I bought a package of sunchokes today, just out of curiosity. (For those who
don't know what a sunchoke is, it is related to the sunflower and looks like a
small rooty potato.) I have no idea what to do with them. Suggestions, recipes?


Thanks,
Jen
Half the people you know are below average. -Steven Wright

JLove98905 wrote:
<snip>
>recipes?

Steam, mash, butter, eat hot.
Be prepared for wind.
blacksalt

JLove98905 wrote:

> I bought a package of sunchokes today, just out of curiosity. (For those who
> don't know what a sunchoke is, it is related to the sunflower and looks like a
> small rooty potato.) I have no idea what to do with them. Suggestions, recipes?
> Thanks,
> Jen
> Half the people you know are below average. -Steven Wright

Scrape or peel, slice up on salad raw. Be prepared for them to discolor like
apples or jicamas do; serve with onions and blame onions for "wind.". Or pickle
them.
Edrena

On 17 Jan 2005 23:08:01 GMT, OSPAM (JLove98905)
wrote:

>I bought a package of sunchokes today, just out of curiosity. (For those who
>don't know what a sunchoke is, it is related to the sunflower and looks like a
>small rooty potato.) I have no idea what to do with them. Suggestions, recipes?
>
>
>Thanks,
>Jen
>Half the people you know are below average. -Steven Wright

Also look for "Jerusalem artichoke" (they are the tuberous roots of
certain sunflowers, nothing to do either with artichokes, which they
taste vaguely like, or with the city, as "Jerusalem" came from Italian
"girasole", sunflower). They can be used stir-fried, boiled, mashed,
baked like baked potatoes, or pureed in soups.

Eat with discretion until you determine that they don't cause
unacceptable gas: they contain large amounts of the indigestible (to
us, but not to our intestinal flora) starch inulin. They have long
been known for this: "But in my judgment, which way soever they be
drest and eaten they stir up and cause a filthie loathesome stinking
winde within the body, thereby causing the belly to be much pained and
tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men" (John Goodyer,
in Gerard's Herbal, 1621).

--
Chris Green

Christopher Green > wrote in
:

> On 17 Jan 2005 23:08:01 GMT, OSPAM (JLove98905)
> wrote:
>
>>I bought a package of sunchokes today, just out of curiosity. (For
>>those who don't know what a sunchoke is, it is related to the
>>sunflower and looks like a small rooty potato.) I have no idea what to
>>do with them. Suggestions, recipes?
>>
>
> Also look for "Jerusalem artichoke"
>

Ah, in that case, there's a great-looking recipe in one of the Naked Chef
books for a gratin of these
*searches web to find which book*
Ah, here's the actual recipe:
http://www.foodtv.com/food/recipes/r..._13448,00.html
Disclaimer - I haven't actually made this, not having been able to get hold
of Jerusalem artichokes yet, but it looked great, and everything else I've
made from Jamie's books tasted fab

Good luck with whatever you do with them

K
--
nil illegitimi carborundum

Christopher Green > wrote in
:

> On 17 Jan 2005 23:08:01 GMT, OSPAM (JLove98905)
> wrote:
>
>>I bought a package of sunchokes today, just out of curiosity. (For
>>those who don't know what a sunchoke is, it is related to the
>>sunflower and looks like a small rooty potato.) I have no idea what to
>>do with them. Suggestions, recipes?
>>
>
> Also look for "Jerusalem artichoke"
>

Ah, in that case, there's a great-looking recipe in one of the Naked Chef
books for a gratin of these
*searches web to find which book*
Ah, here's the actual recipe:
http://www.foodtv.com/food/recipes/r..._13448,00.html
Disclaimer - I haven't actually made this, not having been able to get hold
of Jerusalem artichokes yet, but it looked great, and everything else I've
made from Jamie's books tasted fab

Good luck with whatever you do with them

K
--
nil illegitimi carborundum

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:16:37 -0800, kalanamak >
wrote:

>JLove98905 wrote:
><snip>
>>recipes?
>
>Steam, mash, butter, eat hot.
>Be prepared for wind.
>blacksalt

[Fart joke stifled]

I used to eat them raw. Sliced thin, skin and all. Kinda like
jicama, but less juicy and a touch starchier.


modom

"Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes."
-- Jimmie Dale Gilmore

On 17 Jan 2005 23:08:01 GMT, OSPAM
(JLove98905) wrote:

> I bought a package of sunchokes today, just out of curiosity. (For those who
> don't know what a sunchoke is, it is related to the sunflower and looks like a
> small rooty potato.) I have no idea what to do with them. Suggestions, recipes?
>
Jerusalem artichoke? I just peel, steam and serve them with
butter. They are VERY good plain!

If you have a yard to plant some of your sunchokes in - the
flower looks like it's part of the sunflower family (hence
the "sun" part). They are really tubers. So, like cala
lilies, if the conditions are right they'll grow like weeds!

Here is an interesting recipe... I might even make it.


From: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
By: Marcella Hazan

Sunchoke Gratin

Ingredients:
1 pound sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes)
Salt
An oven-to-table baking dish
Butter for smearing and dotting the baking dish
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Peel the sunchokes and drop them in salted, boiling water.
Cook them until they feel tender, but not mushy when prodded
with a fork. Ten minutes after the water returns to a boil,
check them frequently because they tend to go from very firm
to very soft in a brief span of time. Drain when done, and
as soon as they are cool enough to handle, cut them into
1/2-inch slices.

Smear the bottom of a baking dish with butter, then place
the sunchoke slices in it, arranging them so they overlap
slightly, roof tile fashion. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and
the grated Parmesan, dot with butter and place the dish on
the uppermost rack of the preheated oven. Bake until a light
golden crust begins to form on top. Allow to settle for a
few minutes out of the oven before serving.

Yield: 4 servings

sf

On 17 Jan 2005 23:08:01 GMT, OSPAM
(JLove98905) wrote:

> I bought a package of sunchokes today, just out of curiosity. (For those who
> don't know what a sunchoke is, it is related to the sunflower and looks like a
> small rooty potato.) I have no idea what to do with them. Suggestions, recipes?
>
Jerusalem artichoke? I just peel, steam and serve them with
butter. They are VERY good plain!

If you have a yard to plant some of your sunchokes in - the
flower looks like it's part of the sunflower family (hence
the "sun" part). They are really tubers. So, like cala
lilies, if the conditions are right they'll grow like weeds!

Here is an interesting recipe... I might even make it.


From: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
By: Marcella Hazan

Sunchoke Gratin

Ingredients:
1 pound sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes)
Salt
An oven-to-table baking dish
Butter for smearing and dotting the baking dish
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Peel the sunchokes and drop them in salted, boiling water.
Cook them until they feel tender, but not mushy when prodded
with a fork. Ten minutes after the water returns to a boil,
check them frequently because they tend to go from very firm
to very soft in a brief span of time. Drain when done, and
as soon as they are cool enough to handle, cut them into
1/2-inch slices.

Smear the bottom of a baking dish with butter, then place
the sunchoke slices in it, arranging them so they overlap
slightly, roof tile fashion. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and
the grated Parmesan, dot with butter and place the dish on
the uppermost rack of the preheated oven. Bake until a light
golden crust begins to form on top. Allow to settle for a
few minutes out of the oven before serving.

Yield: 4 servings

sf

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:16:37 -0800, kalanamak
> wrote:

> Steam, mash, butter, eat hot.
> Be prepared for wind.

The aren't as bad a beans... in fact (knock on wood) it
hasn't happened to me - yet.

Now, why don't I see any at the grocery store so I can put
it to the test this year?




sf

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 15:16:37 -0800, kalanamak
> wrote:

> Steam, mash, butter, eat hot.
> Be prepared for wind.

The aren't as bad a beans... in fact (knock on wood) it
hasn't happened to me - yet.

Now, why don't I see any at the grocery store so I can put
it to the test this year?




sf

Jen wrote:

> I bought a package of sunchokes today, just out of curiosity. (For those
> who don't know what a sunchoke is, it is related to the sunflower and
> looks like a small rooty potato.) I have no idea what to do with them.
> Suggestions, recipes?

I posted this about four days ago (the sunchokes REALLY taste like
artichokes in this soup):

Chicken-Sunchoke Soup

Raw back, neck, and giblets from a butterflied chicken
Olive oil (NOT extra-virgin)
Carcass from a roasted butterflied chicken
2 medium onions
3 cups chicken stock
3 medium potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)
5 medium sunchokes
1 1/2 cups soymilk
Salt
White pepper
juice from one lemon


If the chicken carcass still has meat on it, pull the meat off and set it
aside.

Start heating a soup pot over medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to coat
the bottom, and add the raw chicken pieces and giblets. (Chop up the back if
it doesn't fit in the pan.)

While the chicken pieces are browning, chop the onions, and add them to the
pot. Sprinkle with some salt, but not too much.

Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are well past
translucent, then add the chicken carcass and the chicken stock.

Cook the mixture for about 10 minutes to develop the flavors. While it's
cooking, peel and quarter the potatoes. Add them to the stock and continue
cooking until the potatoes are tender all the way through, about 20 minutes.
Strain the stock through a colander, pick out the potatoes, and add them to
the strained stock. Then press down on the solids in the colander to squeeze
out all the goodness from the bones and giblets. Puree the soup, either with
a stick blender or a "normal" blender, working in batches if necessary.
Return the soup to the stove and lower the heat to "low."

Peel the sunchokes, halve them lengthwise, then cut them into slices. The
slices shouldn't be too thin; I made them about twice as thick as a nickel.
Add the sunchokes to the soup and cook for about 30 minutes.

Stir in the soymilk and just heat through. If you set aside meat from the
carcass, add it in now. Add the lemon juice, and then season to taste with
salt and white pepper.


Bob

Jen wrote:

> I bought a package of sunchokes today, just out of curiosity. (For those
> who don't know what a sunchoke is, it is related to the sunflower and
> looks like a small rooty potato.) I have no idea what to do with them.
> Suggestions, recipes?

I posted this about four days ago (the sunchokes REALLY taste like
artichokes in this soup):

Chicken-Sunchoke Soup

Raw back, neck, and giblets from a butterflied chicken
Olive oil (NOT extra-virgin)
Carcass from a roasted butterflied chicken
2 medium onions
3 cups chicken stock
3 medium potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)
5 medium sunchokes
1 1/2 cups soymilk
Salt
White pepper
juice from one lemon


If the chicken carcass still has meat on it, pull the meat off and set it
aside.

Start heating a soup pot over medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to coat
the bottom, and add the raw chicken pieces and giblets. (Chop up the back if
it doesn't fit in the pan.)

While the chicken pieces are browning, chop the onions, and add them to the
pot. Sprinkle with some salt, but not too much.

Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are well past
translucent, then add the chicken carcass and the chicken stock.

Cook the mixture for about 10 minutes to develop the flavors. While it's
cooking, peel and quarter the potatoes. Add them to the stock and continue
cooking until the potatoes are tender all the way through, about 20 minutes.
Strain the stock through a colander, pick out the potatoes, and add them to
the strained stock. Then press down on the solids in the colander to squeeze
out all the goodness from the bones and giblets. Puree the soup, either with
a stick blender or a "normal" blender, working in batches if necessary.
Return the soup to the stove and lower the heat to "low."

Peel the sunchokes, halve them lengthwise, then cut them into slices. The
slices shouldn't be too thin; I made them about twice as thick as a nickel.
Add the sunchokes to the soup and cook for about 30 minutes.

Stir in the soymilk and just heat through. If you set aside meat from the
carcass, add it in now. Add the lemon juice, and then season to taste with
salt and white pepper.


Bob

>For those who
>don't know what a sunchoke is, it is

.. . . it is the new word for Jerusalem artichoke. It is a fibrous tuber, noted
for flatulogenesis, and has a flavor that somewhat suggests that of an
artichoke heart. I don't bother with them. Not worth 48 hours of isolation.

Neil