winter veg

My brother in law came for a brief visit to Suffolk last weekend. He has been living abroad for 8 years and I felt like treating him to some country fare. I cooked a turkey and dug up some parsnips which have successfully thrived the complete winter without any tending from me! The experts say that parsnips are at their best in January and February so I scrubbed them and roasted them with a small amount of olive oil and sprinkles of dried rosemary that were gathered from the herb garden last year.

They stole the show. Every last one was consumed and they tasted so sweet. Now is the time to eat, local to you, parsnips. Here is my favorite way of cooking them but please feel free to visit our blog and add your comments:

1. Scrub the parsnips and cut off the stalks. I like to leave the long tails as they become crispy in the oven and the most yummy part!
2. Get your oven hot. About 200c
3. Put the parsnips in a large flat bottomed pre oiled dish ( we use olive oil) and sprinkle generously with rosemary, salt and a little crushed black pepper.
4. Roast until they are golden brown and the tails are crispy. Usually about an hour.
5. Serve with almost any dish but cold meat and other veg is perfect. Crab apple jelly is a delicious addition if you have some but any pickle or jelly would do.
6. Enjoy!