Parsnips, and Canned Deliciousness

This is a parsnip:

If you've never had a parsnip, I feel bad for you.  On the other hand, I totally understand.  Prior to last winter/spring, I had never had a parsnip either.  They must last longer than potatoes, because you could find them at the winter farmer's market when potatoes were long gone.

Potatoes aren't gone at the market (that I'm aware of... I hope not!), but they are gone at my house.  And there hasn't been any farmer's market for two weeks, so I've got three choices: Sweet Potatoes, Parsnips, and Beets.  Sweet potatoes are a go.  Had them New Years Eve, and New Years Day, and there are more uses planned.  I do enjoy me some beets, but they also last very well in the fridge, so I'm letting them sit.  Plus I have them in pickled form, and I want to give that a try too.

So, like bird and Grease, parsnips are the word.

I would not recommend purchasing a parsnip at your grocery store.  At the grocery store, they seem to be vegetable candles.  It's gross and I don't get it.  But the parsnips are covered in a pretty thick layer of wax.  Apparently it's to seal in moisture and extend their shelf life.  But, according to the interwebs, parsnips stored in the refrigerator should last two to six months.   So... how old are the wax coated ones?!?

Anywho, parsnips often substitute for potatoes, but they're actually more closely related to a carrot.  And they taste kind of like a carrot, but sweeter... and less carroty... and a little more radishy... but not at all like a radish.

Confused?  Good, go buy one!

I've used parsnips in stews, and mashed like I did here.  I've also read that they make a mean chip, so that's an experiment for another day.  I need a deep frier!! (OMG! THE ONE I WANT IS ON SALE!  WHY DID I SPEND ALL MY MONEY ON CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!?!?!  BALLS!)

Since it's now easily available at the Winter Farmer's Market, I've got rainbow trout fillets stored away in the freezer.  I don't feel like rainbow trout is a very flavorful fish on it's own, but it takes on flavor well and because it's so think it sautes up well too.  I like to cook mine skin on, although I don't generally like to eat the skin.  I do need to figure out how to get the skin crispier.  That's always the complaint on Top Chef and Iron Chef and Chopped: Skin's not crispy enough!  I guess if I can't get it, I'm in good company.

I've found that salad is the #1 thing I've cheated on so far in my locavore challenge.  Especially around the recent holidays.  As I've said before, I'm always in charge of salad, and when I make a salad I make a SALAD.  A garden salad with everything that you could possibly pull out of your garden.  I never order salads in restaurants, because I never feel like they have enough STUFF.  A salad should be a little bit of lettuce and a whole bunch of STUFF.  None of these namby-pamby Caesar salads with lettuce and three croutons.  No.  STUFF.

Except, the stuff that goes into a salad isn't so much grown in Wisconsin in January.  And lettuce is.  And vegetables are good for me.  So I tried it.

Here, I just used mixed winter greens from Sweet Water Organics, topped with some of my own pickled beets and goat cheese.  I used a horseradish dressing on the whole thing, which I made with spicy radishes (but not horseradish) from the farmer's market.  The dressing was okay, but I wasn't super impressed with it.  The salad was good, and I think if I would have had a really good dressing, it would have been really good.  Not sure what exactly the right dressing was, though.

No worries.  I like goat cheese, and I like pickled beets, so I can keep experimenting with dressings until I find the right one!

Garlic Mashed Parsnips and Carrots

• 1 lb parsnips, peeled
• 1 lb carrots, peeled
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled and slightly smashed.
• 1/2 stick butter
• milk/cream to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Peel and slice the carrots and parsnips.  Add the carrots to a pot big enough to hold both the parsnips and the carrots and garlic, and fill about halfway full of water.  Cook until the carrots just start to get tender (about 8 minutes).  Add the parsnips, and cook until both parsnips and carrots are tender (carrots cook a lot faster than parsnips...).  Drain the water, add the butter, milk, salt and pepper, and mash just as you would  mashed potatoes.  Mash the garlic right in there with everything else.

Slightly Spicy Rainbow Trout

• 1 lb rainbow trout fillets
• salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper
• 1 to 2 tbsp butter

Season the trout generously with salt, garlic, and onion, and lightly with the cayenne.  Melt 1 tbsp butter in a frying pan over high heat, and place fillets in skin down.  Once the fillets are most of the way cooked through, flip and cook on the top for just a minute or so to lightly brown.

I had to do these in two batches, since rainbow trout seem to be thin and wide.  When I did the second batch, I had to add more butter.  You want to make sure the trout doesn't stick to the pan.

Easter Potatoes - sort of

Happy Easter Everyone!  Hope the Easter Bunny brought you real, solid chocolate bunnies, and not the crappy, hollow, waxy stuff!  My Easter Bunny told me that he only provides Jelly Beans - and that those are only for the dog!!

So, this year for Easter, my husband and I went to his family's house.  I'm always worried about how adventurous other people are going to be, not to mention the inherent panic of cooking for one's in-laws, but I asked to bring the potato(ish) dish.  Those are the exact words I asked my husband to use: "Potato-ish."

So, I brought a Root Vegetable Gratin, with WI cheeses.  It was good, but a little runny.  I wonder if maybe one of the cheeses wasn't good for melting?  Or perhaps one of the root vegetables gave off too much water.  I'm going to have to play with this one!

Regardless, I think it was a success.  No one asked "What is this?  This is clearly not potatoes!" after taking one bite.  And no one said "gross" after I told them what it was.  

100% local, with the exception of one sweet potato!

Root Vegetable Gratin

Serves 8-10; more if you have enough other food to feed an army!

• 1 Tbs. unsalted butter,  plus additional for dish
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups heavy cream
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 lb. parsnips, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
• 1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch
    thick
• 1 lb. celery root, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick 
• 1 lb. turnips, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
• 8 oz. (or more) cheese, shredded.  I used a combination of Carr Valley Cheeses.
• 1 Tbs. minced fresh chives
• 3 Tbs. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preheat an oven to 400°F. Butter a 3-quart baking dish.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and heat just until bubbles form around the edges of the pan, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes.

Arrange a layer of parsnips, slightly overlapping, in the prepared dish. Arrange a layer of sweet potatoes on top, then a layer of turnips, then a layer of celery root. Pour half of the cream mixture over the celery root, and sprinkle half of the cheese, thyme and parsley on top. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and lightly press the gratin down with a spatula. Continue baking until the vegetables are tender and the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes more. Let the gratin stand for 15 minutes before serving.

A Cornucopia of Spring Time Goodness! Grilled Buffalo, Daikon and Watercress Salad with Goat Cheese and Apple Cider Vinegarette, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips

This week was a local food roller-coaster!  On Saturday I had to teach Tamarind's Saturday class at 10, so I got up extra early to go to the winter farmer's market - only to find there was almost NOTHING there.  Meat, yes; but no vegetables!  In my mind, starting this project on the first of spring meant that things would be rough at first, but that each week would get easier.  That has not been the case so far.  I ended up leaving the market with two dozen eggs and a pound of mixed mushrooms.  

So I stopped at the Outpost on the way home.  Their local selection, while more than nothing, was also not promising:  Red and green cabbage, rutabagas, celery root, daikon radishes, parsnips, watercress, and salad greens.  Sounds like a vegetarian episode of chopped!  So, I got a few parsnips, a daikon radish, a rutabaga, and a package of watercress.  I have made parsnips before, but had no idea what to do with the rest of it.

Saturday I also had an all day performance at the Domes, which is one of my favorite shows that Tamarind does every year, but since it's all day in costume and in the heat of the tropical dome, there is no cooking (or real moving of any kind) afterward.  Dinner was the last of the spaghetti in my freezer, along with leftover homemade pasta from earlier in the week.  I had frozen some, and it cooked up nicely so I was quite pleased.

Sunday, though, it was gorgeous out.  I believe we hit a high of 84, which is almost unheard of in April in Wisconsin.  A perfect day to cook out on the grill, and then have a fire in the chimnea at night.

 The buffalo was awesome!  I've never had a buffalo steak before, and it was so much leaner than beef - but not chewy or tough.  I grilled them medium rare, which I would recomend.  I think overcooking them would quickly turn them into a shoe!  The parsnips and sweet potatoes were sweet and creamy - but not so much smooth.  I actually prefer a chunky mashed potato, but if you like yours whipped I think you'd have to do something more to these.

But my biggest surprise came from the salad.  The daikon/carrot/onion combination was tangy and spicy, the watercress was crunchy and peppery, the dressing was sweet, and the goat cheese was smooth and creamy.  I don't know that I've never had a daikon radish outside of garnishes at Japanese restaurants, I had no idea what I was going to do with it when I bought it, and I am so, so, SO pleased with how it turned out.  It was the perfect spring salad!


Daikon and Watercress Salad with Goat Cheese

• 1 daikon radish, julienned (local)
• 3-4 carrots, julienned (or enough to be about the same amount as the daikon) (local)
• 1/2 small red onion, sliced thinly (local)
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive Oil

•  1 cup washed watercress (local)
• 1 cup washed mixed spring greens (local)
• crumbled goat cheese (local)

Mix daikon, carrots, and onion in a small bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Toss to combine.

Combine watercress and mixed greens, and portion out.  Top each portion with a small handful of daikon, carrots, and onions, then top that with the goat cheese.  Dress with...

Apple Cider Vinaigrette
(modified from epicurious.com)

• 1 cup apple cider (local)
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar (not local, but already in my house)
• 2 tbsp honey (local)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon salt

Combine all items in a tightly closing jar.  Shake jar to combine.  This tastes even better on day two!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips

• 2 medium parsnips (local)
• 2 medium sweet potatoes (not local, but in my pantry)
• Salt and pepper
• Butter (local)
• Milk (local)
• Honey (local) (optional)

Wash and peel parsnips and sweet potatoes, and cut into approximately 1/2 inch slices.  Add to a large pot and cover with cold water.  Add salt to the pot, and bring to a boil.  Cook until parsnips and potatoes are soft when pricked with a fork.  Drain water, and mash with butter and milk.  Taste, and add salt and pepper.  I thought that they needed to be just a little sweeter, so I added about a tbsp of honey.

Grilled Buffalo New York Strip Steaks

• 2 Buffalo New York Strip Steaks (local)
• Minced Garlic (local)
• Minced Chives (coming up in the garden!  Go Spring!!)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• A generous drizzle of olive oil

Season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper.  Drizzle olive oil over the bottom of a glass baking pan large enough to hold both steaks.  Add garlic and chives to the olive oil, and whisk.  Add steaks to the oil and turn so they are well coated.  Allow steaks to rest in the oil at room temperature for at least 15 minutes, turning occasionally to coat.  Grill over medium high heat for approximately 5 minutes a side, or until medium rare.  Allow steaks to rest at least 5 minutes before cutting into.