Thursday, 4 March 2010

The Absent Minded Gardener

I was taking advantage of a lovely sunny, if chilly, day today, to do a bit of digging over in the veg garden, and I found this monster lurking there. In case it's not obvious, it's a parsnip, left over from last year, it's over a foot long and weighs over four pounds!  I found several of them, I think I must have just forgotten about them when the bad weather set in, and when the tops withered off it wasn't obvious that they were there.  I doubt whether they will be still edible, as you can see from the pic, they've started sprouting again. When I cut it open, apart from the exposed bit at the top it's undamaged and as clean as a whistle, so I'll try cooking it just out of interest. It's time to be sowing seed for this year's parsnips now, so I will have to get the crow bar and get them out. Parsnip soup anyone? Other ideas or suggestions welcome.


9 comments:

Claire said...

Good food magazine have a website with recipes on and do a lovely honey mustar chicken dish which has parsnips in, may not dent the parsnip mountain though!

Anonymous said...

Soup or puree's probably the best bet once they're that big, though I have roasted slightly smaller ones. I think I cored them though.
You could always leave a few in the ground to set seed this year - they obviously store well :)
Elizabeth

Sue, Joe and Michael Webber said...

It looks like a leg of lamb! hahah! It's a monster alright! :D

Lexi said...

Maybe a gratin -sliced thin and baked they may be OK? Parmesan on top?
It's a whopper, can't believe it!

James said...

You could just it as a doorstop?!!

sarah said...

wow,massive! have just had my first parsnip sucess with ian, he usually hates them. Slice them up really thinly like french fries and roast like chips. or what about crisps £3 a bag in fresh and wild!!

tammykingdon said...

Parsnips are supposed to be sweeter when the frost has been at them so your's should be super! Just check if they've got the hard core bit that veggies get when they're going to seed, but you might have caught them in time. Yummy curried parsnip and split pea soup - you could probably make enough to last until the next parsnip season!

John Gray jgsheffield@hotmail.com said...

looks like something out of a horror film!!!!

The Cottage Garden Farmer said...

Thanks claire, I brushed a bit of honey on them and they were delicious!
Anon, I did cut out most of the core just to be on the safe side.
SJM - It was nice, but not as nice as a leg of lamb!
Lexi, will try that one as I have several more in the garden waiting to be dug up.
tammyk - yes the frost has certainly done them no harm, they were tender and quite sweet.
JG -wouldn't want to meet one on a dark night!
James, what are you trying to say....
Sarah, How much?!I will try the parsnip crisp idea as they turned out nice roasted

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