Saturday, October 15, 2011

My Artichoke Imposter

Technically, my imposter has been identified as a Jerusalem Artichoke aka sunchokes. Now that I know what it is, I'll be sure not to plant it in my garden again. This is a plant that should be planted in its own space. If you need a privacy wall, this plant will do the trick!


Here's a few photos:
They shot up very quickly -
this is when they were "short"!


They grew taller than the house

A Parting of the Ways
Jack's beanstalk?
Nope. Jerusalem Artichokes.

They have pretty yellow flowers perched
on the top of the stalks
So, you may be wondering, how these are eaten. The roots of these plants are edible. They don't look too appetizing. Hubby has accused me of being closed-minded! The only reason I would want to eat these is if food was not plentiful. For me, this is more of a "survival" food than anything else.
One small root for mankind...
sorry, couldn't help myself   

Bowl full of roots
So, I went here and found a recipe for Jerusalem Artichoke Cheese Soup. I picked this recipe because the ingredients include butter, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. It's hard to go wrong with butter, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. I do realize that if food should become scarce, these ingredients would probably not be available. But, since I had all these ingredients in my fridge, that's what I tried.


Jerusalem artichokes are kind of like potatoes, but without the carbs. They also have lots of health benefits. The soup wasn't terrible, but it also didn't make me want to lick the bowl clean. It was better than I thought, and I'm sure I'll be searching out more recipes for Jerusalem artichoke.

12 comments:

  1. Never heard of them! But it is never too late!

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  2. Yes, I have heard of Jerusalem Artichoke. Your post certainly doesn't make me want to rush out and buy some though!! Can't believe how tall they grew in your garden, although I like the pretty yellow flowers. Enjoy your weekend over there.

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  3. Haven't heard of them but certainly have learned that I won't be making that soup anytime soon either! haha. Great post.

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  4. This is really interesting!!! The soup seems good if you leave the artichokes out, ha ha!! But I love potatoes, did they really taste like them? What about texture, were they kind of crunchy, or did they cook up soft? I imagine they would have all kinds of health benefits, especially since you dug them up fresh yourself!

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  5. How cool! I've always wondered about these things. I ordered some years ago but they never grew-- maybe that is a good thing! haha

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  6. I have never seen that plant before..how brave you are to try a soup. The fact that they grew taller than the house would have drove me nuts...but then again the flower is really pretty.
    Blessings, Joanne

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  7. I was watching the Food Network one time and I cannot remember which cook or chef was talking about those tubers. Anyway the talk was that if cooked correctly then they taste really good and are very easy to grow.

    Well you got the easy to grow part correct and I am better that you will find a good recipe for them. I am thinking that maybe it would be a good plant to plant beside ones house in the early spring and that it would help to keep ones house cool. Supposedly plants can cut your cooling bill by 20% and we need all the help we can get today. Maybe I should write it down on my calendar to buy one next spring. Okay, maybe not to eat but if it keeps the house cooler how can one go wrong.

    God bless.

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  8. Okay, I meant betting. Geez, I cannot remember crap today. I need brain pills.

    GBA

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  9. OH now I'm teetering on the fence! Easy to grow sounds good and the fact that possible they may taste good has me intrigued. Perhaps I'll make a trip to the grocery to try them out before planting them in the ground! What do you think? Way to go or NO WAY!
    Hugs~

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  10. It's good to know there won't be any starving to death when the world ends next year. :-)

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  11. I've never even heard of these but honestly I'm pretty sure that I'm not going try them due to your um experience with them, any time soon. haha. Thanks for sticking with me through all my issues lately. It means a lot. :)

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  12. Welll.... my mom used to say if you learned something new every day you'd get a gold star....and I guess you're my gold star for today. I've never heard of Jerusalem Artichoke before and I never would have thought to eat them if I saw one so I guess if the world does come to an end, I have you to thank for my survival ;-)

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