Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Save My Piggy Soul

Fellow Foodies Listen Up...

Today I'm playing truant. I'm on a sabbatical and have now landed myself in a bit of a sticky situation.

I started the quest for the perfect parsnip chip earlier today. Half an hour later, I find myself sinking into a pit of despair.

Having amalgamated several roasted parsnip recipes courtesy of google, I did the following -

Peeled and sliced two parsnips (and some carrots that were lying about too),
Boiled them for 5 minutes,
Tossed the slices in olive oil, cayenne and some salt,
Made a fake oven tray using foil paper, greased it, and lined it carefully with the slices,
Put the tray in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees C.

This is what my oven expects me to have for lunch...



Soggy,
Slimey,
Non-Crispy,
Non-Crunchy
Parsnip and Carrot Chips

I have refused to accept them and so have tossed them back into the oven and upped the temperature. I need a fat-free, carb-free solution to the problem. I will be at it all day. I shall know no respite 'til my chips are crisp.

Words of wisdom are more than welcome.

13 comments:

sickerfaint said...

soooo...hows that law school exam thing going for you? ...

x

Bitchy said...

hush child,
away with such talk

jadedjune said...

eww....parsnips?

Unknown said...

you've cut the parsnips the wrong way! i think we need to hang out together for a bit if you're a fellow foodie. you need a mandarin (equipment!), very very short nails, some slightly under-ripe parsnips and a helper :) Get in touch!

Bitchy said...

I cut them the wrong way? Really? I thought they'd get chippy faster if I made them look like chips! Sigh... I may be a foodie but I'm clearly not great at the improvising thing. 'Yes PLEASE' to the helper! :)

@ JJ - the parsnip is a fine root vegetable, but only when its ripe. When its ripe its yummmm!

Xxx

culturalmiscellany said...

damn meant mandOLIN

Anonymous said...

Are you baking or broiling? duh. BROIL is a dry'er heat that will crispify anything scorched by it sharpish to the burnt degree! lol
(okay 5-10mins)

? said...

What?

Is this what you expect me to eat? am no veggie! At least add a piece of sirloin or fillet, if you want me to have a go.

Bitchy said...

@ Anon - please come back and tell me how to broil! How the hell do you do that?

@ . - my next series will be 'cooking for the bushmeat-loving man'. Teehee! Stay tuned!

Anonymous said...

I love parsnips.

When an electric oven is set to broil, only the top element produces heat. Broil usually has a single temperature setting - very hot - and is often used just to brown foods during the last few minutes of cooking. Think French onion soup. I am not sure if (all) gas ovens have a broil setting.

Are you sure you should boil first before baking the parsnips? That would just make them irreversibly soggy . . . Try without boiling and bake at 210 C for about 30 min (time will vary according to chip thickness), turning the parsnips once halfway through the baking time.

Anonymous said...

On patrice's note, yah Im not sure euro-ovens come with the broil setting , but its upwards of 500 degrees (the highest point) of oven temperature. I always use this setting to roast my corn in the oven as it mimicks cooking over an open fire.
I have two knobs-one for bake or broil, the other to set the temprature for the bake or broil. And I absolutely agree, the first time reading this I thought boiling first defeats the crisping purpose.

Goodluck all the same. mrs cook

Bitchy said...

Have checked now, and there is no such thing as a broil setting on my oven :( But at least now I know what to do next time - cut the parsnips differently, NOT boil them, and set the temperature as high as possible.

Thanks everyone!! Xx

CCCC said...

NO ... You must boil them for a bit ... trust me!