Monday, February 16, 2015

Aliens in the Garden

There are aliens out in the garden! But, don't worry, these aliens come in peace.


Kohlrabi look beautiful in the garden with their lush foliage and crazy bulbous stem. They are super easy to grow, produce quickly, and the pests hardly bother with them at all.


If you don't grow kohlrabi in your own garden, you can sometimes find them at local farmers markets. If you're lucky, you'll be able to locate fresh ones with the leaves still attached.


To prepare the kohlrabi, remove the leaves and save them to use as you would most any winter green.



Kohlrabi are incredibly versatile in the kitchen. They have a lightly sweet, mild flavor that is wonderful roasted, stir fried, shredded as slaw, or turned into my new favorite dish, kohlrabi cakes.

To prepare the kohlrabi, start by slicing off the top and the bottom. 


Cutting the kohlrabi down the middle exposes the moist, white edible flesh inside.


I like to use a paring knife to remove the fibrous outer peeling.


When peeled, the large pieces can be easily shredded or diced.


For the kohlrabi cakes, I'll be shredding the white flesh into a large bowl.


My kohlrabi is very large, so I'll be adjusting this recipe as I go to account for it's size. I started with 4 small hen eggs from some of my newer layers, but I ended up adding 2 more later to get the consistency I was looking for. 

Beat the eggs well in a separate bowl or at the edge of the bowl with the kohlrabi in it, if you want to reduce the dirty dishes.


I ended up using 1 1/2 cups of Italian style bread crumbs. Add your bread crumbs a little at time. You can always add more, but it's hard to take them out.


Mix well with a fork or use your hands for a little fun. When your done, the kohlrabi, eggs and breadcrumbs should be combined to the consistency of a very moist meatloaf. 


The key to making these kohlrabi patties is to keep them small. With the oil good and hot over a medium heat, make a ball with the dough in your hands, press flat, and gently slide into the oil. Watch out you don't burn your fingers!


Keeping the patties small will make it easier to turn them later and allow them to cook through. I like to use a flipper to turn them, but I place a fork on the top side to keep them from making a messy splash down in the oil.


In hot oil, the patties will cook in about 3 minutes on each side.


These kohlrabi cakes are wonderful with fresh lemon. Bon Appetite!


10 comments:

  1. That looks delicious! I'll have to try this.

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    1. As Rich says below, you can add a little crab or shrimp to make a seafood cake. The faux crab works great too.

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  2. Linda, this recipe is hubby-approved! Even better when she adds crab meat.

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    1. Thanks for the shout out Rich. I'll pick up some crab for the next batch.

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  3. Yum....Looks delicious! I've always wanted to try kohlrabi and now I have a great recipe to try it out:)

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    1. Kohlrabi is definitely a good one to grow yourself because it's so hard to find in stores.

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  4. I've never made kohlrabi cakes. Zucchini cakes yes. But never thought to turn kohlrabi into them. They look delicious.

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    1. These little veggie cakes are pretty new to me, so it's good to know I can make them in the summer when the zucchini starts coming in.

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  5. Recipe looks delicious! Thanks for sharing, I'll have to try it. Kohlrabi is definitely one of my winter favorites. Low maintenance and take up little space compared to broccoli and cauliflower.

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    1. Another nice thing about kohlrabi is that it doesn't go to flower when our crazy Texas temperatures jump to 80 degrees in the middle of winter. I have lots of blooming broccoli right now, so I hope the bees are happy.

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