Okay, no poetry, just prose to celebrate this lesser known winter vegetable. Humans have been harvesting parsnips for about 2,000 years. Mainly grown in northern Europe and Asia, this creamy-colored root has been used in a variety of ways.
Factoids
The parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is a root vegetable related to the carrot. While similar in appearance, the parsnip has a white or ivory skin and a sweeter taste than its sister root. Prior to the arrival of the potato, parsnips were used frequently in prepared meals. Parsnips began their existence in ancient Rome. When the Roman Empire expanded to northern Europe, they brought the parsnip with them; (apparently, the Romans thought they were and aphrodisiac...just sayin') however, it wasn't until the middle ages that the modern cultivated parsnip came of age. The parsnip was brought to North America in the 16th century by those crazy kids who were exploring eastern Canada and the northeastern United States (aka my Russell ancestors) prior to permanent settlement on this side of the cod pond.The parsnip is richer in vitamins and minerals than carrots. Particularly, they are high in potassium and a good source of dietary fiber.
While you can eat them raw like a carrot, they are best cooked. They can be used in casseroles, soups and stews, boiled, pureed, mashed and, my personal favorite, roasted in the oven. You can even use the puree to bake a parsnip pie! No kidding...I found a recipe for it.
Root Cellar Gem
While there are some of you folks who have basements and traditional root cellars here in New England, where parsnips can be stored in ideal conditions (around 32 degrees with 90 - 95% humidity) for 2 - 6 months, most of use use this modern gadget known as the crisper drawer in our refrigerator. Make sure to scrub your parsnips in cool water to remove any remaining soil and let air dry. Place in a perforated bag and store for 2 - 4 weeks in the crisper. Alternatively, you can place them in a standard Ziploc bag, but leave the top unzipped. They should last for two weeks like this. Just make sure to use them before they become dry or soft.Parsnips can also be frozen for later use. First peel, slice into one coins or three inch sticks and blanch for two minutes. Remove from boiling water and shock in a ice bath. Drain off the water and let dry completely. Place in a freezer-safe zipper bag or container and freeze for up to nine months.
With Dr. Zhivago on in the background, I went to work on making a soup the Bolsheviks would have approved of with its humble root base and warming touch from the inside out. While searching for recipes for my parsnip project earlier this week, I came across a surprising amount of soup recipes that included apples and different combinations of spices. Since I am a fan of mixing it up and making recipes all my own, I decided to start with the most basic version I could muster and work my way up. I was alarmed by the pure lack of seasoning in this one...not even salt and pepper (seriously?!). I figured I had carte blanche to make this my own. I rummaged through my spice cabinet and pulled out several that I haven't used in a while: cardamom, cumin, coriander, curry, and tumeric. Each of these has a very distinct and rather pungent aroma and had the potential of waking up this wintry soup quite beautifully. Here's the description of each from my spice jars and the order I added them in. I ended up adding them all and it made a wonderful tasting soup!
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| Clockwise from top: Cardamom, Coriander, Cumin, Curry, Turmeric |
Coriander: "The seed of the cilantro plant has a fruity, nutty flavor used commonly in Indian curries."
Cumin: "The earthy flavor of cumin is key in many Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian dishes. It's excellent in taco, chili and fajita seasonings, vegetable steaks and sprinkled onto steaks, fish, chicken and tofu before grilling.
Cardamom: "Sweet and spicy, warm and aromatic. adds a distinctive touch to cakes, breads, and pastries and is equally compatible with meat dishes and curries."
Turmeric: "The peppery, gingery flavor of tumeric provides the distinctive basis for many Indian curries, chutneys, spicy bean salads, and yogurt-based sauces. Try it tossed with sauteed zucchini, eggplant, and home-fried potatoes."
Muchi Curry is a blend of turmeric, cumin, black pepper, ginger, coriander, fenugreek, garlic, celery seed, cloves, cayenne pepper, caraway seed, white pepper and mace. As opposed to its spicier sister, Madras Curry, Muchi Curry is milder in flavor with a nice balance of heat, sweet and smoke.
Apple Parsnip Soup (serves 8 - 10)
3 tablespoons
1 medium onion, coursely chopped
3 pounds parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3 Golden Delicious apples (or another type that is a softer apple), cored, peeled and chopped
3 quarts low-sodium chicken stock
2 tablespoons salt
2 cups cream
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon curry
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
4 strips cooked bacon, broken into pieces
In a large, heavy bottom pot, melt the butter over medium heat and cook the onion until softened, but not brown, about 10 minutes. Add parsnips and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep parsnips from browning. Add in apples and cook for an additional 10 minutes. The apples will have broken down for the most part by this point. Add in the chicken stock and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to bring back down to a simmer. Add cream and stir. Let simmer until parsnips are very soft.
At this point, you can either use your trusty blender or an immersion blender. If you choose to use a blender, only blend in small batches (like 2 ladles full at a time). Blend until smooth. If using blender, pour back into pot and place back on the burner. The flavor of the soup at this point is not bad at all. It's slightly sweet but resembled a potato soup in color and texture. But it is a little boring. I added each spice individually, stirring until combined. The soup turned this gorgeous yellow color and smelled heavenly.
To serve, ladle soup into bowl (or coffee mug like I did for lunch yesterday) and sprinkle a few bits of bacon on top for garnish. Of course, you could garnish this with fresh thyme, some creme fraiche, walnut oil, olive oil, croutons, whatever you want really. I just happened to have some bacon leftover from this morning's breakfast. You can't waste bacon!
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| I tried putting a dab of creme fraiche on top to support the bacon for the picture, but failed gloriously. It all sunk to the bottom like the Titanic. |
Remember those Apple Brown Betties I made last weekend? Well, I defrosted one in my fridge and baked it off to have after my soup. Whoa...so good! It had such a yummy flavor! Almost like pineapple upside-down cake but with apples. Big thumbs up from me.
Sunday night was filled with cooking failures. Like Tom Brady a couple weeks ago (sigh) I just wasn't on my game. I dropped an egg on the floor, which Oscar tried to devour before I could clean it up. He didn't succeed, just in case you were worried. I'm faster than he is usually. I managed to overcook my hash browns and burn my toast (the back-up for the hash browns). I ended up having a poached egg and some bacon with a cup of coffee. I can't complain too much because it was a very yummy Sunday breakfast despite the flubs along the way.
This afternoon, I put all those squash and sage raviolis together and froze all but one servings worth. They are sort of a pain to put together, but it seemed to work just fine.
I dropped the 6 raviolis in boiling water to cook, as instructed, and watched them carefully to make sure they didn't stick together or burst. But, when I drained them off and plated them, they were just a big hot mess. I was so disappointed! I followed the recipe to the letter, but apparently, these are just too delicate to be boiled fresh. Maybe I'll have better luck with them once they're frozen.
By the time I got to dinner, when I had planned to prepare my beautiful steak and roasted parsnips and carrots, I just decided to call it a day and have leftovers. I do plan on cooking that steak this week, but just not tonight. Me and the kitchen just need a timeout. Time for some wine...
