In Season: PARSNIPS
Photos: Patrick Schwanz
Recipes & Article: Marc Wieberneit
Today we devote ourselves to a root vegetable, one that has been long forgotten and is usually thought of as in the form of a mushy blob on a babbling baby’s bib: parsnips. They used to be top of the class, then the potato came along and knocked it from its glory. Parsnips were out. A shame if you ask me. The delicate, sweet, nutty flavour makes them ideal for delicious soups, purees and stews. Today, we’re making the latter.
September is here. As the days slowly become crisper, all you want to do is relax at home. What’s better than a warm stew steaming away? Just like back in the day at Grandma’s, only a little different. Instead of a traditional stew with a knob of butter on the side, we’re cooking the vegetables in a strong stock and baking some crunchy baguette to accompany it.
Get cozy and cook a lovely parsnip stew with your friends or family, or just by yourself. Just a tip: it’s great if you prepare the stock while the dough is rising. A lot of bang for relatively little work.
Directions
First, wash the parsnips, carrots and the leek. Peel the parsnips and carrots (saving the skin) and slice into walnut-sized pieces. Create a vegetable stock with the vegetable scraps, skin, peppercorns, a bayleaf, and an onion sliced in half by bringing 1.5 litres of water to a boil and allowing it to infuse for 10 minutes. Then, pour the stock through a sieve. Peel and slice the onion. Sauté the vegetables in a large pan with butter for 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt and herbs. Allow everything to simmer for 30 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with cress and baguette.
Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water. Mix together flour and salt and add the water. Knead into a dough (keeping the dough somewhat moist) and dust with flour. Cover and allow to rise in a warm spot for 20 minutes. Knead into a rectangle, fold the edges into the middle and flip. Repeat this two more times, then knead the dough into a sausage-shaped roll (don’t make it too thick as the dough will still expand), brush with water, slice the top with a sharp knife and dust with flour. Bake at 230 °C for 20-25 minutes.
Parsnip Stew with Baguette
4 Servings
For the stew:
4 parsnips
2 carrots
2 onions
1 leek stalk
3 twigs thyme
1 bowl cress
butter
salt
6 black peppercorns
pepper
sugar
For the Baguette:
500g flour (Type 550 or Type 65)
1 yeast cube
12g salt
340ml water
