Ode to parsnips

I love parsnips! I feel they are a very underutilized but delicious vegetable. My appreciation is at its peak in the winter, after the rest of the garden has grown soggy from frost, when there's no sign above ground, but when you know where they are........yum, so sweet! Rather like their relation the carrot with a flavor more complex.....

In my last garden (and hopefully  in my new garden!) parsnips had naturalized. That is to say they went wild. Every year I allow a few beauties to go to seed, and to fully ripen those seeds. They were huge, topping out at 6 to 7 ft. When the seed ripened I collected a bunch but I also fairy planted plenty more. That's what I call it when you take a stalk of ripened seeds and pretend it is your magic wand....Well, its not really pretending....food plants magically appear in your path! The food quality has not diminished, though I do have to thin plants. That's okay with me though, I'd rather eat the baby parsnip thinnings that to till and hoe the garden patch!

Try them in any dish calling for carrots. For maximum enjoyment avoid old woody parsnips and old limp ones that have travelled too far and lived in the fridge too long.

If you want a vegan dish using parsnips I recommend oven roasting them with onions (parsnips and onions definitely complement each other!) Simply drizzle with olive oil , salt and pepper and bake until very tender. Fresh rosemary is a nice addition here as well.

Baking root veggies until the sugars are caramelizing makes for melt in your mouth deliciousness.

This is a very simple dish that is warming and richly satisfying on a winter night!


Parsnips Au Gratin

6-8 medium sized parsnips
2 small onions
1 ½ cups milk
1 T butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper
1 T fresh rosemary leaves
top with ½ cup grated mild cheese

I like to roll cut my parsnips to make irregularly shaped chunks. If you cut them too small they will cook too quickly. Slice the onions into crescent shapes. These will flavor this dish but melt away to be almost unidentifiable in the finished dish.
Put the chopped veggies in a baking dish, pour the milk over the veggies. Top with the butter cut into smaller chunks. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and fresh rosemary leaves.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Top with cheese and bake 15 minutes more.

Granny's Pecan Tassies

Sharing food is a powerful way to honor traditions. Holidays are a great time to make special family recipes! Last year after Granny passed away I spent some time collecting her recipes. Granny loved to bake! Baking with her when I was a child definitely inspired my love of cooking. She was my original inspiration for gardening too. When I was a small child I remember giant cans dedicated to Christmas cookies, with wax paper between endless varieties. How did we ever eat all those cookies?

Pecan Tassies are my Aunt Cyn's favorites of all Granny's cookie varieties! Miniature pies, you bake them in muffin tins. They may look like a pretty complicated cookie but they are really pretty easy to make. I decided to try out making these and surprise Cyn with a tin of them for her birthday. They are so simple and delicious I made another batch for my son's New Year's eve party the very next day. I am happy to be able to carry on in Granny's honor.

Pecan Tassies

(makes 24 mini pies)

pastry:
6 oz cream cheese
1 cup butter
2 cups flour: (Granny used all purpose white flour)
                 my preference is 1 cup oat flour
                                           ½ cup brown rice flour
                                           ½ cup spelt flour
cold water to just moisten

filling:
3 eggs
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups chopped pecans

24 extra pecan halves

Let the butter and cream cheese come to room temperature. Cream them together. Cut this mixture into flour and add just enough cold water to form a ball. Do not over handle. Chill dough for a couple of hours.

Lightly grease 24 mini muffin tins with the butter papers. Split the dough into 4 equal parts. Form each quarter into 6 balls, about 1” diameter. Press the dough into the muffin tins, making little tart cups.

Mix the filling ingredients. Spoon into tart shells, being careful not to overfill. Top each with a pecan half.

Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees. The shells will be lightly browned. Let them cool for 10 minutes in the tins before removing to finish cooling.

When thoroughly cool store in an airtight container.