Rut-in' for spring? Baga-in' for spring? Can't find a good, clear rutabaga pun....

It's April! That means it's time to go Gourmet again:

Welcome back the 1977 magazine that mostly focused on travel, but remembered to include recipes since its name was Gourmet. The cover actually puts food front and center for once, although this photo is also part of the issue's attempt to get readers to go on a gourmet holiday to Bath, England. 

I was shocked to see a somewhat playful entry in this month's issue, as an Easter dinner featured a rice pilaf (spiked with currants and pine nuts) molded into an egg shape. I assumed that actually molding food into seasonally-appropriate shapes was a little too pedestrian for this magazine, but even Gourmet must have felt the need to do something special for the kiddies. (At least, for the kiddies who'd eat currants and pine nuts in their rice.)

Easter's over in 2018, though, and I was more interested in the article on rutabagas.

Next to more run-of-the-mill recipes like rutabaga and carrot soup, I found this entry:

Rutabaga Pudding! (Sorry the part near the center didn't scan well. Most of it is easy enough to figure out, but the cook time is 45 minutes, and you're supposed to serve it with meat.) This is not pudding in the sense of being a dessert (I hope!), but more in Yorkshire pudding territory. 

If you do want a rutabaga-centric dessert, the magazine still has you covered with a recipe for Rutabaga Pie:

Sorry it's a picture instead of a scan, but it was in the middle and wouldn't scan well. I cut off the beginning, which is just instructions for prebaking a pâte brisée crust, but at least you can see the filling in all its rutabaga-and-apple-purée with brown sugar, coriander, and cinnamon glory. 

I am not sure what this would taste like, but a small part of me wonders if I shouldn't have saved this for the Pieathalon....

It's good to know that even Gourmet got a little crazy with its pies sometimes.