Pay some attention to parsnips
From Toronto chef and respected cookbook author Lynn Crawford comes a beautiful new book celebrating local foods, season by season.
Farm to Chef: Cooking Through the Seasons (Penguin, 2017) is a go-to source for whenever you return from shopping with the best-looking fruit and vegetables, or when you have the urge to try making winter imports taste as good as local foods in their season.
Crawford, author of At Home With Lynn Crawford (Penguin Canada, 2013) and Lynn Crawford’s Pitchin’ In (Viking, 2012), is the chef at Toronto’s Ruby Watchco. She relishes the natural taste of food; in the case of parsnips, a vegetable we should pay more attention to, she likes the complex mix of flavours — “earthy, nutty, buttery. … You’re missing out if you don’t give this distinctive root a taste.”
Besides 140 well-written recipes, each one with lively anecdotes, Farm to Chef includes exceptional photographs by Virginia Macdonald.
PARSNIP AND GRUYÈRE GRATIN
2 pounds (900 g) parsnips, peeled, thinly sliced on the diagonal 2 dry shallots, thinly sliced crosswise in rings 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp (5 mL) fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp (10 mL) kosher or coarse salt
1 tsp (5 mL) cracked black pepper
Pinch freshly grated or ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) whipping cream
4 oz (115 g) Gruyère cheese, coarsely grated
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Butter a 2-quart (2 L) baking dish and a large piece of parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the parsnips, shallots, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, nutmeg, cream and half the cheese, combining well. Spoon into prepared baking dish and top with prepared parchment paper, buttered side down. Cover dish with aluminum foil.
3. Bake in preheated oven until parsnips are tender, about 80 minutes.
4. Remove foil and parchment paper and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Return to oven and bake until cheese is melted and parsnips are golden, about 15 minutes more.
5. Let cool five minutes before serving.