Parsnips Part 2: Parsnip Purée
With part one of the parsnip adventure not turning out exactly as I’d hoped, I was a bit apprehensive about starting part two, the parsnip purée. I based my attempt on this adaptation of Julia Child’s recipe. My dish was a pan seared Hake (a white fish similar to Cod) served over a parsnip purée, with a spicy red seaweed salad (which I bought).
I started with the two left-over parsnips from part one, one large, one medium:
I chopped them into uniform-sized pieces (not worrying about making them too pretty, since they’d be puréed anyhow), placed them into a medium-sized saucepan and added water until they were just covered (though I discovered they started to float, so basically added water until they started floating). I also gave a couple generous pinches of kosher salt for seasoning:
I brought the pan to a boil, lowered to a simmer over medium-high heat, and cooked for about 20 to 25 minutes, until the parsnips were tender, and about 2/3 of the water had evaporated.
Once they were done cooking, I removed the pan from the heat, and carefully poured the whole mix into a food processor, and pulsed it (scraping down the sides as needed) until it reached the consistency I was looking for: a paste that still had some texture.
I spatulated (is that a verb?) the purée back into the sauce pan, and added about a tablespoon and a half of butter:
I continued to cook this over a medium-low (eventually turning it down to the lowest heat) until the butter was incorporated, seasoned to taste with more salt, then covered it while I prepared the rest of the dish (about 20 minutes).
The final product, plated:
How did it turn out? I think it was pretty delicious. There was the rich underlying sweetness of the parsnips, mixed with a savoriness from the salt, and the butter added just the right amount of creaminess. Brandon preferred the roasted parsnips, saying the purée was a little odd since it had the consistency of mashed potatoes, yet was a bit sweet.
Next up: beets!
Ingredients: parsnips (Dupont Circle Freshfarm Market), Lescure Burre des Charentes butter (BlackSalt), kosher salt (Whole Foods)
Wine: had a cocktail instead!