Root Crops - Carrots, Beets, Turnips, Radish, Parsnips, Misc

[Zana]

PESTO CHANGO
A New York restaurant's leaf-to-root dish

We’re familiar with the waste-not approach of nose-to-tail cooking, in which chefs use “everything but the oink” on their menus. It took a chat with chef Joel Somerstein, however, for us to realize we could apply that same philosophy to root-vegetable cookery. At the high-end Soho kosher restaurant, he roasts sweet baby carrots and serves them with an inventive almond-carrot top pesto; the bright sauce prevents those feathery green tops from ending up in the compost bin and gives an autumn-appropriate side dish a whole new look.

Roasted Baby Carrots with Almond- Carrot Top Pesto

Recipe adapted from Jezebel, New York City
Makes: 4 servings (and about ¾ cup pesto)

INGREDIENTS
2 bunches baby carrots, tops attached (about 2 pounds)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1½ teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup sliced almonds, toasted
2 garlic cloves

Start to Finish: 45 minutes

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Cut the tops off the carrots, leaving ½ inch of the stem attached. Reserve the tops. Peel the carrots, transfer to a large baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Spread the carrots in a single layer and roast until tender, about 18 minutes, depending on the size of your carrots. Remove the carrots from the oven and cover with foil for 5 minutes to finish cooking.
2. Meanwhile, pick the carrot leaves off the reserved stems. (Discard the stems.) Prepare an ice-water bath. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the leaves until tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer the leaves to the ice-water bath to cool.
3. Drain the carrot leaves, then transfer to a blender or the bowl of a food processor. Add the almonds and garlic and pulse briefly. With the motor running, slowly add the remaining ½ cup of olive oil and blend until a paste-like pesto forms. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a serving bowl and set aside.
4. Arrange the carrots on a serving plate and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature with the pesto on the side.


Read more: http://www.purewow.com/entry_detail/...#ixzz2BSf3BYMV

[Lasairfion]

I'm sure you've all eaten carrot cake, but have you tried parsnip cake? It's even better than carrot cake! So moist

Source: BBC Good Food - Catherine Berwick

Parsnip & Maple Syrup Cake

Note: you can substitute the maple syrup for golden syrup: it works just as well; and you can leave out the pecans.
Also you'll curse grating up the parsnips so if you've got a food processor: use it!

Ingredients

175g / 6oz butter, plus extra for greasing
250g / 9oz demerara sugar
100ml / 3.5 fl.oz maple/golden syrup
3 large eggs
250g / 9oz self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
250g / 9oz parsnips, peeled and grated
1 medium eating apple, peeled, cored and grated
50g / 2oz pecans, roughly chopped
zest and juice 1 small orange
icing sugar, to serve

For the filling

250g / 9oz tub mascarpone
3-4 tbsp maple/golden syrup

Method:

Heat oven to 180C (356F)/160C (320F) fan/gas 4.
Grease 2 x 20cm (8") sandwich tins and line the bases with baking parchment.

Melt butter, sugar and syrup in a pan over gentle heat, then cool slightly.

Whisk the eggs into this mixture, then stir in the flour, baking powder and mixed spice...

...followed by the grated parsnip, apple, chopped pecans, orange zest and juice.

Divide between the tins, then bake for 25-30 mins until the tops spring back when pressed lightly.

Cool the cakes slightly in the tins before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Just before serving, mix together the mascarpone and syrup.

Spread over one cake and sandwich with the other. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

[coronabarb]

Sounds interesting! I will have to try it.

[Lasairfion]

I can heartily recommend it Coronabarb. The last time someone made it, I had 4 pieces.

----

I love Jas Townsend and Son's 18th Century Cooking channel. So many amazing recipes on there. One I really enjoyed making was their Carrot Custard (a pudding). It was so tasty.

Ingredients:
A cup full of carrots (boiled)
5 Eggs
2 oz Sugar
2 oz Butter
Cinnamon to taste.

Method:
Add your boiled carrots to a bowl and mash.
Tip in your five whisked eggs, and the butter and sugar, along with a teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix it all together.

Pour into a deep pre-greased bowl and bake for about an hour at about 350F.

Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaMoCbuzMjk

[GoDawgs]

Marinated Turnips

This recipe is for one pint jar of marinated turnips but you can make as many jars as you want.

4 medium turnips, peeled and cut into ¾” cubes (for 1 pint jar)

Pack cubed turnips into a pint jar. To each pint jar, mix up and add the following:

3 TBS white vinegar
3 TBS salad oil (canola or other)
1 clove garlic, crushed
¾ tsp seasoning salt
2 tsp salt

Cover tightly and refrigerate, shaking occasionally. These will keep a long time.