Tonight's goal was to use up the Jerusalem artichokes that had been sitting in a plastic bag in the fridge for, oh, longer than they should have done, let's leave it at that. Provided you put them inside an airtight cover, they keep quite well: leave them loose in the fridge and they'll be soft in a couple of days.
There really is no point in picking all your jersualem artichokes at once, though, as they survive very well in the ground throughout the winter, suffering a lot less damage than potatoes will given the same conditions. Just remember to leave a bit of the stem sticking out so you can locate them. If you fancy trying something simple to use up a big haul of jerusalems, what about the simple deep-fried artichoke chips as seen on Carol Klein's great new BBC TV show Grow Your Own Veg?
But back to my food. I riffed on Delia's classic Potatoes boulangere with rosemary recipe, subtsituting about a third of the spuds for the artichokes. The potatoes and red onions weren't my own, but the rosemary was. It's a crime against all that is good in the world to buy rosemary in a little plastic packet: it's such a ubiquitous and easy to grow plant.
The artichokes lent a smoky taste to the finished product which, I like to think, has a certain rustic quality to it. The dish it is served in, for any readers who share my china obsession, is Denby - a small round overnproof lidded number that I picked up from a jumble sale or charity shop at some point in my hoarding life. It's brilliant for stews for one, soup, and just about anything that needs to segue seamlessly from fridge to oven.
I have not until now been a great fan of artichokes but we dug some up on Monday and made artichoke chips with them last night...fantastic, lovely flavour and the crispy little ones Mmmm!
Posted by: clodhopper | January 25, 2007 at 10:07 AM