Experimenting with Jerusalem Artichokes

I was strolling my farmers market when I happened upon a new vendor. They didn't have much, but a big basket of Jerusalem artichokes caught my eye.

I almost passed these babies up as
ginger until I realized exactly what they were.

I've previously mentioned, one of my 2011 cooking goals is to incorporate ingredients I've never used before in my cooking. As it happens, Jerusalem artichokes are on that list, so I bought a bag and headed home to brainstorm.

After some Googling, I was surprised at how few recipes were out there. The ones I came across were mainly for soups or purees. Feeling very uninspired, I tossed them in the crisper and actually forgot all about them. I rediscovered them the next week when I was in the mood for soup and rummaging around my fridge for some leftover vegetables.

For lack of better words, peeling
these are a complete pain in the ass.

Good news though, Jerusalem artichokes are fairly resilient. While not at their freshest, they were definitely usable for soup. I combined the Jerusalem artichokes with a bunch of leeks and let them simmer in vegetable stock with Parmesan rinds. The flavor was great. Jerusalem artichokes taste like a cross between a white potato and an artichoke heart, perfect ingredient for a soup.

Of note, be sure to really scrub these suckers. They have all sorts of crooks and crannies where dirt loves to cling. I gave mine two rinses, before and after peeling.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

Serves 2 - 3

• 3/4 lb. Jerusalem Artichokes, washed and peeled, sliced into chunks
• 3 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced in halve lengthwise and then sliced thinly along the half
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 32 oz. vegetable stock*
• 4 Parmesan rinds
• Chili flakes
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 sprigs thyme, removed from stem

1. Heat butter in a pot over medium heat until melted. Add leeks, chili flakes, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add Jerusalem artichokes and sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

2. Pour in vegetable stock and add Parmesan rinds. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

3. Remove the Parmesan rinds. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. I pureed mine almost all the way through, but wish I had left it a little more chunky as I really enjoyed the flavor of the pieces of Jerusalem artichoke.

For the soup's base, I sauteed leeks with
the artichokes to enhance the earthy flavors of both.

*I used a vegetable broth that was a rather dark color, making my finished soup a not-so-appetizing brown color, which is why there isn't a photo of the final product. I loved the flavor, but if serving for guests, I would use a lighter colored vegetable broth or maybe even chicken broth.