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A simple fish dish.

First, a quiz: what was once the most common root vegetable until ousted by the potato in the sixteenth century?

A. Carrot.
B. Turnip.
C. Parsnip.

The answer, if you can believe what you read on the Internet, is the parsnip.

Take me back to the sixteenth century, because I love parsnips. I even made parsnip chips once, they were all crispy and delicious, slightly sweet, because parsnips have a sweetish flavour with herbal overtones.

Here's a very simple fish recipe I have made many times over the years using parsnips.

Baked fish with winter vegetables.

Slice a parsnip and a carrot into discs and place them in a lidded baking dish along with an onion sliced into segments. Barely cover with white wine and water, about 75/25, and place in a moderate oven. The aroma of the sweet vegetables and the onion baking in wine will filter through the house - it is a delicious redolence.

When the vegetables are almost done, add the fish. I use any fish for this, whatever is fresh and inexpensive at the market. Simply lay it over the top of the vegetables, add a knob of butter and a light shower of white pepper and put the dish back in the oven.

It won't take long as the oven, the dish, the vegetables and the fluid are already hot. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.

That's it. Lift the fish and vegetables out of the fluid, lay on serving plates and serve with some nice greens and maybe some mashed potato - the new root vegetable in town.

Don't forget a nice aromatic white wine to go with this. Maybe a good sauvignon blanc.

Comments

  1. parsnips are still very popular here, either as oven baked or roasted vegtables, or including them in mashed potato, the only shame is you never seem to by enough of them, once there washed, peeled, chopped or sliced you suddenly realise, i wish i had bought more.

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  2. I chose parsnips... hmm, now I'll have to look into cooking up some of those!

    Thanks for the comment on the bulot. I don't know why it is, but that sea snail had a really chewy, slimy texture when just cooked. Eating them cold was a more palatable experience. The problem I suspect, is that they weren't the freshest available.

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  3. I have never had parnsip. At least consciously.

    Dang, now i'm going to have look up Rowena's site about bulot.

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