Tyler Teass’ Coffee Roasted Parsnips

This recipe is presented as part of the Jefferson Thanksgiving Challenge.  We asked alumni chefs to create Thanksgiving dishes using only the ingredients that would have been available at Monticello during Thomas Jefferson's time.

Ingredients

For the parsnips:

1 pound of parsnips
2 cups of coffee beans
Aromatics (bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, thyme sprigs all work well)

For the kale chips:

1 bunch of kale
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Pinch of salt

For the vinaigrette:

1 cup cider vinegar
8 oz butter
1/2 cup diced country ham
Pinch minced shallots
Pinch each minced chives and parsley

Method

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with coffee beans and aromatics and lay parsnips on top. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and place in oven. Roast for approximately one hour, or until parsnips are cooked through. Let them cool to room temperature in the pan and slice into rounds.

While the parsnips are cooking, make the kale chips. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Tear kale into bite-sized pieces and toss with oil and salt in a bowl and lay out onto a parchment lined sheet tray. Roast in oven until crispy, about 20 minutes. Let cool.

Take the coffee beans and aromatics from roasting parsnips and place into a pot with the butter, let infuse slowly on the stove until the butter picks up the coffee flavor, about 30 minutes. While the butter is infusing, reduce the vinegar in a pot until slightly syrupy and tart. Strain the coffee beans out of the butter and combine with the reduced cider vinegar. Just before serving, add the shallots, herbs and diced country ham.