Parsnips?

[digitS']

How might I use parsnips?

I decided that the old-fashioned "Hollow Crown" would be worth trying this season. Variable but they did fine!

DW & I are going to have trouble just using up one at a time for some of them! A casserole that we can eat off of for a couple days, maybe? I like parsnips but don't like the idea of getting bored with them just because there's too much of a good thing.

Steve

 

[RustyDHart]

How might I use parsnips?

I decided that the old-fashioned "Hollow Crown" would be worth trying this season. Variable but they did fine!

DW & I are going to have trouble just using up one at a time for some of them! A casserole that we can eat off of for a couple days, maybe? I like parsnips but don't like the idea of getting bored with them just because there's too much of a good thing.

Steve

Hi Steve, I've used Parsnips with a mix of other Winter veggies roasted on a cookie sheet with a drizzle of olive oil......pretty tasty...I have also used them in hardy veg. soups. Fried in butter...they become very sweet....YUM!!! Parsnips that are pulled up and used after the first hard frost and during the coldest months seem to be much sweeter. Even the survivors you pull up the next Spring are so much tastier. Enjoy!!!

 

[Carol Dee]

Rusty said it. Sauted in butter YUMMY! I have also added them to mashed potatoes for a sweeter version and in vegtable stews. Sure wish I had better luckk growing them.

 

[RustyDHart]

Rusty said it. Sauted in butter YUMMY! I have also added them to mashed potatoes for a sweeter version and in vegtable stews. Sure wish I had better luckk growing them.

Carol....What a great idea putting them in mashed potatoes...I'll try that....thanks

 

[digitS']

I do that with celeriac (celery root), Carol Dee. In fact, wherever potatoes can go - so can the celery root. It is very starchy and cooks in about the same amount of time.

Rusty, it seems to me that this was what was said to me last time I lamented an excess of parsnip and a deficit of ideas on how to use them!
Drizzle with olive oil and roast with other veggies! I have put them with beef roasts but never just cooked them without the beef. Roasted veggies could be for a number of meals.

Usually. I guess that could read: 99% of the time. The parsnips are just sauteed in margarine and I'm very happy with that but with quite a few again, something new should be added to the repertoire.

That last time I was casting about for ideas was probably after the harvest of the Javelin parsnips that I had 2 years ago. I was pleased with the harvest but then severely disappointed with the flavor of the things! Later I learned that Javelin has some special "overwintering" qualities. Maybe so but their flavor never improved after fall harvest and they were tossed come spring . . . I took a year off from parsnips after that. What I've got this year are delish!

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Steve, it's interesting to me how the flavor of the two varieties was so different. Of course I know that's common with all varieties of everything , but when you're just planting a certain crop for the first time, and you choose one that bombs for you taste wise, it's hard to want to try again. In my case the bad experience is seared in my memory and I judge all other types with prejudice.

It's so great when we pick something new to us and that variety is a winner!

I have trouble picking new things that I haven't grown before. The catalog descriptions can be slightly biased. Naturally nobody would buy the seed of something if they let people who had a negative experience with it write the description!

 

[lesa]

I really enjoy the taste of parsnips- much sweeter than carrots, I think. I do like mixing them with mashed potatoes, but mixed with other veggies in any kind of stew type meal is my fav. Last year I planted them- and the dreaded woodchucks ate the tops off them, at least three times! I never imagined I would be able to harvest any- they actually grew and were delicious. I imagine they would have been larger if they hadn't spent so much time growing new greens- but they got an A+ for perseverance! Enjoy your bounty!

 

[digitS']

I have grown parsnips a half dozen times, I suppose.

There have been some mistakes like planting them where they were in the shade. The Javelin were the only ones that had a real off flavor.

What has really upset me a number of times with a number of different things is when I can no longer buy seed for whatever variety has worked well for me in the past. It isn't as tho' I need a whole lot of parsnips. If the germination is good, I'm happy enuf with a single packet of seed. That leaves me with growing 1 variety in 1 year. If it works, it work. If it doesn't, i . am . out . a . whole . year !!!

Of course. I'm not the only gardener with these predicaments.

Steve

 

[so lucky]

And if I remember correctly, parsnip seed germination and viability decreases sharply after the first year, so saving seed for a few years isn't practical, as in tomato or beans.

 

[digitS']

I bet that's true, So Lucky.

Parsnips are a full-season crop for my part of the world. So, if they don't show up - there's still a chance to get down to the garden center, buy another packet of seeds, and try again. However, even tho' you can start them early in the year, they take those long 3 weeks to germinate just like carrots.

What has been the lure that probably finally got me in trouble with the Javelins was the many variety choices we have in some of the seed catalogs. By the way, that is an old picture of the Javelins. They were short for parsnips but you can see why I thought to snap the picture - so nice and consistent sized and all. The Hollow Crown that I have this year are really variable, some are quite large and they aren't nearly as "pretty." However, they taste great!

Maybe I shouldn't pick on the Javelins. I guess I was supposed to leave them where they were growing right thru the winter. I'd really have to pile on the mulch to keep carrots thru the winter here. Maybe I just messed up harvesting that particular variety in November. I am more inclined to blame the British.

:/. Probably the gardeners on the other side of the pond are the ones messing things up for me in the parsnip patch. It is the same way with some other things. :/. The British, you see, have certain vegetable preferences. Then, there's this proliferation of varieties available of those. The American seed companies pick up on that. :/. The result? Confused Americans.

So, when I make a mistake in variety choice -- the first place I'm going to look to blame somebody -- Britain.

Steve
Wild Westerner