Jerusalem Artichokes

The Jerusalem artichoke is a type of sunflower, in the same genus as the garden sunflower Helianthus annuus. Despite its name, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relation to Jerusalem, and little to do with artichokes. The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.), also called a sunroot or sunchoke, is a flowering plant native to North America grown throughout the temperate world for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable both cooked and raw.

The Jerusalem artichoke has a delicious sweet, nutty flavor, and the texture when raw is like that of a water chestnut. It has high calcium content, and some A, B, and C vitamins, as well as the minerals iron, magnesium, and calcium.

Storage : Store them in a plastic bag, for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

Preparation: This lovely vegetable is found in late fall and early spring in most markets, and can be eaten raw in salads where they add a crunchy sweetness. If the chokes are young, their skin will be thin and they can be eaten raw peeled or unpeeled. They make a lovely soup, and can be roasted or steamed and served as a side dish with a bit of butter, or boiled and mashed with potatoes.

Chef John Cox of Baleen Restaurant writes:
Sunchokes, otherwise known as Jerusalem artichokes, are a highly underutilized vegetable. Their ginger-like knobs filled with dirt seem to discourage chefs and cooks alike. Once you get past their rough exterior, sunchokes have similar characteristics of potato-with an intriguing hint of earth and smoke. This is a fast and easy way to enjoy them.

Sunchoke Gratin
1 lb. Sunchokes (spray with cold water in sink and scrub with kitchen towel)
1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes
2 roasted and peeled green chiles – or ¼ c. chopped green chile
1T. sage, chopped
1t. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 t. fresh thyme, chopped
3 T. butter
½ c. Oaxaca cheese, grated
½ c. Cotija cheese, grated
1 c. heavy cream
1 T. smoked sea salt *
Freshly ground black pepper

Slice the cleaned sunchokes into roughly even length sticks the width of a pencil. Cut the potatoes the same way, to resemble the size of the sunchokes. Toss together all of the ingredients chopped reserving half of the grated cheeses. Put the mixture into a 10″ cast iron skillet or a heavy baking dish-sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on the top. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and put into a 350º degree oven for 1 hour-remove the foil and turn oven up to 400º-cook for 20 more minutes or until golden brown. Gratin is done when you can easily poke the bottom of the pan with a butter knife.
* You can find smoked sea salt at specialty food stores.

Warm Salad of Jerusalem Artichokes, Radicchio, and Proscuitto
This recipe is for a warm salad, but I would just as easily do the whole thing as a raw salad. Also, if you can, splurge on the walnut oil – it has a distinct walnut flavor that really works here. Of course you can use olive oil but it won’t be the same…

Adapted from the Produce Bible by Leanne Kitchen
1 lb. Sunchokes, peeled and sliced not too thinly on the diagonal
½ lemon
1 head radicchio, quartered lengthwise
¼ c walnut oil
Juice and zest one orange
1 T. chopped, fresh parsley
6 slices proscuitto, sliced into thin strips

After you slice the sunchokes, squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the top so they don’t brown, set aside. Preheat the broiler. Put the radicchio, cut side up, into a medium, shallow, heatproof dish. Drizzle with half the walnut oil. Broil for about one minute, until the edges of the leaves begin to brown. Remove from the broiler and cool.

Cut out the radicchio stems if you haven’t already, and in a salad bowl toss the leaves with the sliced sunchokes, the remaining walnut oil, the orange juice and zest, parsley, and a generous pinch of salt. Sprinkle sliced proscuitto and the toasted walnut pieces over the top, and serve immediately.

Garlic Scapes
Allium is the scientific name for the garlic/onion/leek/chive family, and is derived from the classical Latin alium meaning “garlic.” “Scapes” are the flower stalks found on certain members of the allium family. Garlic scapes, which only appear on the finest hard neck garlic varieties, curl upward as they grow, ultimately straighten, and then grow little seed-like bulbs. A young scape makes one or two loops before straightening out, and then develops seeds. By snipping off the scapes before the seeds develop, more energy goes into making a bigger garlic bulb.

When the garlic scapes are still in full curl, they are tender and delicious. They have a taste that is milder than garlic cloves, and have a broad spectrum of uses from soup to salads to garnishes. Use only while the scapes are crisp and tender, still curled.

Storage: Use garlic scapes within two to three weeks, keep covered in the fridge or they will flavor your fridge and other foods.

Preparation: Scapes tend to get tough and will lose flavor if overcooked. To learn how much cooking is enough and how much is too much, cut scapes to desired lengths and saute in a little olive oil over medium heat, adding salt and pepper to taste. The end result will be an unusual and delicious side dish. Below is a list of other uses for Garlic Scapes.

Cut scapes into 2-inch lengths and saute in olive oil or butter over medium heat, adding salt and pepper to taste, when cooked, puree and add to mashed potatoes.
Add scapes to your favorite stir-fry dishes.
Chop and add raw to salads.
Add to pickled vegetables.
Use as a garnish like you would chives, on smoked or broiled salmon, cream cheese, steamed potatoes, or in egg dishes.
Use chopped fresh scapes as a garnish for pureed soups, or add to vegetable soups and stews just before end of cooking time.
Make garlic scape pesto (see recipe).
Chopped fresh on pasta, or sauteed with a little olive oil to dress pasta.
Slice and add to any sauce that you would use garlic in.
Chop and mix with softened cream cheese or butter.
Sprinkle chopped scapes on pizza.

Garlic Scape Pesto
1/2 lb. organic scapes (chopped into 1″ sections)
1 c. organic olive oil
2 c. grated asiago (I like it better than parmesan – but you can use parmesan)

In a blender or cuisinart, combine the scapes and olive oil. Pour mixture into bowl and blend the cheese in by hand. Taste and add salt or a little lemon juice to taste. This pesto freezes well if you don’t use it all.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 5th, 2007 at 5:41 am and is filed under Podcasts, Seasonal Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.