Y'all have asked us to taste-test more of the unusual foods out of our permaculture garden, so here we are! Today Ruth, Bea, and I are trying an indigenous American perennial vegetable that is simultaneously a "permaculture darling" AND gets the notorious nickname "fartachoke".
Sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichoke), Helianthus tuberosus (yes, I said "tuberosa" in the video, for absolutely no reason and I know better...Brains, they're silly) is a perennial sunflower that produces edible, mild-flavored tubers. Folks in permaculture LOVE sunchokes because they're easy to grow, perennial, and produce heavy yields with little fuss. Unfortunately, they are also high in inulin and can give some folks pretty whopper gas (hence the unfortunate nickname fartachoke), ESPECIALLY if you cook them quickly or eat them raw.
I have personally found the biggest complaint in our family AND in permaculture forums about sunchokes is that, well, they're boring. Often boiled or roasted or crock-potted to death, they are not an exciting new food. HOWEVER, I have a huge crop of them in my garden year after year, and I keep experimenting with ways to make them more palatable to my family. I've hit home on a recipe that transforms the humble sunchoke to an absolutely delicious dish with an entirely different flavor profile than a boiled choke. So, what is this recipe, and how does the flavor compare to boiled sunchokes? Let's get tasting!
======Smashed Sunchokes:======
Prep time: 10min
Cook time: 25 min
How many sunchokes do you need for this recipe? It depends on how many you want to eat. I typically served four-five smaller sunchokes per person as a side dish.
As with any new food, introduce it slowly into your diet - don't eat large quantities until you give your digestion time to adjust to a new food :)
1.Clean sunchokes, by first soaking in salt water for 5-10 min, then taking care to remove any little bit of dirt or sand between the crevices of the tubers under running water.
2. To a medium sized pot, add the sunchokes and add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Salt generously as you would pasta water.
3. Heat pot over medium high heat until it comes to a boil. Boil sunchokes for 10 to 12 minutes until a knife goes in easily.
4. Remove cooked sunchokes from the water and allow them to cool until you can handle them.
5. If you prefer your sunchokes, peeled, slip the skin from the cooked chokes at this time.
6. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil or 2 tbsp tallow or bacon grease in a cast iron skillet on medium high heat.
7. While the skillet is heating, smash, each sunk choke gently with the bottom of a mug or mason jar.
8. Add the smashed chokes to the hot skillet and cook four minutes each side. During this time season them however you like. I personally think plenty of cracked pepper, paprika, and rosemary work great. (Penzeys bratwurst seasoning is also quite good on sunchokes, as is their Chicago Steak seasoning and  bicentennial rub)
9. Once the sunchokes are a deep golden brown on both sides, remove and enjoy. Optional: serve with sour cream and chives.
Also, please check out @GreenLadyUrbanFarm 's recipe for fermented sunchokes here: [ Ссылка ]
~~===Ways to support our work===~~~~
LIKE COMMENT SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE!
My website/blog:
[ Ссылка ]
Paypal:
[ Ссылка ]
Venmo:
[ Ссылка ]
Patreon
[ Ссылка ]
My Amazon Shop of recommended books and tools (Please support locally, but if you want to support me, I appreciate you shopping through this link!)
[ Ссылка ]
++++Follow me!+++
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
==Get in the conversation!
[ Ссылка ]
[ Ссылка ]
#sunchokes #tastetest #permaculture #perennials #springgarden #foodforest #garden #mulch #organicgardening #gardening #biomass #foodforest #parkrosepermaculture #resilience #free #ultimateguide #organic #realife #homestead #permaculturedesign
