"It" is a brownish, knobby, thing that looks vaguely like ginger root, and then again, not at all. It also looks like it could be a stunted celeriac. So what is it?
"IT" is a sunchoke. Aka, "jerusalem artichoke", aka "topinambour". And "it" showed up in our CSA box last week.
Now, I've HEARD about sunchokes. And I've READ about sunchokes. Hell, I think I've even seen them on menus. But... well, what the hell am I supposed to do with one (or rather, a bag full) in my kitchen? And how am I supposed to convince C that I am not, in fact, trying to poison him?
I pulled out my favorite "How to Cook Everything"... surely, I'd be redeemed. But even the venerable Mr. Bittman has only a column's worth of things to say about this ugly bugger. Basically, parboil it, slice it up, broil or panfry it, and beware the, ahem, flatulence. Hmph.
OK. So I boiled those bad boys, while C went online and read aloud a plethora of stories about the ugly little topinambour. The boiling water came to resemble flat Mountain Dew. Icky.
I wielded my trusty santoku and started to slice up the sunchokes into 1/4" slices. They were firm, yet they yielded to the pressure of the knife like a Yukon potato. Interesting. Ignoring the warnings against the increased risk for adverse effects from raw sunchokes, I had to taste a piece.
Sweet. Mildly nutty. Artichoke-y, yes, but also somewhat celeriac-y. Delicious!
I proceeded to pan fry them in butter, garlic, salt & pepper, letting them lightly brown on each side. I served them with a nicely rare steak and an herb salad.
C said, "These are weird. But they are good. Very good. We should have these again. Soon."
These might be my new favorite vegetable. So, if you are listening, Mr. Planet Organics-man, please include sunchokes in next week's order!