Parsnips Take Center Stage

My favorite description of parsnips is Carrots With Attitude! Love them!

try the silver palate version . peel and cut into chunks parsnips and firm pears (I use bosc pears).
simmer in water to cover, mash and add butter. Delicious!

I first remember having parsnips blended in mashed potatoes made by a friend in Norway. Delicious. They added a depth and sweetness above and beyond the potato.

I grow parsnips for sale at a local farmers market and have grown them for many years. As others have noted, their flavor improves as they mature in the ground into the Fall and Winter.

By the same token, they store easily out of the ground so that all too often the parsnips that you buy in the supermarket have been harvested too soon and stored out of the ground too long.

Try to buy local and freshly dug.

David, you are correct about parsnips being underappreciated. And I salute you for having the prudence to remove the woody core.

However, parsnips have a delicate flavor all their own. Also, they possess a relatively high sugar content. Hence, if you add wonderful things like tumeric, cumin, feta and cream, you are missing out on the essence of this root vegetable.

Joe's Semi-Rural Parsnips - easy

1. Cut off the slender part of the parsnip, and halve. Cross-section the bulky end, and core the woody middle. (Take care not to cut yourself.) Each half piece should now be cut in two.

2. Take these clunky batonnet, and steam them in free range, quality chicken stock until they are on the obdurate side of al dente. (An Ohio rustic like myself just throws the parsnips in chicken stock mixture in the microwave.)

3. Remove the parsnips from the chicken stock and place on a paper towel.

4. Heat a smidgen of extra virgin olive oil to medium high in a heavy skillet. Put the parsnips in the pan. Allow the sugar to come out. Let the parsnips acquire a brown/black caramelization. Turn with a spatula occasionally. You could also perform this stage as a roasting in the oven.

5. Put them on a serving plate. Season with kosher salt and cracked pepper. If you wanna garnish, add a chopped herb on the neutral side like parsley or chive, or sesame seeds of some shade.

Thanksgiving sides loaded with cream and butter are just too hard on the old gallbladder.

The wonderful, earthy parsnip is also great in a spicy indian curry with cauliflower or in a sambar. Thank you Dave Tanis for highlighting this terrific vegetable!

I decided to take the plunge, but it was a disappointment. The parsnips were tender but not sweet, and the overall effect was bland and uninteresting. If I were to try it again I'd look for farm fresh parsnips. But I doubt I'll try it again.

I discovered how much I liked parsnips about 6-7 years ago. This recipe sounds great. I have a nice parsnip/bacon/rosemary pasta dish I love. They're also great roasted with carrots and a little maple syrup and olive oil.

David Tanis, I agree with you that parsnips are delicious and under-rated - but what wouldn't takes good covered with two cups of heavy cream and feta cheese, then baked? Sacre bleu!

"For this savory gratin .,."- Not to mention the calories and the cholesterol. I'll try it when a no-cal butter is invented.

Boiled, then mashed with cream, seasoned with salt and pepper and Madeira (have some, m'dear?) then into a gratin dish and topped with bits of butter, pepper and chopped walnuts (no, don't substitute pecans, you want that slight bitterness instead of more sweetness), heated through in a moderate oven and finally browned under the broiler just before serving....oh my!! You can scatter a bit of minced parsley if the overall beige-ness makes you nervous.

Can't wait to try this! I could have this parsnip dish for breakfast NOW!

I too love parsnips. I grew up eating a lot of vegetables but wouldn't have known that parsnips were so delicious had it not been for one aunt who introduced them to me. She was far from my favorite aunt but for this alone, I remember her fondly.

Love you, David Tanis. Please never stop writing.

I can't get enough of them in any form.

I in grew up in Montana and. We cooked and ate from the garden. Parsnips were not eaten until very late. In the fall after a hard freeze that sweetened them. Better yet they were left in the ground to overwinter and harvested in early spring when ground thawed and long before there would be any other veggies. Not only were they great the aging made them even better and could be cooked in so many ways. Alas, CA and Fl raised parsnips are mere imitations.

Love parsnips! I, too, didn't grow up with them, but I love roasting them in the fall and winter along with lots of other vegetables. Never heard of the suggestion to parboil them first, though, and will try that. Thanks.

sounds difficult

If you like carrots, you will love parsnips! Use them similarly: peel and roast in a little olive oil with thyme, salt, and pepper; add to stews and casseroles and alongside roasted meats or poultry; cut them in stir-fry size pieces and sautee in butter! Their nutty, pungently sweet taste is delightful!

I love parsnips. TO me, they have a gingery taste. I generally mash them with carrots, but I'm anxious to try them au gratin as David suggests. A decidedly underused veggie that's widely available.

I love parsnips. Nice to see that someone else does.

Undoubtedly a valuable and useful advice to parsnip lovers, well put in a poetric language praising parsnips.
But as for myself, alas, no parsnips, squash, pumpkin -- the only root vegetables I like are potatoes, radishes and raw carrots.

Parsnips are wonderful roasted. Cook them hot enough to caramelize the sugar in the parsnips.