Topic: Jerusalem Artichoke?

[GlentoranMark]

OK, I'm 6 months off using these but I've just bought two of these stems and planted into 2 buckets. I know they produce tall sunflower like plants which was the main reason for buying them but what do I do with the choke?

Has anyone cooked with these before?

[:(]

I wouldnt put them in buckets theyll overbalance and blow over. Each plant grows many thick stems and gets  very topheavy up to 10 feet. For cooking soup, mash, bake, roast.

[GlentoranMark]

I wouldnt put them in buckets theyll overbalance and blow over. Each plant grows many thick stems and gets  very topheavy up to 10 feet. For cooking soup, mash, bake, roast.

I'd rather keep them in buckets as I've read that the roots are almost impossible to remove once they get established in the soil. I can always pin them down if they become a problem.

I've never tasted them, are they an acquired taste?

Thanks for the response BTW.

[caroline7758]

 I usually harvest mine from October to January. I find them quite easy to dig out , then I replant a few tubers for the next year. Got the original ones from freecycle.
They are quite fiddly to clean and peel and a lot of people won't touch them because they cause flatulence,but I don't find them too bad (cabbages are worse!) and find the easiest thing to do with them is make soup. Check on search- we've had a few threads about them before.

[GlentoranMark]

I usually harvest mine from October to January. I find them quite easy to dig out , then I replant a few tubers for the next year. Got the original ones from freecycle.
They are quite fiddly to clean and peel and a lot of people won't touch them because they cause flatulence,but I don't find them too bad (cabbages are worse!) and find the easiest thing to do with them is make soup. Check on search- we've had a few threads about them before.

Thanks Caroline, I like cabbage  :)

I never actually tasted Globe Artichoke until I went to Spain last summer and I didn't like it  :( but I was going to grow Sunflowers anyway and I read these plants flower similarly so I'll give them a try.

[:(]

Theyre the sunflower family but the flowers arent the same. Theyre quite insignificnat yellow daisylike flowers at the top of very tall stems.

[Ishard]

Beware of these as they can activate IBS.

These make me very ill although I do love them I just cant eat them

[Flighty]

Weequinie they're not that insignificant!  :)

[attachment=1]

[:(]

They are compared to a sunflower on the top of a 10foot stem!

[guerriero75]

Hi all,

As a newbie I would like first of all to introduce myself, I'm Mark and I live in Coleshill..( probably wrong post for introducing but hey...).

Jerusalem's artichoke..

The taste its sublime roasted with strong meats...taste alike a real artichoke, I have cooked in Italy for years this tuber and the real artichoke..difference is that yes indeed the tuber does give more AIR, then again Brussels sprout do to.
I really find them a very nice alternative to any other tuber..in moderation of course..unless you want to sleep the night at the allotment..LOL

Live long and prosper..with lots of veggies

[Duke Ellington]

the tuber does give more AIR, then again Brussels sprout do to.

Hi Guerriero and Welcome to A4A
I just love the way you describe flatulence !! ;D ;D ;D

Duke

[PurpleHeather]

Years ago we got a few and planted them to form a hedge. Harvesting was at the time when there was tons of other stuff to sort out and both of us were working full time then so there was not much time to do a lot with them.

They were fiddly to clean but having seen Gordon Ramsey scrub them and cook them since. I now realise that I did not have to peel them too....... He made a sauce with his to use on pasta and insisted it was delicious. I am sure it was but am not sufficiently bothered to give it another go. Others said they made a good soup with theirs. Again there is so much to make soup with I did not feel an urge.

I boiled and mashed them but we were not impressed with either the flavour or the texture. Watery, compared to other roots. I tried them roasted but again not much taste and they did not match spuds and parsnips.

We did not find them hard to get rid of the following year. Having grown them in a hedge along one line, as soon as they came up, we treated them like weeds and just dug them out. No need to container them, all gardens get weeds.

They did make a very quick growing and effective hedge and to me, that was their best use.

Possibly it was my cooking or my over abused taste buds but I never did get to identify or appreciate  the 'delicate nutty' flavour others say they have.

[artichoke]

I love them peeled and roasted and eaten with butter and lemon juice. Or if they are particularly fresh and blemish free, leave the skin on.

Dear Supersprout used to send out a "Palestine Soup" recipe - she boiled artichokes in their skins, then "popped out" the contents to make the soup with, therefore no peeling.

[artichoke]

PS There is nothing to stop you pruning them if you don't like the height they grow to. I used to grow them as a hedge in front of my messy compost heap, and kept them down to about 3 foot, and still got as many tubers as I wanted.

[caroline7758]

Meant to say I love the flowers- they brighten up the allotment and are easier and cheaper to grow than sunflowers- I've even cut them for the house.