Albino carrots, I think not! (Parsnips)

Member Name: CAFCGirl

Product:	Parsnips
Date:	11/12/08 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty, easy to cook, one of your 5 a day

Disadvantages: Expensive out of season

Shaped like a carrot, grows like a carrot.... sold next to the carrots, but a carrot it is not!

For those of you who have never had the pleasure of a parsnip, they basically look like a white carrot. Just like baby carrots, you can get baby parsnips.

Thats where the comparison ends for me, I dont think they taste like carrots, whoever said that has either tasted some weird parsnips or some weird carrots.

What I really like about parsnips, is that they have a sweet taste to them. Not a sugar like sweetness, but a more earthy sweetness.

My ideal with parsnips is to buy them loose, that way you can pick how many you want, and most importantly which ones you want. I always try to buy ones of similar size and thickness. This makes things a whole lot easier when cooking them, as they will cook more evenly. Nothing (in my ((cook)) book) is worse than one mouthful which is overcooked and burnt and then the next being undercooked and a bit raw tasting!

Now you can peel them, if your little heart desires, or just give them a jolly good scrub. The peel is not going to kill you, and if running them under hot water hasnt got rid of any of the nasties which might be lurking on them, peeling a thin layer off them sure as hell wont either!

So I top and tail mine, and slice length ways, and then lengthways again. I should add in here that I normally buy the short and stout ones, so if you buy thinner, you can just halve them the once. One I've got them into quarters, I lay them on one straight side, and cut away the core.
This part is defined being slightly paler in colour and with a more starchy texture.

You dont have to do this, it wont kill you, but it can give a slightly off putting nutty taste, which to me doesnt compliment the sweet tones, so I prefer to chop mine out. You wont lose much, roughly half a centimetre if not less.

I then put mine into a saucepan with cold water and parboil for 5 minutes. They dont take nearly as long as potatoes and carrots, so be warned if you are parboiling these together and add in the parsnip later.

When strained I then add them to a roasting tray, heated with some oil in, toss them about and roast off for 30-35 minutes.

Eat hot, with anything you like. I really enjoy mine with chicken, lamb and fish pie believe it or not.

You can do more besides, but this is how I like mine.

Summary: Why wait to mash them, just eat them!!