, salt and vinegar. Then I baked them off in a 400 degree oven where they promptly burned. In fairness The Husband was supposed to be watching them.

THE VERDICT:
This tasted like radishes, except burned. Ick.