#parsnips

[dduane]

After a trip to Scotland this past summer, my husband came home with an array of Scottish foods and such he wanted to try out at home. He had intended to try out “neeps and tatties” alongside his US-safe haggis, only to discover after we purchased parsnips that we should have bought rutabagas instead.

All of that to ask - what’s your favorite way to eat parsnips? They’re sitting around waiting to be used, but I’ve never made them, and found my grandma-in-law’s mashed parsnips less than inspiring. I did eye your parsnip pie recipe on The Mind Palate, but I’m looking for something more savory. I could swear I remembered a Middle Kingdoms recipe that included parsnips among other root vegetables, though I may be misremembering.

Thank you for all of your writing! It’s been a delight to discover the Middle Kingdoms as an adult after the Young Wizards series did so much wiring in my brain as a kid/teen. And I never get tired of reading about your culinary adventures here on Tumblr.

Hey, thanks for the nice words! And I'm glad to help.

@petermorwood would also be one of those who wouldn't have been terribly wild about parsnips, as in his family too they routinely only turned up boiled to death and mashed (with carrots, urgh...). But when I started working with them secondary to the Yes We Have No Potatoes business in the Middle Kingdoms 'verse, he began to change his tune. This recipe in particular was the one that did the trick.

I feel a little sorry for parsnips, sometimes, in that the relentless "boil-'em-mash-'em" brigade have reduced them in popular opinion to a near-tasteless pap dish. Parsnips' natural sweetness and pepperiness get completely lost in such preparations. The approach above, though, highlights both of those qualities... and some judicious addition of herbs and spices makes them even better.

...The thought of improving the article at Food and Cooking of the Middle Kingdoms a little bit impelled me to make these for lunch and re-photograph them. (Oh How I Suffer.) Here they are with sausages...

(And yeah, that's mayo on the right. The Kingdoms have mayo. [Though obviously that's not what they call it, since Mahon is on another Earth entirely...] After all, they've got olive oil, and they've got eggs... so it'd be only a matter of time before someone developed a sauce combining the two.)

Anyway, hope this helps! :)

[petermorwood]

As mentioned more than once, @dduane's Middle Kingdoms don't have potatoes. A frequent alternative is parsnips, and the fried cakes in that photo are the result of an experiment done earlier this week to see if parsnips can substitute for potatoes in our always-reliable potato cake recipe.

Yes, they can!

*****

Here's @dduane's recipe.

First peel three regular-sized parsnips. then top and tail them.

Chop them into chunks and boil them in about 2 pints (1 litre) of water.

Drain them and return to the pan: let them steam dry. Then, while still hot, mash them well with a hand masher and allow to cool completely.

As mentioned further down, parsnips retain more water than potatoes even after steam-drying, so DON'T use a food processor or other power appliance for mashing or the result will be parsnip wallpaper paste. However, a processor is ideal for the rest of the recipe.

Put 2 cups (500g) all-purpose flour and ½ tsp salt into the processor bowl, blip the pulse switch to combine them then add 1½ tsp baking powder and blip again.

Now add 3 tablespoons butter and blip the pulse switch until the butter is completely worked in and the whole mixture has a cornmeal-y texture.

Now add the cooled mashed parsnips.

Process with the flour mixture, pulsing at first, then continuously, until the mixture comes together in a dough.

(If yours behaves the way our recipe did, no additional liquid should need to be added. The parsnips hold onto a surprising amount of water even after being steamed dry.)

Flour a work surface, roll the dough out about 1/3 inch (1 cm) thick, and use a sharp biscuit cutter to cut out into rounds. Then heat cooking oil in a frying pan to medium heat and put five or six of the cakes into the hot oil.

Fry until the cakes begin to rise a little (usually 4-5 minutes) and are going golden brown Turn and fry the cakes on their other sides for another 4-5 minutes. Test one for doneness: if necessary, turn the cakes once more and give them another 5 minutes or so.

Then cook the rest of the cakes in the same way. When they're done cooking, drain on paper towels until they're cool. Eat fresh or, to keep them, put them in a biscuit tin or other airtight container.

They'll keep for a few days. The parsnip flavor mellows somewhat the day after you bake them.

Like their potato-cake cousins, they're very good split, toasted, buttered and topped with a slice of cheese or (and) salami. They also shine as an accompaniment to bacon or sausages; give the parsnip cakes a brief re-fry in the fat left from frying these, then serve alongside the fried meats, dressed with a splash of Worcester or HP sauce and maybe a dotting of Tabasco or similar.

Our next experiment will be to make this recipe with the addition of some crumbled crispy bacon, grated cheese, grated onion or a combination of same.

The experiment after that will be to see if this can become parsnip bread in the same way as Irish potato farls. I think it will... :->

[vegan-nom-noms]

HARVEST VEGETABLE INSTANT POT MINESTRONE

[morethansalad]

Sheet Pan Vegetable and Chickpea Bake (Vegan)

[eyra]

the oldest recipe for parsnip soup - eyra - Harry Potter [Archive of Our Own]

Chapters: 3/9 Fandom: Harry Potter Rating: Mature Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin Additional Tags: Marauders Era, Non-Magical, Christmas, Winter, Cooking, Food, Fluff, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Autistic Sirius Black (+ please check ao3 tags before reading) There's something blazingly incongruous about Remus in the wintertime. He's golden: sunshine and honeybees, caramel curls and freckles like dappled sunlight. Even his clothes seem borrowed, and temporary, as if he might've just thrown on an extra layer for a moment in the knowledge that his own innate aestival nature would be quite enough to stave off the worst of the chill. Something at home in long balmy nights, and mornings when the gardens teem with life and song. Wonderfully out of place in the winter: a happy visitor to the season, an ember in the frost. Christmastime in the Cotswolds: cold hands, crackling fires, and Remus's indefatigable quest for parsnips.

As is tradition, a festive treat for December. If you liked A Brief History of Dragons, this one's for you, and for anyone who has been following me on tumblr for a little while you'll understand why writing this was so important and cathartic and special for me, in lots of ways. A full circle moment.

I hope you love this as much as I do, and I hope you have a wonderful winter. x

[jensownzoo]

Two garden tasks accomplished today. The first, above, was planting a row of parsnip seed (pre-soaked for 24 hours). None of the seed I put into the front bed germinated. Either it didn't like the spot or it was eaten. So second try in one of the back raised beds. Strip of hardware cloth to protect frim diggers.

Second task was to get the spearmint harvested and in the dehydrator.

Glad I did that now because two of the stalks had aphids and ants starting up on them. I only need this much dehydrated spearmint for tea (the peppermint and sweet mint are my main go-tos for that), so the aphids can have at it now. I can just wash them off to use it fresh for stuff like tzatziki.

The squirrel yesterday didn't get all of the sown French filet beans because here's one emerging.

The clematis in the side yard decided to start its yearly show.

Still patting myself on the back for planting radishes for the flowers instead of the roots. They're putting on a nice display while the borage and calendula are still gearing up to bloom. Drawing in the bees and tiny wasps as well. And then when the flowers are spent, the chickens can enjoy their leaves. *patpatpat*

[seasonalwonderment]

~ A Healthy Harvest ~

[freshtendril]

Roots

To see the earthy vegetables cleaned of soil and laid out ready for storage every fall brings such a joy for me. The work of a successful summer garden and harvest at the end of the season gives proof of a future that provides for winter health and happiness.

Gardening and the food it provides is medicine.

[allium-girl-anthologies]

Roasted Garlic Parsnip Soup with Brown Butter Walnuts & Dates

[askwhatsforlunch]

Saffron Parsnip Soup (Vegetarian)

Beautifully smooth and velvety, this hearty Saffron Parsnip Soup takes it suave fragrance and gorgeous hue from the warming spice, and is thus deliciously comforting on a cold and rainy night. Happy Tuesday!

Ingredients (serves 3 to 4):

1 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots

2 good pinches saffron threads

1 litre/4 cups boiling water

3 large (or 4 medium) Garden Parsnips 

1 heaped teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

In a large pot over a medium flame, melt butter with olive oil.

Peel and finely chop shallots.

Once the butter is just foaming, add chopped shallots, and cook, a couple of minutes until softened.

Stir in a jolly good pinch saffron threads, and cook, another couple of minutes.

Place remaining saffron threads in a medium bowl, and cover with boiling water. Set aside.

Thoroughly scrub and rinse Garden Parsnips, and peel them if necessary (their skin is particularly thin when they've just been dug up, so they needn't be peeled).

Cube Parsnips, and stir into the pot, coating well in butter and saffron.

Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper. Cover with a lid, and cook, about 5 minutes.

Remove the lid, and stir in saffron water. Bring to the boil.

Once boiling, cover with the lid, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, 25 to 30 minutes, until Parsnips are very tender.

Spoon the whole lot into a blender, and process until very smooth, adding more water, if necessary.

Pour soup back in the pot and heat over a medium flame.

Serve Saffron Parsnip Soup hot.

[fattributes]

Butter-Roast Parsnips with Hazelnuts and Sage

[doctornerdington]

I made cream of parsnip soup and it looks like nothing but it might be the best soup I’ve ever made (or probably I’m just having a parsnip moment, it’s probably that). But still. So good.

[petermorwood]

Parsnip soup - the garnish recommended by Terry Pratchett for adding character to a beloved copy of "Good Omens"...

...has appeared in a couple of posts, first here and then, when @dduane decided to make some, here.

She didn't use any of the recipes I'd posted but literally cooked up something slightly different off the cuff, and it is (trending rapidly to was) delicious!

Full info on DD's blog here. It's not so much a recipe as an illustrated step-by-step.

*****

NB, that post doesn't mention, because her IBS meant she didn't include, the chopped half onion and two minced cloves of garlic sautéed in smoked-roast-bacon fat which I added to my batch. It's just fine without them, but IMO is even better with, if non-dodgy digestion permits.

*****

Parsnips and carrots over here are, as her post says, all too often mashed, one of the great culinary non-delights of my childhood. They're frequently sold together for that purpose, either raw or pre-cooked...

...and it's a pleasure to find them specifically meant for roasting...

...though I can handle a peeler, a knife and a selection of seasonings well enough not to need to buy them like this.

The soup was sampled two ways, first in its basic form as roasted veggies and roasted smoked belly pork...

...cut into spoon-size pieces and simmered in a light but quite spicy broth (there was a fumble when shaking on the chillis!)

After that DD made flour-and-butter dumplings (Middle Kingdoms style) which absorbed some broth and made the soup a bit thicker.

Both, as I've already said, are - soon to be were - very good indeed.

10 / 10, will make again.

[vegan-nom-noms]

Vegan Couscous Salad With Roasted Parsnips

[morethansalad]

Roast Parsnips in Orange Miso Glaze (Vegan)

[eyra]

Looking forward to reading more from you!

thank you! good to have you on board 🫡

my new thing should be up in a couple of weeks, just before christmas. I’m sort of billing it: if a brief history of dragons and beneath a big blue sky had a baby, and that baby loved the wintertime. that’s this story. x