SENEA Dinner 2018: Test kitchen 2

I tried mashed parsnips with "ale" and flatbreads.

Parsnips - These were... meh.  Not gross, but not actually good.  The parsnips didn't mash very well - kind of stringy texture.  Part of the problem may have been the "ale" was an Oktoberfest that, upon close inspection, was labeled "Malt Liquor."  Soooo... not really beer, then?  

What I did was boil the 'snips in the ale.  I drained it off (didn't want the mash to be too wet), mashed them, and then added the cooking liquid back in.  Butter helped the taste (because it always does).  

I am half-considering something like a cold carrot salad, with thinly-sliced 'snips in an ale dressing.  Except the raw parsnips were pretty astringent, and tasted much more sweet and mellow after cooking.

I could also use the stick blender on them.  That'd get rid of that stringy texture for sure!  Not very medieval, though. :)

Flatbreads - The recipe was very enthusiastic about being "yummy!"  ...if you find Scandinavian rye knäckebröd to be yummy, then yeah, sure.  It came out as slightly thick, sort of bendy/soft knäckebröd.  I used half bread flour (was out of whole wheat) and half rye.  Added water, kneaded.  I did some with less water, some with more; some thicker and some thinner.  Water didn't seem to make much difference; thinner was better (cooked more evenly).  It tasted of toasted rye flour and not much else.  It's clearly a "carrier" food, meant to be laden down with something else (butter, a scoop of thick soup or pottage, fruit compote) rather than eaten for its own sake.

I don't think I will serve these.  We'll pretend we're a higher-status household with access to yeast-raised wheat bread and an oven.

Comments

[Holly Wood (Linette)]

Without knowing the recipe you were using, two suggestions which *might* improve the parsnips - parsnips are sometimes woody, and cutting out the woody core can help that. Also, when we've cooked things in ale, we often cut the ale with some water. There may be some cooking chemistry reason that prevents the straight ale from softening the veggies as needed.

[TeleriB]

Thanks! I will give that a go.