This week’s post tackles two French Fridays assignments, because when Jerusalem artichokes first showed up in the rotation last month, there were none to be found in Vancouver markets. I prefer the name sunchokes for these, as it’s a bit less confusing than Jerusalem artichokes, which are neither native to the Middle East nor related to artichokes. They’re actually native to the Americas – a root vegetable from a plant in the sunflower family, with a flavour that hints at artichokes. Sunchokes are sought after by chefs, but they’re not for everyone. Some folks experience a bit of gastric distress when they eat them (we found out this week that my Dad’s one of them), so they’ve earned a rather notorious nickname.
Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Parsley Coulis
This week’s dish was a puréed soup, much like a potato soup, with salty leek and garlic notes against the delicate artichoke flavour of the sunchokes. I substituted vegetable stock for chicken stock, but otherwise followed the recipe, which you can find here. I packed up half the soup for my parents and the flavours were a hit for all of us.
The parsley coulis caused a bit of consternation in the group, because a number of us couldn’t get the parsley past a pesto texture. I didn’t mind that texture at all in this soup. The parsley also finishes the soup perfectly.
Since sunchokes stick around in the market until almost spring, we’ll be revisiting this soup all winter.
Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes with Garlic
I bought more sunchokes than I needed for the soup so that I could roast some, too. We ended up having them as a snack last night and enjoyed them, though I’d used too small a pan and they didn’t crisp up as much as I would have liked them to have done. The slivers of garlic were amazing with the sunchokes and on their own – they made this dish. However, I think that next time I roast sunchokes, I’ll do as Sanya did and mix them in with potatoes or other root vegetables. I think they’d be a nicer element in a mix than they were on their own.
Another unusual vegetable demystified, thanks to Around My French Table.
Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts on this week’s recipe here: Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Parsley Coulis. Then, see how everyone fared with the Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes with Garlic.
One Wet Foot 
I’ll definitely take your advice and add potatoes to the mix when roasting my sunchokes. They just arrived in the supermarket here, so I’ll make up both these recipes in the near future.
Glad you enjoyed both dishes. I liked the roasted potatoes, but the soup – not so much.
Haha! I’ve been getting pounds and pounds of Sunchokes from a local purveyor for weeks! Next time ask your brother!
I wish I’d known! Got any kumquats?
Lovely. I love Jerusalem artichokes roasted with winter squash and carrots. Delicious vegetable that I just don’t eat enough.
Whew…I’m glad to finally find someone who enjoyed this soup! Now on to find those elusive kumquats!
So glad you loved the soup–we did, too! Alas, our little house has people affected by that veggie. I’ll have to try the coulis with the pesto-ish texture next time!
Nice double-header! Glad to know I wasn’t the only one with pesto-coulis.
Hi Teresa, I have never tried sunchokes before, but after seeing how delicious your soup looks, will have to try.
Your dishes look lovely, and I’m so happy you enjoyed them. I made a faux version with potatoes and artichoke hearts (no sunchokes here), that was ok-ish. Maybe with some pesto…
I’m probably behind on this, but your blog looks terrific. Love the font, love the layout.
I’m happy you are in camp “like”. I thought of making a chayote soup, but why tempt fate when there are still a few soups left in my catch-up tally. 🙂
I am happy you finally found sunchokes! We had similar reactions to both dishes. I liked the soup a lot, and thought the parsley coulis made the soup, even if I couldn’t drizzle it…
I’m with you on enjoying this soup…we both thought it was quite good. Because I was worried about gastric problems I cut the amount of sunchokes to half and used half potatoes. We really enjoyed it! Love your photo of the soup…so inviting! Happy Friday, Teresa!
Teresa, two very tasty looking dishes! The roasted sunchokes look just perfect and so does your soup, nice and velvety with that lovely green parsley coulis as a topping!
What an interesting vegetable to explore!
Have a great Sunday, dear friend,
Andrea
Teresa, I love sunchokes – not the part where I’m peeling them as much 🙂 – they are one of those rare vegetables that offer both a satisfying crunch and a velvety smoothness in soups and purees.
Both of those recipes turned out well, and I am glad you enjoyed them. Unfortunately, they
were not a favorite of ours. Have a great weekend.
Never found the elusive Jerusalem artichokes and given the side effects and the cool response by most I will stop looking. I still need to do some more catch up recipes.
We really enjoyed this one too. I’ve made the roasted sunchokes a few times now. I like them, so I am glad that my digestive system cooperates 🙂
Even though I firmly landed in the “not a fan” category on this veggie, I really did enjoy learning all about a food that was completely new to me. I honestly had never even heard of these and regardless of the results for me, took away great memories of the hunt and the recipe testing. Always an adventure each week. Also enjoyed your link to the BA article- thx. –Tricia
The roasted version pairs very well with potatoes. Of the two recipes I think that roasting was my favorite preparation, though I enjoyed the soup as well. It was interesting to hear that many found tem to be too bland because I really enjoyed the flavor and could easily see why some compare the flavor to an artichoke.