As promised last week, today I’m sharing my HELLISHLY GOOD Herbed Parsnip and Celeriac Mash with Caramelised Onions with you.
Truly, it is hellishly good. Even if I do say so myself. Actually – it must be said that I surprised even myself with how good it tastes!
After I first made it, I literally stood at my kitchen bench spooning great gob-fulls into my mouth. It wasn’t at all lady-like. Good thing I’m not that much of a lady…
And, lucky I made so much, really.
“Listen, it’s too big a world to be in competition with everyone. The only person who I have to be better than is myself. And in your case, that’s enough.” – Col. Potter in M*A*S*H
But! – I’m getting ahead of myself.
My smashing mash came about because I had beef cheeks in the oven and I wanted some sort of root vegetable number to go with them.
And, potatoes are off the menu. When you are on the autoimmune protocol, potatoes are verboten. They are a nightshade. Nightshades are potentially inflammatory. Ergo, no potatoes (which doesn’t mean I wouldn’t consider doing many, many things for a bowl of potatoes roasted in duck fat…)
When I went to the fridge, I had a celeriac root and two large organic parsnips looking up at me. So, necessity being the mother of invention and all that, I went to work on my parsnip and celeriac mash.
A bit of this and a dash of that. A few herbs, and then a few more. And, doesn’t almost everything taste better with caramelised onions?
I think it does!
The thing about this crazy regime that I’m on is that because I am on SUCH low amounts of sugar – literally only the natural sugars in starchy vegetables, really – this wee number tasted almost dessert-like to me. The parsnips bring a sweetness that I hadn’t expected. Seriously good.
“I will not carry a gun, Frank. When I got thrown into this war I had a clear understanding with the Pentagon: no guns. I’ll carry your books, I’ll carry a torch, I’ll carry a tune, I’ll carry on, carry over, carry forward, Cary Grant, cash and carry, carry me back to Old Virginia, I’ll even ‘hari-kari’ if you show me how, but I will not carry a gun!” – Hawk-eye Pierce in M*A*S*H
- 2 large parsnips, preferably organic
- 1 celeriac bulb (celery root)
- 2 medium red onions
- 2 tablespoons happy fat (I used coconut oil)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- ⅓ bunch flat leaf parsley
- ½ bunch chives
- ¼ cup bone broth
- zest from ½ a lemon, organic if possible
- Peel and roughly chop your parsnips and celeriac bulb. Pop the peeled parsnips and celeriac into a large pot. Add enough water to cover. Bring to the boil over high heat and cook for 15 minutes or until knife tender. Drain in a colander.
- While your root vegetables are cooking away, peel and chop your red onions. Melt your fat in a frying pan, and add the onions. At this point, I also added my chopped thyme and rosemary. Turn the heat right down and allow to melt down into a yummy unctuous mess of onion. It will smell AMAZING!
- Using your food processor (or stick blender), blend your cooked celeriac and parsnip. Add the minced garlic, bone broth, chives and parsley, lemon zest and blitz. Add the caramelised onion and pulse a couple of times to mix into the mixture. Taste for seasoning.
- Stand at your bench with a spoon and congratulate yourself on how delicious your mash tastes.
E N J O Y !
I served this mash with my Bloody BRILLIANT Braised Beef Cheeks. Yum!
This recipe features in the Phoenix Helix AIP Recipe Roundtable
Looks and sounds delicious, TSL! Great pic. Although I do struggle with the concept of giving up potatoes. Don’t suppose there’s any chance that some nightshades have been unfairly demonised and are really good for us (especially when deep fried)? 😉
Ha! Sparks, I was going to say that the good old potato has been much maligned and is not quite the bad guy he has been made out to be – at least for those who don’t have issues with nightshades. But, sadly, that doesn’t apply to most deep fried numbers. Coconut oil is one exception…
(sigh). I miss potatoes…
This look so good! Sometimes I think back to the SAD days when potatoes ruled & I wonder ‘why potatoes? Who crowned potatoes as the emperors of all roots & why did parsnips, celeriac, turnips & rutabagas get ignored?’ It’s inexplicable to me now. Mmmm, your mash does look good!
P – AIP has definitely forced me to experiment with new and unusual vegetables. Hard to beat duck fat roasties, though…