Parsnip - Fries, Creamy Hummus Mash

Food Prompts for Imbolc, Warming, White and Wicked

Parsnip Fries, or should I be calling them chips?

If you read my first post and New Moon edition for Imbolc you will remember this “Season of Awakening” and Sabbat of Celtic origin features themes of hearth and homemaking, new born lambs and the mother ewes in milk.

I wrote about how ewes milk was, indeed all dairy was an important and life saving resource to many. In fact dairy was known as a poor man’s “white meat” in medieval times, when common people could graze their animal on common land. The Lords having more land, more animals and therefore could more readily afford the “red meat.”

Many of Imbolc’s rituals and traditions involve dairy in some form or other and when brainstorming food ideas I could share for Imbolc; I could not help but think of Île Flottante / Floating Islands - a favourite French dessert of mine. Essentially poached meringue on a pool of custard / crème anglaise with a caramel garnish or sometimes toasted flaked almonds.

This photo is an oldie from my blog in 2009 - apologies!

I believe you can equally lay the “Œufs à la neige / Snow eggs” (Now I ask you, how perfect is that for an Imbolc dessert?!) of poached meringues on top of a mulitude of different and delicious pools, not limited to a dairy based vanilla custard. A chocolate custard for example, a coffee custard or both combined with a mocha custard. A caramel cream or butterscotch pool. Or create a beautiful custard with a plant based milk, almond or coconut. How about a lighter take with stewed or preserved fruits such as apricots or rhubarb, or a tangy tamarilo compote? Then there’s always a crustless meringue pie using lemon curd for your pool, another citrus or passionfruit curd, perhaps even a berry curd.

Despite appearances and the last couple of “proper” recipes I’ve shared all containing decadent amounts of dairy (Potato Gratin Dauphinois with Pear for Yule and Matariki’s Horopito Turmeric Tiramisù) believe it or not, I actually partake in far less dairy, milk and cream than I did a few years ago. Even preferring oat milk with my tea and coffee.

Few of us keep, graze or milk our own animals today, indeed many of us do not partake in dairy at all for a variety of reasons. I don’t want to get into all the reasons why. I simply hope to share with you some alternatives below, still in keeping with this milky theme, along with some other white foods to celebrate Imbolc.

White is a recurring theme for Imbloc and it was tradition to make foods with white ingredients - especially milky, creamy things. In ancient times after the cold Winter, ewe's milk was an extremely important resource, clearly for the new born lambs, but it was also often a vital means of survival, between the life or death of young new born humans, elderly or infirm during this season of scarcity.

Whilst obviously dairy comes to mind first, with milky ideas like custards, panna cotta, yoghurt, perhaps strained labne or soft cheeses, butter cakes and scones; these needn't be the only white or milky things. Plant based milks, nut butters, tahini, hummus, porridge oats are all creamy things too and just as befitting the season. As are pastas, rice, risotto, dumplings, oat cakes or vegan cheeses. Perhaps you would like to poach some fish, chicken or pork in milk. Also think about including white vegetables or milky plants like those mentioned above.

Eating seedy things like multigrain breads, crackers, hemp seeds, dukkah, trail mix / scroggin or muesli is also encouraged at this time of renewal. Sprouting seeds like peashoots, alfalfa, broccoli and radish or microgreens for your meals.

I was determined any other ideas I came up with to share, along with those above, must be naturally dairy free.

So how about potatoes? In all the ways! But potato wedges or skins served with garlic aïoli must score rather highly. Being wickedly delicious, comforting and naturally creamy white ingredients.

Cream of Soup, as in pureed soups. Vichyssoise - leek and potato, cream of mushroom, cauliflower or celeriac. A velvety roux based velouté, made with a smooth vegetable or chicken stock. (Yes, I know roux normally start with butter, but they needn’t.)

Although unfortunately a very rare idea here in New Zealand, I was reminded of blanched or forced late Winter / Spring vegetables such as Belgian endive, also called chicory or whitlof. White asparagus and especially rhubarb that are produced under forcing structures that limit the light, creating more pale, brighter and sweeter vegetables.

The recipe below celebrates another of my most favourite Winter vegetables, the humble parsnip. The sweet and earthy flavoured pale creamy coloured root, belonging to the same flowering plant family as carrots and parsley “Apiaceae”. Parsnips when roasted maintain generous amounts of Vitamin K and Vitamin C therefore giving you great gut health and a good immunity boost.

Parsnips have been culitvated since ancient times, popular with Romans their name “parsnip” is from the Latin ‘pastus’ meaning food and ‘sativa’ meaning cultivated. Parsnips were even used as a sweetener before being superceeded by the cultivation of sugar beets in 19th century Europe.

I regularly make “fries” with parsnips to accompany our meals throughout Winter, either serving them on their own or in a chippy mixture with lengths of kūmara and/or traditonal potato fries. They are a lovely twist to your regular chips alongside Winter burgers, steak or schnitzels and especially good with a mustardy flavoured sauce or gravy.

This recipe just happens to be a vegan one, where I whizz some of the tender parsnip “not quite fries” with chickpeas, you could use another white bean such a cannelini or butter beans. Creating a warm sweet and creamy hummus or “mash” to serve with the remaining parsnip fries, which are given more time in the oven to become golden and crispy. Because I often have trouble deciding between mash or fries, I see no reason we cannot have both! I prefer not to add garlic to this one, but of course feel free to tweak the hummus to your tastes. To bring in another seasonal element of interest I coated the parsnips lightly in maple syrup. Imbolc is about the time Canadians begin to tap maple trees to capture the flowing sap and boil it up into this wonderful heavenly syrup. Similar, although not as well known is tapping birch trees for their sap.

I finish the recipe with a few chopped dates that warm and swell deliciously caramelly in the oven. A generous handful of toasted pumpkin seeds also known as pepitas for renewal and a pop of green. Naturally you could subsititute sunflower, sesames or even nigella seeds. Finally some extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of tangy Sumac.

Maple Parsnip Fries with Dates, Pepitas and An Earthly Parsnip Creamy Hummus

Sweet Crunchy Fries, Heaven on Earth Creamy Mash. We eat these bowls of fries and mash as is, but they would be glorious as part of a greater mezze, or alongside some baked chicken pieces, crumbed chicken or pork schnitzels.

• 900 grams / 2 lbs of parsnips, peeled and cut into finger lengths

• extra virgin olive oil

• 3/4 cups of dried dates, halved (and checked for stones!)

• 1/4 cup of maple syrup

• 250 grams / 8 oz of drained canned or cooked chickpeas

• 3 tablespoons of tahini

• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

• flakey sea salt

• juice of a lemon, to taste

• toasted pepitas / pumpkin seeds

• sumac

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius

2. Spread the parsnip lengths out in a roasting pan and toss and coat with extra virgin olive oil.

3. Bake the parsnip for 20 to 25 minutes until tender, but still lightly coloured.

4. Meanwhile place the previously cooked or 1 drained can of chickpeas in a small saucepan and cover with boiling water. Bring them to the boil again to heat through and drain.

5. Tip the still hot chickpeas into a food processor.

6. Add 1 third of the now tender parsnip lengths to the hot chickpeas.

7. Mix the dried date halves with the remaining parsnip lengths and return to the oven to continue baking until golden and crisp, approximately 10 minutes, while you finish the hummus.

8. Add the tahini, cumin and a generous portion of salt to the chickpea mixture and process, adding lemon juice and hot water, until you reach your desired taste and creaminess.

9. When the parsnip fries are gloriously golden, remove them from the oven and coat them in the maple syrup and a sprinkling of flakey salt.

10. Dollop mounds of the warm parsnip hummus onto serving plates and using the back of a spoon make a well in each to hold some more extra virgin olive oil, top with the syrup coated fries and dates and generous sprinkle of pepitas and sumac.

11. Serves 3 to 4, or more as a side dish.

Let me know if this recipe or any of my other food ideas for Imbolc appeal to you. Or if you plan to mark the Sabbat with a special meal or dish that’s equally delicious, I’d love to hear.

Seasons Blessings 💫

Bron