Whether or not your parsnips are tough and stringy has more to do with their growing conditions than their size. They can remain tender even when quite large if they have had a happy life. They can be harvested all through the winter (mark where they are because the tops die down) and into the spring but when new greens start to grow the quality will begin to go down. They are very hardy and will not be bothered by a freeze. In fact it is generally believed that they taste better after a few frosts. You can tell if a parsnip is going to be tough when you prepare it because you will be aware of the fibrous nature as you cut it up. They are delicious roasted (you can parboil them first to make it quicker), they also mash well either alone or in a mixture with other root vegetables. They have a good affinity with butter and cream. Roasted they can have parmesan, curry, turmeric or paprika added for added interest. As TCLynx says they make great crisps (chips to you) and are sold over here as such, alone or in a mixture with beetroot, carrot and potato as vegetable crisps. If all else fails you can turn them into wine.

Flora has compressed an incredible amount of information in that little post. Read through it a few times, paying close attention to the details. For example, the mention of curry can lead to any number of delicious baked preparations in combination with cream, butter, honey or various other permutations.

Jim

Wine ? Please tell us more.

kim

Thanks for all the info. I can't wait to try your suggestions for cooking them!!

never give up, I'm here in Northern Michigan and we already have several inches of snow. I dug my parsnips a few weeks ago but traditionally the old farmers left them in the ground all winter, saying it made them sweeter. They were the first fresh vegetable available in the spring and didn't take up space in the root cellar that way.

I find that a couple of good hard freezes are all parsnips need to get nice and sweet, so dig them or leave them, your choice. They overwinter nicely.

I agree that it's growing conditions that make the parsnips tough or tender. Some of my very big ones are perfectly nice, I just cut them up and roast them at 400F with a drizzle of olive oil and a little salt and pepper, love 'em. If they are too tough, they can be cut in half and the cores removed and that helps.

Annie

Thank you Annie. The fact that I can leave some in the ground will really help, because we don't have a root cellar and our basement is too hot.

We just had some roasted and pureed to make soup, boy was that good! Parsnips will definitely be on next years growing list!

Oh I'm jealous! I love parsnips. They just tend to grow real tough down here but I try anyway.

Please, tell us more about parsnip wine, never heard of that before!

Did I mention I love parsnips?

did someone say wine??

i make a curried carrot soup, and thought if parsnips are sweet maybe there is a curried parsnip soup. i Googled it and sure enough there is. next year we will be trying parsnips in our garden.

I had some parsnip wine at a homemade wine tasting - very good! It reminded me a bit of dandelion wine. I've made a lot of homemade wine, but mostly with wild fruit.

I may have to find some room in the garden. We love parsnips, but they are so expensive in the store. Also, if you overwinter them in the garden, mulch them with a thick pile of straw to keep the ground from freezing solid. I made that mistake with carrots one year, so when I wanted to harvest some in January, I couldn't get them out of the ground.

Here is a link that might be useful: Parsnip Wine Recipes

We spent yesterday afternoon roasting and pureeing parsnips and carrots. They were SOOOOOO Good! I found some recipes to try using one or both purees and look forward to trying them over the winter.

I found the parsnips to be just as you all said. Some of the biggest knarly looking ones were more tender than the smaller ones and some were tough and stringy. I need to do some homework on them this winter.

As malna said they are so expensive in the stores that we never tried them. We tried a number of vegetables this year that we had never had before. Parsnips are a keeper. Can't wait until spring!

Parsnips - stop press.... I have just been away on a walking weekend with some friends and for some reason as we sat on a cliff top in Cornwall overlooking the Atlantic eating our sandwiches conversation strayed to parsnips. Goodness knows why. It seems that one of our number always cut the cores out of parsnips because her father had done it and she had never questioned it. Of the rest of the group three had never heard of this and one had heard of it but didn't do it. So there you go - parsnips are a big subject!