Jerusalem Artichoke (Sunchoke) Gratin

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

Okay, I have a funny story about my trip to PCC Market to acquire Jerusalem Artichokes, also known as sunchokes. I have never eaten nor prepared this vegetable so I was completely clueless. I made my way to the produce department and carefully selected two of what I thought were the best looking Jerusalem Artichokes in the bunch. I casually asked the produce expert if the artichokes I chose looked like good ones and he gently informed me that I had chosen celery root, not Jerusalem artichokes. Okay, really? I just started laughing at myself and he led me over to the correct item. I did however, have a lovely conversation with him during which I learned that shredded celery root is delicious when added to hashbrowns or as a substitute for hashbrowns. Don't be surprised if you see celery root hashbrowns as a featured recipe in the future.

Now that I had the correct main ingredient, I made my way home to start preparation. For those of you that are in the same boat as me and are not familiar with Jerusalem artichokes, I have included a photo above for your review. As you can see, this is not the prettiest of vegetables. It does however, have a unique and somewhat mysterious appeal so before preparing, I decided to do a bit of research. I learned that sunchokes are traditionally tubers that were boiled and eaten much like potatoes and that they can be used as a substitute for potatoes in many recipes. They have a waxy flesh with the texture of crisp apples and a flavor reminiscent of sunflower seeds. Washington is one of the leading commercial producing areas, which is appealing to me since I prefer using locally grown organic products. They are best harvested in the fall when light frosts enhance their natural sweetness. The recipe follows:

Ingredients:

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 lbs Jerusalem artichokes

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat garlic and oil in small pot and cook, until soft. Peel Jerusalem artichoke and cut into small chunks, dropping chunks in bowl of acidulated water as you work. (Acidulated water is water to which a little acid is added. Lemon juice, lime juice or vinegar are normally used; 1/2 tsp per cup of water. When peeling fruits or vegetables that discolor quickly, this is a great process to use to prevent discoloration). Put in shallow roasting pan large enough to hold everything in one layer comfortably. Strain garlic from oil an pour oil over chokes. Add salt and pepper to toss.

Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until tender. Sprinkle parsley on top and serve as side dish.

The bad news is, I could not make this recipe work, thus the lack of photo. The idea behind it is quite nice but it seems to be missing components. The photo that accompanies the recipe shows a golden breadcrumb topping, which is the type of gratin that is familiar. The actual recipe however, does not include any topping other than salt, pepper and parsley. As the gratin finished baking for the required 20 minutes, I realized that there was nothing present in the recipe to give it the crispy topping that makes gratin special. The sunchokes were also barely cooked so at this point, I decided to improvise. I added about 2 Tbsp of breadcrumbs and a sprinkle of Parmesan across the top with a dash of olive oil and then put the baking dish back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes. After the additional time, the sunchokes were still not fully cooked and the entire dish had become dry. I am sure this is due to the extra time and the fact that the only initial moisture in the dish was 2 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil.

The good news is, I really like the flavor of sunchokes. Before tasting them, I couldn't quite understand how they could taste like sunflower seeds but they actually have a nutty flavor that resembles the seeds. I also agree that the texture is very similar to the texture of potatoes. It would be easy to substitute potatoes for sunchokes but I do not think I would do so for one reason. Sunchokes are fairly labor intensive to peel because of their knobby nature so I would stick with potatoes. I would however, try another recipe. I found a recipe for a sunchoke soup by the same author of this recipe, Becky Selengut, that I may try. I usually fully enjoy her recipes so I have not lost faith. I also like the idea of Jerusalem artichokes; it just did not work for me in this application.

Recipe Source:

"Washington Local And Seasonal Cookbook" by Becky Selengut, Jennifer Sayers Bajger and James Darcy with contributions by Jennifer Ogle

Page 132