Parsnip Chips

Parsnip Chips

Ingredients:

• Parsnips
• Butter
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions:

1. Trim the parsnips of any ends which are smaller in diameter than about your middle finger. You can use the trimmed ends in something else like a stir fry, or soup, or grate them and make fritters.
2. Peel the parsnips and either steam or poach in boiling water for between 10-20 minutes or until just tender. 
3. Dry and cool the parsnips for a few minutes, until they don't burn you when you handle them.
4. Slice the parsnips into dollar chips that are about 1 centimeter in width.
5. Heat a skillet over medium heat, and melt some butter in the pan, enough to coat the entire bottom of the skillet.
6. Add the parsnip chips. Season lightly with salt, heavily with pepper. 
7. Lots of pepper. 
8. Let cook on one side until golden brown, adding more butter to the pan as needed, there should always be a little in the pan, right up until they are pretty much finished. 
9. Turn and cook the other side to golden brown.
10. Serve right away.

Enjoy!

Notes:

Parsnip is an odd vegetable to me, there really aren't that many vegetables that I really enjoy but this is one of my favorites. The strange thing is that no one I know outside of my close family seem to eat them or know what they are really. Parsnips are kind of like a white carrot, or a carrot shaped potato, in a way anyways, but with a nice mild sweet taste and smooth texture.

My favorite way to serve parsnips is as a side with dinner using this recipe. It is really simple and pretty much fool proof. My dinner party friends are always excited when I have it on the menu, and was always popular back home for family dinner on Sundays.