Creative Use of Band Fruit 101 ~ Pear and Parsnip Sauce

Not Only Organic, But Also Broke

Yummy, free and very ripe band fruit

As my blog name denotes, I try very hard to keep it organic and local, but there are times where we just keep it....broke. After a fun, active, busy and at times pricey Christmas season, there wasn't a whole lot left for groceries, so we planned to dip into our stored veggies, fruits, and grains (which actually leads to alot of fun and creative meals!)

One of our last stops on our Christmas visiting was to my parent's home, where my youngest brother still resides, and performs in high school band. You know what this means? BAND FRUIT! One of the dreaded/coveted fundraisers for band is selling boxes of fruit, and then the parents who are suckered into it end up eating them hand over fist to try and get the task accomplished before they go bad.

My parents had around 20 pears, all super ripe, all super free, and in need of a home. We gladly obliged. My children, husband, and myself covet ripe fruit. During Flathead peach season I will hide in a corner with a roll of paper towels and a giant, overripe peach to avoid my children stealing a bite. With our CSA in its winter season, we haven't had overripe biting fruit in months, but we still have an abundance of store crops, one of which is parsnips. 

Parsnips are in the carrots family, but for my family they are tough to eat raw. One of the reasons is that they are, well, TOUGH. We usually shred them very thinly into slaw, saute them in butter with carrots, and dice them into stews. The other night though, we thought we'd try something I remembered from Alton Brown. On Good Eats a few years back they faked a child that wouldn't eat veggies and Alton won him over with his version of "Pearsnip sauce." His recipe involved maple syrup, zesting an orange and a few other turns and twists I did not care for (and we did not have the items to boot.) We went simple, and it turned out fabulous. 

It does involve a bit of time, I'm afraid. Its a good dish if you know you're babysitting something on the oven. I made this on risotto night and you don't have to watch this sauce, just be patient and let it happen.

Pear and Parsnip Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

2 parsnips, peeled

4 overly ripe pears

1 cup white grape juice

1 tsp cinnamon (the fresher the better)

Peel your parsnips with a vegetable peeler so none of the brown exterior remains. Cut them into 1 inch rounds and place them in a pot with the juice. Put your lid on the pot and bring it to simmer rapidly but not boil like crazy (about medium temp worked for us, you don't want your liquid to boil away.)

Allow them to simmer in the covered pot and steam until they are VERY soft, almost like a boiled potato. For me this took about 35 minutes, but it might take longer. 

Once you've stabbed the parsnips with a fork and determined them to be boiled potato consistency, cut your pears into cubes, maybe 2 inches in size, and toss them in the pot as well. 

Allow everything to steam together, occasionally shaking your pan to redistribute everything, for about 10 more minutes. Add a little juice if it all boils away. 

After that 10 minutes, remove the pan from heat drain off almost all of the liquid, leaving about 1/4 of a cup in the pan. Use an immersion blender or a food processor to blend the remains with the cinnamon and serve warm, but not hot.