Parsnips Frites

 

Success!  French-fried parsnips got a two forks up on the yummy new food scale.  I guess I had never noticed before since I've not done a lot with parsnips on their own, that they do sweeten up when cooked, which is why I chose to offset the sweetness with a sprinkling of chili powder and salt when they were done.  Mmm Mmm Mmm...

PARSNIPS FRITES
aka French-fried parsnips

parsnips, peeled and julienned large
canola (or vegetable) oil
chili powder
salt

You want to cut your parsnips into thick "French fry" length pieces.

You can do them thinner, but they may not hold up so well in the next step.

Place your parsnip fries in a large pot filled with water.  Bring to a boil and cook until parsnips are just fork-tender.

You want them parboiled so that they will cook faster once you fry them.  FYI, this photo was after I had already removed the bulk of them which is why it looks kind of dreggy.

Once parboiled, drain and complete dry your parsnip fries.

I put a towel underneath the paper towel to help pull away extra moisture without leaving little fuzzies on your fries.  You don't want any water on them when you put them in the oil or it could cause excessive popping and spattering of the oil.

In a deep pot, bring 1 to 1-1/2" of canola (or vegetable) oil to full heat over high setting.  Test the heat by carefully tossing in a parsnip fry.  You want it to bubble up as soon as it hits the heat.

By using a deep pot, you cut back on the spatter when cooking the parsnips.  If you don't have a deep pot, then using a screen to cover your pan will work too.

Once the oil is ready, cook the parsnip fries in batches until a deep golden brown.

Was busy cooking and forgot to take shot of batches in pot, sorry about that.

Once they are the color you want, using a slotted spoon or ladle, drain fries on a rack and sprinkle with chili powder and salt to your own taste.

Special for Mom and Dad, I cooked up some pepper-rubbed filet mignon for them to eat with their Parsnips Frites (because it seemed like the fancy thing to do if I was going to give the parsnips such a fancy name).  The sweetness of the fried parsnips made a nice complement to the spicy taste of the pepper rub.

NOTE

I used two large parsnips and the produced enough fries for all three of us to have decent portion of them.

I ended up using vegetable oil because I was out of canola.  They took a little longer to fry up than they would with canola, but the end result was the same.