Wednesday 5 November 2014

Spicy Parsnip And Onion Soup. Gas Mask Wanted For Peeling Onions On Smallholding..

I decided to harvest one of my Parsnips today.  So I pulled it and peeled and chopped it up.  Then I got a Spanish onion (purchased in Lidl) and attempted to peel and chop it and the onion got me.  I wrote few posts a go that I wanted an Anderson shelter for the gales.  Now I could do with a gas mask.  I tried putting the onion under running water, but they still got me.  You would have thought I was a member of RADA.  The way the tears were running down my cheeks.

Any road.  If you want to make some Spicy Onion And Parsnip soup.  Just peel and chop them into centimetres squares.  Then throw them into a pan and add a vegetable stock cube and some water. I threw in a teaspoon of chopped red chillies.  Then we let it cook on the range until the veg was soft.

Then we liquidized the soup and ate it with some home cooked bread.  It was different and very filling.
Me attempting to pull my parsnip out of an old ride on mower grass box in the polytunnel.  

In the end I stood in the box and pulled the Parsnip out.

Oh what a beauty.  If you want big Parsnips or Carrots.  Grow them like this.  

My poor parsnip being peeled and chopped for the soup.

The soup looked like a cross between rice pudding and custard.

29 comments:

  1. I have been told that when you prepare onions if you hold a piece of dry bread in your mouth it will stop the tears. Not tried it myself so don't know if it works!

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  2. Never heard of using dry bread when peeling onions, Jane. It's definitely worth a try. You would think that somebody (perhaps they have) would have invented a machine that you pop the onion in and it peels it and then chops it up., wouldn't you? Wish somebody would also invent a vacuum cleaner that doesn't make a noise. Can I add a noiseless washing machine to that list? Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. vacuum with out noise is an old fashioned carpet sweeper. I have mine, it was my Grans I think it is about 70 years old. built to last in the old days not like the ones you can buy now.

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    2. Hi Sol. Yeah I remember the Ewbank carpet sweeper. We only have carpet in the bedrooms. The rest of the floors are tiled. So it's OK if we walk in with muddy boots or muddy paws. Well its not OK, but it's to mop - thanks!

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  3. That must have been some onion Dave. The parsnip doesn't look bad either. I think I'll leave it to you though. But always good to be inventive with things like this!

    Did you just see the Manchester City game? Amazing to see Moscow out run them.

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  4. That sounds good. I like a good spicy parsnip soup and I've got plenty growing this year! Sound have some huge ones like yours!

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    1. It was different and very filling, Kev. They take 28 days to germinate and they love deep soil. They are worth their wait though.

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  5. I think it was a Spanion onion, Rachel. Do you grow any vegetables?

    Didn't see the City match. I read about it and it seems like they are having a confidence crisis. They looked very nervous in the second half of the United match. They don't look like Champions at the moment. We'll look at the table at Christmas and see where they are.

    Talking of Moscow. Watched Michael Portillo last night. He visited Moscow on his great continental railways. Couldn't believe how grand the architecture is. It was like Vienna. Have you been to Moscow?

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    1. No, I went to St Petersburg and the Gulf of Finland a couple of years ago. I wish I had seen the programme. I am hoping to go to Moscow one day. P grows vegetables in the muck heaps at his buildings, like he has mushroom compost and other composts and then he plants vegetables in the sides of them. Things like carrots and potatoes, and he has some leeks doing well this year. He gets lots of vegetables given to him on his job though and/or buys them as he goes about as all the farms here have them for sale at farm gates.

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    2. I would love to go to Moscow, Rachel. There are so many places in Europe that I would like to visit and also the states.

      Good to hear P grows vegetables. You can't bean your own fresh vegetables.

      Good to hear farmers still grow veg. There are so few people growing them here in Ireland. Sad really - thanks!

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  6. That's some parsnip Dave.All we've had from our poly this year were a few tomatoes and some strawberries...oh and some onions so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see them! I think container growing is the way to go! :-)

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  7. Hi Deb. Thanks! Parsnips and carrots love deep soil. My old 'ride on' grass boxes are half full of top soil (sieve it if you can for stones) and topped up with bought in compost. Then we sowed directly into the compost. They just get regular watered and there is enough food in the compost. I like using containers and raised beds because you can replace the soil or compost every year. You get a good depth of soil, good crop rotation and hopefully no plant diseases.

    Once knew a man when I had my allotments in England. Who grew all his cabbages in white plastic buckets full of compost. His allotment was very old and full of Club Root. He never had any problems. I like to grow my onions in soil that's full of well rotten dung and they love wood ash. It's full of potash for the roots.

    You can still plant Winter onions, lettuce and Spring Cabbage now, Deb. It's good to have the tunnel to work in. Especially on awfully wet days like today- Thanks for your comment.

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    1. I forgot about garlic, Anne - thanks! Will plant some garlic cloves tomorrow.

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  8. Thanks for the tips Dave.:-)

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  9. You're very welcome Deb. Where are you going next on your: Jaunts Around Ireland, blog? I look forward to reading it.

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  10. Thanks Dave, i'm glad you like it. I'm not sure as we've not been very far lately, so i think it'll be somewhere local. :-)

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    1. I look forward to your next instalment, Deb.

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  11. Try putting the onion in the freezer for ten minutes or so, or in the fridge for half an hour, make sure it's in a bag or it might taint other things.
    I never have a problem peeling onions but they are what we have grown so maybe not so strong as Spanish onions.

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  12. Thanks for the onion in the freezer tip, Anne. I have also heard that placing an onion under the cold water tap works. Those Spanish onions are incredibly strong. Thanks!

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  13. that parsnip is a whopper! is that 2 years from planting to pulling or longer?

    my early raspberries have flowers on them again? whats with that?

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  14. It's not bad, Sol. We sowed it in Spring, this year. Traditionally gardeners sowed them in February. They take 28 days to germinate. Temperatures of 40 degrees are common in a poly-tunnel. I have heard of gardeners not pulling their big parsnips and letting them go to see and collecting the seed to be sure of big parsnips again. A lot of exhibition vegetable grows feed their monste vegetables with sugar.

    It concerns me when we see fruit and flowers with flowers in Autumn. I have noticed birds with grass in their beaks. I hope they don't think its Spring and are nest building. All the seasons in a day. Some say that it's global warming from all the cars and pollution. Thanks!

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  15. Yes, a magnificent example of the parsnip.
    Never tried making soup with them though, just in my ham shank stock lentil soup, chopped fine.

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  16. Thanks Cumbrian. It had its own unique taste. Your ham shank stock lentil soup sounds excellent. We are on mince meat stew with onions, carrots and potatoes tonight. Good old fashioned stodge that does you good and keeps the colds away.

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  17. Yes, after my lentil soup, thick enough to stand a spoon up in and using whatever rag-ends of veg I have to hand, mince is one of my favourites; shepherds pie (or cottage pie if it's beef mince) with onions in; spaghetti bollognaise with onions and tomatoes; or chile-con-carne with chiles, onions, peppers and red kidney beans.

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  18. We make chilli-con-carne pizza. First sampled it in Portugal in an Italian restaurant. Do you like it with hot chillies?

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  19. This sounds lovely and really tasty. Thank you for sharing this.

    Simon

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