Parsnip purée with orange
Recently a family member had surgery and afterwards was allowed soft foods only for a while. Rather than see him bored with an endless parade of yogurt and canned fruit, I offered to make some food that would fit his requirements but actually be tasty and varied. In addition to Chinese eggplant (meatless, of course), my Amazing Applesauce, and roasted garlic mashed potatoes (this recipe only with pureed roasted garlic instead of bacon, scallions, and cheese) I made this.
Recipe is from Sides, by Melicia Phllips
4 cups sliced parsnips, cut about 1/2" thick 2-inch strip orange zest 1 cup chicken stock Juice of 1 orange 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into bits Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Combine the parsnips, orange zest, and stock in a 10-inch skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower the heat to a simmer, and cover the pan. Cook for about half an hour, until the parsnips are soft. Discard the orange zest. Pass the parsnips and what is left of the cooking liquid through a food mill or purée them in a food processor. Stir in the orange juice, grated zest, butter, salt, and pepper and serve immediately. Note: This can be made a few days ahead. You can either reheat it gently on top of the stove, stirring often, or put the purée in an ovenproof casserole and reheat, covered, in a 375F oven. You can also leave the casserole uncovered and top it with buttered crumbs if you like.
Taste: Four out of five
Difficulty: Moderate
Time: Moderate
Alterations and notes:
For those not familiar with parsnips, they look like fat white carrots but have a sweeter taste, and unlike carrots they’re generally not eaten raw (though you could - I nibble them sometimes as I cook). They are one of many winter root vegetables, and they are very yummy.
The recipe doesn’t tell you to peel the parsnips, but you should.
Where the recipe calls for a 2″ strip of zest, it doesn’t say of this refers to width or length. I’d guess length, since the easiest way to remove this will be a vegetable peeler and that’s not going to leave a peel two inches wide.
You don’t have to make your own stock or get special stock - any chicken broth is fine. Honestly you could probably use extra orange juice instead, vegetable broth, or even milk - the idea is simply to have a liquid to thin down the mash, one that add flavor but not an overwhelming amount of it. Plus that way you can make this a vegetarian dish.
When you grate your orange zest, don’t tamp it down into the measuring spoon, just measure it light and fluffy. Remember to only grate the bright orange, slightly shiny outside layer - the paler orange/white spongy layer beneath that is the pith, and it’s bitter.
You don’t strictly have to cut up the butter, that just makes it melt faster. And if you add it before pureeing, it’ll get cut up anyhow.
It’s the strip of zest you’re using in the first sentence, not the grated quarter-teaspoon.
Do not miss the bit about “lower the heat to a simmer“ and boil your parsnips on high for 30 minutes like I did, because all the liquid will boil away and your parsnips will burn and your dish - and possibly your pot - will be ruined. It may reassure any beginner cooks in the audience to know that even with all my experience I can still totally ruin things. It’s not just you!
Generally food mills are something only owned by major kitchen-gadget collectors (*coughs guiltily*). If you also don’t have a food processor, you can mash this with a hand mixer, stick blender, or potato masher - even a plain old wooden spoon. Although the latter two will give you a chunkier consistency, which is not necessarily a bad thing.