Parsnip Turnip Purée

rutabagas and parsnips

I’ve tried cooking this combination – parsnips and turnips – two ways. They’re both good, but distinctly different as an eating experience. The broth-cooked method yields a smoother, almost sweeter result. The roasted method delivers a denser, starchier one. I’m going to share them both.

Ingredients

root puree with broth3 large turnips or rutabagas
8 – 10 parsnips
1/4 to 1/2 cup butter
3/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
3 cups chicken broth (for broth version; omit for roasted version)

Broth Directions

Pour the chicken broth into a large pot and warm over medium heat.

Scrub the vegetables in clear water. Then peel them and cut into bite-sized chunks. Add the vegetables to the chicken broth. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until the veggies are fork tender. Take the pot off the heat and let it cool 10 minutes.

Pour the whole mixture into a food processor. Add the butter and salt and process until smooth and creamy. Serve.

cubed rutabagas and parsnips

Roast Directions

Scrub the vegetables in clear water. Then peel them and cut into bite-sized chunks.

Put the chopped parsnips in one baking dish, the turnips in another.

Melt the butter and drizzle it over both portions of vegetables. Cover both baking dishes and place them in a 350ºF oven.

Bake the turnips for 45 minutes, check them for tenderness, and pull them out of the oven when they are fork tender.

roots pureeBake the parsnips for 90 minutes, check them for tenderness, and pull them out of the oven when they are fork tender.

Place both vegetables, the salt, and more butter into a food processor. Process until smooth. Re-heat the purée and serve.

More recipes:
Chicken Stock
Coconut Salmon
Sauerkraut
Arugula Beef

 

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Butternut Carrots

Butternut SquashesI recently purchased a new cookbook that’s had a unique effect on me.

It’s a great cookbook. The few recipes that I’ve followed to the letter have worked perfectly. This in itself is noteworthy. I don’t know how many cookbooks I’ve purchased, tried, and concluded: the chef didn’t test the recipes. This new one is already unique by delivering up recipes that work and are delicious.

Even more unusually, I’ll browse its pages and think, “That looks really good, but it’s a little more involved than I prefer. What if I take this ingredient and that ingredient and then go in this other direction?” That never happens to me! I’m not the sort who gets food ideas of my own. In fact, my native kitchen IQ is very, very low. But this cookbook sparks ideas even in me.

I’ll undoubtedly blog about the book itself sometime in the coming weeks. But first I want to share one of my latest experiments. It was crazy delicious!

Ingredients

baby carrots1 butternut squash
6 – 8 large carrots
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
sea salt to taste
extra butter to taste

Directions

Scrub the carrots and rinse the squash.

Place the uncut squash in a baking dish and start it baking in a 350°F oven. Set the timer for 90 minutes.

Peel the carrots, cut and discard the tip at the wide end. Cut each carrot in two. Place the carrot chunks in a greased baking dish. Melt the butter and pour it over the carrots. Cover the baking dish and put it in the oven (joining the squash). Depending on how much time has elapsed, the carrots will be done (fork tender, about 50 minutes) a little before the squash.

Remove the carrots from the oven when they are soft and set them aside. When the squash is done (it dents when you press the flesh), take it out of the oven and let it cool.

Cut the squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and discard. (Or wash them and toast them like pumpkin seeds for a snack.) Scoop the squash flesh out of the skin and place the flesh in a food processor. Add the cooked carrot chunks to the food processor. Pour in any butter remaining in the baking dish. Add the sage. Put the lid on the and pulse until the purée is smooth.

Taste the purée and add salt and more butter as you wish. If the squash got very cool before you puréed it, you’ll need to warm it before serving. Otherwise, it’s ready! Yum. I want some right now! 😉

Butternut Carrots

More recipes:
Coconut Salmon
Baked Apples

 

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