Parsnip Puree Soup and Crisps

Parsnip Puree Soup and Crisps

by | Le Blog, Recipes and Culinary Nutrition

Parsnip Puree Soup and Crisps

Parsnip puree soup | thetasteworkshop.com

Parsnip Puree Soup with Crisps

You’re so sweet, you’re so fine, but a sugar bomb in wintertime. Okay, the song doesn’t go this way but, in winter, cold converts parsnip starches to sugar at high levels and if the parsnips freeze before harvest, they become even sweeter.

This sweet taste quality can make parsnips particularly popular with kids. However, for some adults, parsnips can taste too sweet unless savory or piquant, spicy ingredients are added. Another option, since parsnips are available year round, is to try them outside of the winter holidays as with this recipe which is using Spring parsnips.

This pureed soup relies simply on parsnips plus onion and garlic as the aromatic ingredients. Salt balances the sweet and enhances parsnip’s nutty flavor qualities. So feel creative with adding any contrasting or complementary flavors.

This recipe is also in honor of National Nutrition Month and its compelling theme of “Savor the Flavor of Eating Right”.

Serves 4-6 (makes 5½-6 cups)

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium (7-8 ounces) yellow onion, roughly chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 medium parsnips (about 2¼ pounds), peeled, chopped into ½ to 1-inch sized pieces (to make some crisps, reserve a 3” segment from a middle or end piece of a parsnip)
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
  • 4 cups water (stock can substitute, but see the tasting notes)

Optional: Garnishes and spices—serving option notes

Puree Steps

  1. Over medium heat, warm the oil, then add the onions, garlic and salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add 4 cups of water to the pot, and while it is heating, peel and chop the parsnips (except leave a segment if making chips) then add to the water. Cook the parsnips at a rapid simmer for about 20 minutes or until the parsnips are butter soft.
  3. Blend directly in the pot with an emulsion blender or blend in a counter-top blender.

 

Parsnip Crisp Steps

  1. Use a knife or a mandolin to create very thin (less than 1/8 inch) potato chip slices.
  2. To a medium-sized pot, add enough cooking oil (see notes) to have ½” of oil. Heat over medium-high heat until you see the oil begin to ripple (see notes), then add enough slices to nearly cover the surface of the oil, but not so the slices overlap.
  3. These will cook fast, so be close by with a slotted spoon to pull them out as they start to brown and place them on a paper towel to cool.
  • Smoke point temperatures: for frying, select a cooking oil with a high smoke point. Examples include refined (not cold pressed) organic canola oil, grape seed oil or vegetable oil.
  • Smoke point signs: What’s your oil telling you? To avoid having a hot oil smoke, for health and taste reasons, catch the oil just before it smokes. Look for signs on the surface such as ripples, dimpling or waving activities.
  • Stock versus water: Not all soups require vegetable or animal-based stocks. In fact, these can create distracting new flavors for vegetables, particularly ones with delicate flavor profiles. To make this parsnip soup more savory, chicken stock would work. Vegetable stock can also work but some vegetable stocks have too much carrot or other sweet flavors that don’t do parsnips any favors.
  • Serve with a few crispy pan-fried parsnip chips layered on top
  • Sprinkle on some smoked paprika and /or Aleppo chili flakes to balance the sweet notes
  • Drizzle on some flavorful Garlic Walnut Green sauce
Parsnip puree soup | thetasteworkshop.com

“For…we can make liquor to sweeten our lips of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips.”   American Colonist around 1630, a poem excerpt Ancestors in aprons 

    About Me

    The pleasure of food, good health and well-being through simple habits for eating well and flexitarian low-key cooking.
    National Nutrition Month

    National Nutrition Month 2016

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    Michele Redmond

    Michele Redmond

    French-trained Chef, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist & Food Enjoyment Activist

    It's about Making Food First

    Get Eat Well Academy periodic updates on easy ways to choose and cook foods that satisfy your appetite, nurture your body and make eating well a pleasure.

    Caramelized Carrot and Ginger Miso Soup with almonds and pomegranate

    Caramelized Carrot and Ginger Miso Soup with almonds and pomegranate

    by | Le Blog, Recipes and Culinary Nutrition

    Caramelized Carrot and Ginger Miso Soup with almonds and pomegranate

    Typically carrots are oven-roasted to develop caramelized sugars but pan roasting can create some of these flavor compounds in a one-pot dish—less washing and no hot oven! The garnishes add a crunchy almond texture and contrasting sweet-tart pomegranate seeds.

    Caramelized Carrot and Ginger Miso Soup with almonds and pomegranate

    Author: Chef Michele
    Ingredients
    • 1 Tablespoon olive oil or enough to coat the pot
    • 2 pounds of carrots, peeled, cut into 1 inch “cylinders”
    • ½ large yellow onion, cut into 8 wedges
    • ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 4.5 cups vegetable broth
    • Big pinch of cayenne
    • 2” piece (2 heaping teaspoons) ginger root, peeled and chopped*
    • 1/3 cup of white or yellow miso or ¼ cup red miso
    • Fresh lemon juice from half a lemon
    • 1-2 tablespoons honey
    • Garnish Ingredients: Toasted almond slices and Pomegranite seeds
    Instructions
    1. Heat oil in a large stock pot on medium-high heat until oil is very hot but not smoking. Add carrots (should hear a sizzle). Every 5 minutes toss carrots to caramelize more areas and prevent burning.
    2. Sauté for about 14 minutes or until carrots have darkened in color. Pull out any small pieces that have burnt and nibble on as a snack (dark flecks are hard to blend out of a pureed soup).
    3. Lower heat to medium-low, sprinkle salt on carrots, add onions stir and cook until onions have softened.
    4. Add the broth, ginger and cayenne and cook 30-45 minutes on a simmer until carrots are tender enough for a knife blade to easily pass through the carrot.
    5. Add lemon juice and miso**. Use an emulsion blender to puree the soup or in a blender, puree in batches.
    6. If soup is too thick, add more broth or water and blend. Taste soup and add more honey and salt if desired.
    7. Serve in bowls and garnish with pomegranate seeds and toasted almond slices.
    8. *chopped into ⅛ inch pieces if the blending device is powerful, otherwise grate the ginger
    9. **miso has better flavor when not heated for long times or at high temperatures.

      About Me

      The pleasure of food, good health and well-being through simple habits for eating well and flexitarian low-key cooking.
      Michele Redmond

      Michele Redmond

      French-trained Chef, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist & Food Enjoyment Activist

      It's about Making Food First

      Get Eat Well Academy periodic updates on easy ways to choose and cook foods that satisfy your appetite, nurture your body and make eating well a pleasure.

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