The thing is, I love lemons, but if they were all life gave me, I'd be a well-fed, yet unhappy person. Until today I'd had four beautiful items sitting in my kitchen waiting to be cooked and no time in which to cook (or 'un-cook') them. So when life gave me lemons and an abundance of time I took their juice and poured it on top of some jerusalem artichokes and garlic and roasted the whole thing. Then I poured more life-lemon juice on top of a raw sun-dried tomato pesto with sunflower seeds (beautiful kitchen item number 2 - recipe to come).
These jerusalem artichokes I had saved since the last Montreal Marché Fermier Farmers Market. I bought them from Aaron Langille (well, they weren't his sunchokes, but he stepped in to help out the farmer that day since he didn't have any help. Swell guy). I feel kind of mean giving you that link because he has an amazing dinner coming up with Cookies Unite and he gets to plan and execute the whole thing (multiple courses, whatever he wants) and it's BYOB and only $30 for some of the top sous-chefs in the city (DNA, Le Club Chasse et Peche, XO, etc.) and it happens not often enough...and the most important thing is it's completely sold out. SO keep that link in your bookmarks and reserve your spot for the next one.
The point is I'd been waiting for the right time to roast artichokes. My go-to recipe for jerusalem artichokes is soup but I really didn't feel like:
1) soup
2) peeling all those knobby things to get a smooth purée. Even with big pieces it feels as though by the time you're done peeling there are no artichokes left. Maybe that's why they're called artichokes, since the same thing happens with their big green counterparts. Montreal doesn't even compost, so it really is a waste.
So, instead:
Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
5-8 cloves garlic, peeled (I removed the green inside vein thing because apparently that makes them bitter, but it's not really necessary. Go with 5 if you hate garlic and go with 8 if you're me...or, you know, someone else who likes roasted garlic a lot and doesn't have a date tonight)
1 1/2 pounds Jerusalem artichokes, rinsed and cut into 1-inch cubes (mine were smaller because that way they roast faster...that way they also burn faster, though, so be careful)
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
a ton of fresh thyme (a bunch, stems removed)
a pinch salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400° F. In a large baking dish mix the oil and garlic and put in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
Then add the artichokes and toss to coat with the oil and put the baking sheet back in the oven for 25 minutes.
In a small bowl combine the water, lemon juice, thyme, and salt and after the 25 minutes are up pour the liquid over the artichokes.
Roast for an additonal 20 minutes or until the liquid has almost evaporated and the artichokes are tender on the inside and crisp on the outside, then eat while you wonder why you've never roasted artichokes before.
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