I loved the rutabaga fries, but I made mashed last night to go with my steak/prawn Valentine dinner for the family, and I didn't care for them. A little too bitter. Maybe throw in a pinch of Splenda next time. Hubby really liked' em though.

I also had steak & rutabaga for Valentines dinner!
We grilled some romaine as well.
I mashed my rutabaga last nite (no milk and butter on IP!) & used some I Can't Believe its Not Butter spray.
I baked mine extra long, til super soft. No residual bitterness at all.

I will try baking it next time. I boiled it like potatoes, after cutting it up in small cubes. Ate it with the Can't Believe spray, a little sea salt and pepper. We had spinach as our veggie.

I baked it whole for about 2.5 hours at 400F in foil
I took it out after 1.5 hours and it wasn't soft yet.
Mine come with that wax on the outside so I have to really scrub with hot water to get it off first!

I roast mine most of the time, tossed in a little EVOO and sea salt. I wouldn't have the patience to scrub the wax off the outside!!!

I too had rutabagas and steak as my valentine's dinner :). With a rainbow cheesecake. Was delicious and felt special to me! I first tried turnips and absolutely loved them- so did my husband. However they gave me the heeby jeebies (lol)- must be alergic. So I switched to rutabagas and I make rutabagas for me and turnips for him (he prefers turnips). I use a salad shooter to cut them up. Works great! I also put uncle dan's ranch seasoning or just salt and pepper. so yummy!

Mine come with the wax outside too. Not a fan of it. It's not too hard to cut the wax off the rutabaga as long as you have a good knife. I cut one bottom of of the rutabaga so it doesn't wobble. Then i put in on my cutting board and cut down the sides, like you would cut the pricklys off a pineapplle. I flip it and do the same thing. it only takes me about five minutes. I've also seen people use a good peeler to get it off as well but I love my knife.. it's a must in my kitchen! I love rutabaga fries though.. so I need a good knife to cut into rutabagas! ha!

LOL sounds like last night was a big beef & rutabaga night! I made a beef stew in the crockpot with rutabaga, cabbage, celery and onion :)

I guess I'm lucky mine don't have wax. We have some great year-round veggie markets in the area. I just take a potato peeler to them to take off the skin. I will try wrapping in foil and baking next time for mash...and now I want to try roasting them.

I made turnip fries a few days after first trying the rutabaga fries, and was not a fan. First, I think they had more moisture so they never got un-soggy. And I could still taste the turnip flavor, which I can't when I made the rutabaga ones.

I will keep experimenting. When I was a kid, my dad grew turnips in the garden, and we used to eat them like apples. So many I grew to hate them. That was 30 years ago. This is the first time I've had them since. Don't mind them now, but deff couldn't eat them like apples ever again! Also, the ones we had as a kid were much spicier, a peppery type flavor. These seem very bland.

I just made turnip fries and they were horrible!!!!
Do the rutabega fries taste different/better in comparison?

To me, the rutabaga fries are a little sweeter in flavor...Like sweet potato fries, but not quite. I really like them, and didn't like the turnip fries.

Having Rutabaga fries tonight and maybe (thanks Lisa) Grilled Romaine!!!

Love rutabaga fries, never liked turnips. My rutabagas don't have wax on them but I am lucky to have a year round fresh veggie stand.
I was wondering how low that they would take to bake.
Lisa, how do you measure the rutabaga after baking?
Making some fries early and then reheating for lunch for next week when I go back to work.

Sounds delish, added rutabagas to my shopping list to make fries. I have only used them in stews before.

Hurray for Rutabagas
 

Tried rutabagas for the first time ever & hurrray, the fries were awesome!
I made small batches in my toaster oven & they turned out great :carrot: