Before spring is sprung, I had to get in one last fix of my favorite parsnips.
An often overlooked root veggie, they have a lovely nutty, vanilla taste, making them ideal for using in so many ways.
Take these “Curried Parsnips.”
As is, they make for an easy side dish. But mixed with two cups of stock, then pureed, they also make for the base of a comforting, velvety soup.
If ever there was a food that transports us back to childhood with just one sip, it’s tomato soup.
I remember digging a spoon into a deep bowl of that cheerful orange-red, velvety soup as an after-school snack, alongside a stack of saltine crackers. I remember yearning for it on rainy days, especially. And I remember it as the perfect pick-me-up sure to cure any teenage funk.
Of course, back then, my tomato soup did come out of a can.
Now, leave it to Food Network Star Ina Garten to come up with a homemade version of that beloved staple so many of us grew up on. Hers is decidedly more grown-up, yet still maintains the heart and soul we all love about the canned kind.
Parsnips are sweet, starchy and kind of look like albino carrots gone wild.
They’ve been treasured for eons, too. Did you know that the English made parsnip wine in the nineteenth century? That the Irish liked to brew parsnip beer? And that even now, Italian farmers who raise pigs for melt-in-your-mouth Parma prosciutto often feed their animals parsnips to add natural sweetness to their meat?
Although I’ve traveled through parts of Europe, I’ve yet to make it to Greece.
(Cue melancholy violin music now.)
Yes, the white-washed buildings and mesmerizing blue sea there have yet to be explored.
Until I finally do journey there, I have to content myself with getting my fill of Greek food at Bay Area restaurants. Or by making it, myself.
Thankfully, Diane Kochilas’ new cookbook, “The Country Cooking of Greece” (Chronicle Books), makes that part easy. The cookbook, of which I received a review copy, is the latest by Kochilas, who has written 18 other books specializing in Greek cuisine.
The 200 recipes spotlight Greek country cooking, full of nutritious greens, whole grains and the bounty of the Mediterranean Sea.
“Northern Greek Braised Pork and Leeks” is a classic dish made all over northern Greece that’s a favorite Sunday repast.
Who doesn’t need an extra pair of hands when cooking the holiday feast?
If you have a rice cooker in your kitchen, you are good to go then.
Because it’s almost like having an extra helping hand.
Especially when it comes to making risotto.
Imagine being able to make this creamy rice dish without having to stir it constantly. The rice cooker will free you up from that.
“Risotto Milanese” is from the 10th anniversary edition of “The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook” (Harvard Common Press) that was written by my two good friends, Julie Kaufmann (my former editor at the San Jose Mercury News), and Beth Hensperger, a James Beard award-winning and most prolific cookbook author.
The book boasts 250 recipes, many of which you’d never guess could be made in a rice cooker, including tamales, puddings and porridges.