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Fried Parsnips
Boil 4 or 5 large parsnips. Drain them well, and cut them either into rounds or long slices, a quarter of an inch thick. Dip them into frying batter, and fry them in hot lard or dripping until they are lightly browned on both sides. Drain well, and serve very hot, as an accompaniment to roasted joints or fowls. Make batter same as for oyster plant.
A simple fritter of pre-boiled parsnip. The only real difficulty is that the recipe sends you elsewhere for the batter and gives no fat temperature.
- The batterThe cross-reference is to the book's oyster plant (salsify) entry, which is where the batter is given; the parsnip entry itself supplies none. Any plain fritter batter -- flour, egg, a little milk or water and salt, beaten smooth -- will serve.
- Boil them shortStop while a knife still meets slight resistance rather than boiling to full softness; whole large roots may take 20 minutes or more. Fully soft ones collapse when dipped and slide out of the batter in the fat.
- Dry the slices"Drain them well" is the hinge. Wet parsnip sheds its coating; spread the rounds on a towel and let the surface steam dry before dipping.
- Fat temperatureLard or beef dripping at 350-375F. Below that the batter soaks; above it the outside colours before the interior heats through. Fry in batches so the fat does not drop.
- CoreLarge parsnips often have a fibrous woody core. Quarter them lengthwise after boiling and cut it away, then slice, rather than serving tough centres.
- Fat substitutionDripping gives the flavour the book intends, but any neutral oil with a high smoke point works. Butter will burn at these temperatures.
- YieldFour or five large parsnips will serve roughly four to six as a side dish. Serve immediately; battered vegetables go limp soon after leaving the pan.