Jerusalem artichoke soups

Last weekend was quiet. So I cooked.

At Eveleigh market on sat morning, I picked up so many goodies; heirloom tomatoes, heirloom beetroots, baby garlic shoots, baby spring onions and Jerusalem artichokes.

So I made Jerusalem artichoke soup and Beetroot & Tomato salad.

 

Jerusalem artichoke soup

Serves 6

1kg Jerusalem artichokes – peeled and roughly chopped

1 litre of stock

1 carrot – peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks – chopped

1 small onion – chopped finely

1-2 garlic cloves – chopped finely

1 bay leaf

2 small-medium dutch cream potatoes – peeled and roughly chopped

1 litre of stock - (you may need a little more water)

Salt and pepper

Olive oil
cream
chives or spring onion to garnish
(crispy bacon bits are also delicious)

* bowl of water with lemon juice

Jerusalem artichoke and smoked rib soup

Same ingredients as above +

1 extra carrot

Pork stock (if you have)

500g smoked pork ribs or bones

Now I’ve made this soup only three times and each time was different, so I’m no eddy the expert. If any of you have a version, please do share!

 

At the market I also found some tiny garlic (bulbs?) not sure what you’d call them but they are delicious so I used those instead of garlic cloves.

(garlic is out of season till October)

 

One thing I will say (if you’ve ever cooked Jerusalem artichokes you’ll understand), they’re a bitch to peel and clean, but so worth it.

They taste nothing like the Globe Artichoke, they have a sweet nutty potato flavor.

But beware they make you fart – big time!

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup 2 ways;

No.1 – With goats cheese

Clean and peel your Artichokes – mine were very dirty so I soaked them in warmish water, then tried to peel them as much as possible, then with a paring knife finished them off. Once they're peeled pop them into a bowl of water with the juice of one lemon squeezed in (so they don’t go brown)

Ok, so start with the base of your soup, celery, onion, carrot and garlic. Cook these till they just start to colour – stirring here and there

 

Season with salt and pepper then add your potato and artichoke, stir for a few minutes

Add your water or stock and cook for 30min or until all the vegetables are soft, then blitz till smooth

Add as much or as little cream as you like

Stir well and serve with chives or as I did, baby spring onions and goats cheese (a tip from Daniella)

Yum!

 

No.2 – With pork

Do everything the same as above, except...

Blitz all your veggies in the food processor until well minced

After you’ve cooked your veg down add water to cover (a couple of cm’) above the veg and add your bones

Cook this until the meat starts falling of the bones around 45 min

Remove the meat from the bones and set aside for later

Add the potato and artichoke to the soup and cook until soft about 20 min

Once cooked blend till smooth, add a little cream and then the meat off the bones

Serve with chives or spring onions and crunchy bread

YUMMY!

Because I had goats cheese left over and also because the beets and tomatoes were so pretty I had to make a salad. So I did….

 

Heirloom salad with goats cheese and activated walnuts and pecans

Steam your beetroot till you can just insert a knife with ease – let cool

Wash and slice your tomatoes

Peel your cooled beets and slice (same width as the tomato)

Assemble (see my picture above)

Crumble over the goats cheese and sprinkle the nuts (I broke them up a little)

Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with Nolans rd Olive oil and a few drops of aged balsamic vinegar

This salad was beyond delicious – so I had it for dinner as well!

 * Activated nuts are simply organic nuts soaked overnight with a pinch of seasalt and filtered water to cover(this is because nuts in their natural state are hard for us to digest - this process makes them easy to digest)drain the nuts and towel dry. Then place on a baking tray and pop in the oven at the lowest temp (mine is 40c-50c)and leave for 24hours, by this stage they will have dried out and be like normal nut texture.

 

 

©Michelle Schoeps 2013

All photos taken by Michelle Schoeps