Eating Local: Kohlrabi, Part 1

A few weeks ago we showed how to make a quick and delicious zucchini and basil pasta made with local ingredients procured at the farmer's market, and it had us wanting to do more with locally grown ingredients.

While browsing the vendors, we discovered almost all of them carried a vegetable we'd never even heard of before but that apparently grows well in Montana: kohlrabi.

Interest thoroughly piqued, we went on a quest to discover how to cook and eat these odd little guys. If you've never had kohlrabi, it's a small bulb covered by a hard peel and topped with thick leafy greens. Texture-wise the interior of the bulb is quite a lot like a radish, but the flavor is less biting.

Interestingly, kohlrabi can be eaten either raw or cooked, and you can equally use either the leaves or the bulbs - and in this dish below, we used both at the same time!

Here's the kohlrabi and a massive zucchini we picked up last weekend at the farmer's market:

Because the zucchini was so huge, we needed a way to use a lot of it, so we decided to do fritters. Here Megan has used a cheese grater to grate up the zucchini, half a white onion, and a small potato.

The shreds get all mixed together and lightly salted to draw out the moisture, as you don't want any excess liquid when these fritters hit the frying pan.

To really ensure all the liquid is gone, we set the shreds in a colander and let them sit for about half an hour.

After thoroughly drying, we add in flour and baking powder and mix it all up, then form into several large patties.

Now the fritters get tossed into a large skillet with some hot oil to get frying.

Flip 'em over after they finish browning on each side!

"So that's cool" you're probably thinking, "but where the heck is the kohlrabi?" We're getting there! For another side, I've peeled and diced some kohlrabi (and onion) and pulled off the leaves, which will get used later.

First we're going to start cooking the kohlrabi and onion in few tablespoons of butter and let them soften.

While that's happening, we'll roughly chop the kohlrabi leaves so they can join in on the action.

A few minutes later they go in the skillet to cook. These thick, fibrous leaves won't shrink up nearly as much as spinach, so what you chop will be very close to what you get at the end of cooking.

Next we throw in a dash of heavy cream and a few seasonings, including salt and surprisingly nutmeg, which adds a nice little change in the flavor. A few minutes of reducing down and you've got a creamy delicious side that uses both the bulb and the leaves of the kohlrabi.

Your main dish can really be anything - we decided to go for broke on the heavy, savory flavors and stuff chicken drumsticks with cheese and then wrap them in bacon. Some Italian seasonings on top seals the deal as they hit the 400 degree oven.

After about 40 minutes you get sizzling, cheesy wonder wrapped in hot crispy bacon.

Here it all is together: some delicious creamy kohlrabi (with just enough crunch to be satisfying), a zucchini fritter, and some bacon-wrapped chicken drumsticks.

Check back soon, as we'll be taking another look at how to use kohlrabi and locally grown zucchini in very different ways next!