Saturday, January 19, 2008

in which the locavore discovers one of his roots

After an afternoon of grubbing bamboo out of the 1'x5' bed in front of the house, I ran to the local co-op for some staples. As a reward for winning an argument with myself over which greens were best ($1 red cabbage beat wimpy-looking kale), I decided to take a chance on a bagful of parsnips. They're local and seasonal, I told myself, climate-appropriate, and new and exciting.

Oh man. I had no idea just how exciting. If you must know, they were this exciting:

OMG EVERYBODY RIGHT NOW GO GET YOU SOME PARSNIPS!!!
YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!!!!!
If you're like me and have never had parsnips before, they're like a cross between a carrot and a potato. They're starchy like potatoes, but sweet and carrot-looking. (According to the genius box, Romans used the same word for them as for carrots.) I'd say they're sweeter than carrots, though. They're like tuber candy!

We took a recipe from Edible Chesapeake, combined it with some improvised fried collards, and got a sort of all-local cousin of colcannon. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS WE COULD NOT STOP EATING IT.

(See our recipe by clicking on "Full Post" below.)

Chesapeake "Colcannon" (J & M '08)

2 lb parsnips, peeled & cut into ~1"-thick rounds
1/2 lb potatoes (about 2 medium), cut into ~1"-thick rounds
4 Tbs butter
1/2 cup milk, or enough to make a smooth creamy mash
~2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 big handfuls collard or other greens
1-2 shakes garlic powder (or 1-2 cloves fresh garlic) (optional)
Liquid Smoke (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Place parsnips and potatoes in a large pot, cover with lightly salted water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cook until just tender, about 10-15 minutes.

While root veggies are cooking, heat olive oil in another pot. Sauté onions until golden. Add collards with a little bit of water, just enough to coat the bottom. Sauté until collards are dark green and have cooked down, tossing in some garlic powder and a dash of liquid smoke.

Drain parsnips and potatoes in a colander (you can save the water to thicken soups). Return to the pot, place over high heat until excess moisture evaporates (~1 minute). Add butter to the root veggies. Use potato masher to make smooth mixture. Continue mashing while adding milk. Stir in greens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

2 comments:

Bean said...

Maria knows my mom, but did you know she's a parsnip fanatic?? Growing up I was faced with seeing parsnips on the table and horrified at the idea of having to eat such a thing (I thought they smelled funny, i.e. different, therefore I wouldn't touch them). It turns out that instead, the parsnips were 99% for her with a smidge for me and my dad.

Her trick is just to cook them a bit, and then put some salt, pepper and a smidge of butter. They're amazing that way if you want to try to real flavour of a parsnip. They're also amazing in mashed potatoes.

Mama Monster said...

Wow! I can't believe you're just discovering the wonderfulness of parsnips. I LOVE parsnips, though I must admit that I wish I had more recipes to use them in. Parsnips Rock!