Jerusalem Artichoke and Sausage Simmer with Lemons and Fennel

As we edge closer into spring, the season for Jerusalem artichokes (remember, also known as sunchokes) is drawing to a close. I really adore these knobbly little tubers. I love their texture, but mostly I love their artichoke-like flavour.

When cooking them, I like to leave their skin on (just scrub it a lot). They tend to fall apart if you don't.

Oh, and please keep in mind my earlier warning about gas. I don't want to turn you off these tasty babies, but they're definitely not for a romantic evening for two.

Jerusalem Artichoke and Sausage Simmer with Lemons and Fennel

(adapted from Nigel Slater - it's his week this week)

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
4 good quality, herbal pork sausages
1 onion, peeled and cut into eighths (you want nice big hunks)
1 clove garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
½ lemon, cut lengthwise into 6-8 pieces
6-10 button mushrooms, halved
2/3 lb Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and cut in half
2 cups chicken stock or water (approx)
½ tsp (heaping) fennel seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large, heavy pan over medium heat. Brown sausages on all sides, then remove from pan and reduce heat. Add in onion and get colour gently for 15-20 minutes until onion is soft enough to crush.

It's all about building flavour levels here.

2. Add in garlic, mushrooms, lemon and Jerusalem artichoke halves. Let brown slightly, then return sausages and any accumulated juices to pan. Throw in fennel seeds and a decent grinding of black pepper.

3. Add enough stock to cover artichoke mixture, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until artichokes are tender (they'll still be a bit toothsome, don't expect them to go the consistency of potatoes). Season with additional salt and pepper to taste and serve over a bed of steamed greens.

Nigel calls this a recipe for deepest, darkest winter, but I think the fennel and lemon brighten the whole thing up so nicely that it's a great recipe for the transition in Canada that some call Spring, but I like to call The Melting Season.

Sunchoke Quinoa Pilaf

Amongst the many vegetables I've not tried cooking with, the one I've wanted to try the most is the sunchoke.

The sunchoke (often referred to as a Jerusalem Artichoke) is a brown tuber of a flowering plant that belongs to the daisy family. It has no relation to artichokes, nor any affiliation with Jerusalem - in fact it's native to Eastern Canada. It seems to have picked up the artichoke moniker because its flavour has definite artichokes tones. It's crunchy, very tasty but as the unfortunate capacity to produce copious amounts of gas in people who are sensitive to inulin (which the sunchoke has in spades).

In fact, way back in the day (aka 1621), an English planter, John Goodayer wrote this of them:

"which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men."

Well, if that doesn't make you run in the other direction, I don't know what will.

I can tell I'm really convincing you to try the recipe.

Might I recommend saving it for a dinner alone or when you're with company that doesn't mind if there's going to be wind?

It's probably best you don't use this for a dinner where you have important guests. Things could get awkward.

Unless, of course, you're starring in an Adam Sandler comedy.

In that case, things will get mildly hilarious.

For the record, none of us who enjoyed them this week were pained or tormented.

Take that, John Goodayer. He probably just wrote that to scare people off eating his sunchokes.

Anyway, sunchokes are best eaten raw or steamed. They have a habit of turning to mush if they're boiled. You can help them maintain their shape if you scrub but do not peel them, which was precisely what we decided to do.

Sunchoke Quinoa Pilaf

(Kat's recipe)

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1½ cups quinoa, rinsed (feel free to use different colours as we did)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup sliced sunchokes
1 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste.

Directions

1. Heat oil in saucepan and sauté until onion is translucent. Add quinoa and toast over medium heat until it cracks and pops, about 3-5 minutes.

2. Add broth and bring to a boil, add chickpeas, sunchokes and peas. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

3. Fluff and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the hope that none of your guests have problems with inulin. You're in for a rough night if they are.

Yes. The whole recipe really is that easy.