French Turnip Soup and Salmon Pinwhat?

I came across Soups and Sandwiches: Wholesome Ideas for Quick Lunches at the recent library sale. Every autumn the local library has a huge sale to reduce the books that rarely get checked out, and to allow the community to clean their shelves of books and load back up again for the long Michigan winter.

As soon as I entered the large annex, I headed straight to the cooking area and carefully picked out "the good stuff." This was one of the good books - though there were plenty of gourmet microwave books to be had if you were so gullible. Not me.

The French Turnip Soup on page 12 caught my attention, perhaps because it also included slices of white bread. I never buy white bread anymore. Ever.

Looking through the book, I also found some intriguing sandwich recipes, and settled on the Salmon Pinwheels on page 80. They looked beautiful and somewhat daunting. And they also called for white bread, which Ivan inspected.

The soup was really easy to prepare, though I have to say, once in the liquid, the bread transformed into something icky. Take a look at this:

Mmmmmmm gelatinous white bread.

At the same time I worked on Salmon Pinwheels. I just wanted to see if I could make them look nice. And, besides with all the butter involved, I was sure it would be worth it.

I used a rolling pin to flatten the bread, slather on the flavored butter, and top with smoked salmon. Then I rolled the whole thing up cigar style. And quickly understood why the recipe called for a large, uncut loaf of white bread: length would make a difference here.

I soldiered on and buttered the outside and rolled the whole thing around in chopped parsley. And had myself an aesthetic failure:

I made regular sandwiches with the remainder of the flattened bread, and served along with the turnip soup.

The parsley-covered roll was odd, kind of tickly to eat. Not a fan. But the regular sandwiches were yummy. I wish there was more flavor to them, like a mayonnaise or curry. The soup is fabulous, and you don't notice the funky white bread at all; if I'd used a good quality French white bread, this would be even better.

Both recipes adapted from Soups and Sandwiches: Wholesome Ideas for Quick Lunches.

Salmon Pinwheels (or Not)
2 slices white bread, crusts removed
1/3 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons parsley, finely minced
1 scallion, finely diced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
a shake or so of cayenne pepper

Mix the butter and 1 tablespoon of the parsley with the scallion and cayenne pepper. Set aside.

If you want to attempt a cigar-shaped log, flatten the bread with a rolling pin. If you want a regular sandwich, don't bother. Either way, slather one side with smoked salmon and top with another piece of bread.

For the sandwich log, roll the bread kind of like a jelly roll. Then butter the outside and roll the whole thing around in parsley. The recipe in the book suggests that you wrap this in plastic wrap and chill two hours, then cut into small pinwheels. Too fussy for me!

You will have extra butter and smoked salmon left over, and will have to find some way to use it all up. I'm thinking a morning omelette or evening frittata might be the way to go.

French Turnip Soup
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound white turnips, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
5 cups stock - chicken or vegetable
4 slices white bread, crusts removed
4 oz green peas
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch nutmeg

Heat butter in large saucepan. Add turnips and onion, and cook 10 minutes or more until they begin to soften. Add stock and butter and simmer 25 minutes or until the turnups are soft to the fork. Puree. Add peas, season with salt and pepper and add nutmeg.