Sunchokes

[lydamorehouse]

 For some reason, my grocery store had sunchokes. I decided to buy them and roast them. 

My verdict? Weirdly good.

We had them for lunch today along with tuna steaks and broccoli and I teased Mason that I could feel my brain turning on! (So much healthy food.) 

My other cooking success was yesterday's pineapple cake, which I made from scratch and turned into one of the fluffiest sponge cakes I've ever made. In fact, just writing about this reminds me I could have a piece for lunch!  (The cake came about because I accidentally opened a can of crushed pineapple, thinking it was something else. Why did we even have crushed pineapple? Who knows.)

Comments

[minnehaha]

Despite having watched hours upon hours of GBBS, I still do not know what "sponge" means when talking about cake. I do know what it means in the bread-making process, but it is not the same thing as far as I can tell.

Congrats on the triumph of a perfect, serendipitious cake. I'm impressed.

K.

[lydamorehouse]

I am not certain if "sponge" is actually the right word, to be honest. What the cake is like is like angel food--super light and airy. There's a lot of give when you bite it? I have NEVER made a cake like this from scratch before and am uncertain if I would do it again, if only because of the amount of egg white beating involved (see Rachel Brown's comment for the recipe, if you're interested.)

[sabotabby]

Ooh, yum. That looks great. I think I'd have problems because I'd expect it to taste like ginger but I love root vegetables.

[lydamorehouse]

You'd like them, I think? I was surprised by the potato like bake and the chewy exterior. As I say below, it's actually kind of a weird mouthfeel, but it grew on me (in a good way.)

[rachelmanija]

I love sunchokes! I bought a bunch at the farmers market in LA the other day. They're also good thinly sliced and fried.

Pls provide pineapple cake recipe.

[lydamorehouse]

This is from page 111 of the Settlement Cookbook (1954):

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup crushed canned pineapple
2 1/2 cups cake flour (I used pastry flour)
1/4 cup water
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and pineapple ; add gradually 2 cups flour alternately with 1/4 cup of water; then add remaining flour with baking powder and salt, and stir only until smooth. Fold in the egg whites, beaten stiff (so, like almost to meringue stage). Bake in two 9-inch greased and floured layer cake pans, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool and ice with Four-Minute Icing.

The four minute icing is insane. I will send you that recipe, too, if you really want it but it involves a warm water bath and another set of egg whites beaten until they ARE meringue, so I don't know if you want this hassle. Shawn LOVES the frosting, but both Mason and I consider it fairly optional.

[dreamshark]

I find it amusing that the article you linked to declares that these things are "Often mistakenly referred to as Jerusalem artichokes." I'm sorry that you think it's a stupid name, Randy, but that's the name of the plant. "Sunchoke" is a ridiculous name made up for marketing purposes in the 1960's. While it's true that the plant has nothing to do with either Jersualem or artichokes, I'm not sure why anybody thought that "choke" was the part of the traditional name that should be retained to make people more interested in eating them.

I know this plant from wild food books. It's a rangy wild sunflower that flourishes in the sandy soil along rural highways. When I was in one of my wild food foraging phases I dug some up and tried them. I don't recall being especially impressed with them, but it may just be that the effort of digging them up, scrubbing the dirt off them, and peeling them soured my point of view. I think I peeled and boiled them. They may be better roasted. Did you peel them before you roasted them? If not, how did you eat them?

[lydamorehouse]

No peeling necessary. In fact, I found the skins to be the yummiest part! I just halved or quartered them, drizzled olive oil on them, and seasoned with salt and pepper. Roasted them in a 400 degree oven for 35 mintues. The insides became like a roasted potato, and the skins were nutty and chewy. A little bit of "weird" mouthfeel, but yummy!!

[dreamshark]

Mmm, that does sound good. Possibly the ones I harvested were older tubers; I recall the skins as being quite woody. If I see the domesticated, power-washed version in the grocery store perhaps I'll give them a try.

[pameladean]

I grew them one year and I think we had them sliced up and fried. They were very pleasant, but when some volunteered the next year I just let them flourish as sunflowers and didn't dig them up. This was also the fate of the garlic I planted. The flowers were pretty and I just left it alone.

P.

[lydamorehouse]

Seems very reasonable, honestly. (I also love garlic flowers. We grow those as well as chive flowers, every year.)

[mtbc]

Ah, I feel better now, I knew them only as Jerusalem artichokes (also knowing neither word properly applies) and had wondered what these strange sunchokes are until I'd read that far. My intestines certainly notice they've visited.

[lydamorehouse]

YEP. I'm definitely getting that after effect right now.

[mtbc]

Let's hope it's gaseous only. (-: They're still nice to eat though, for a change.

[lydamorehouse]

All the gas. So much gas. Embarrassing amounts of gas!!!

[naomikritzer]

I enjoy the flavor of sunchokes, but they make me gassy.

[lydamorehouse]

VERY GASSY.

NO ONE TOLD ME THIS. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A WARNING ON THE LABEL!!