To summer residents: Jerusalem artichoke dishes

The first time I heard about artichoke 20 years ago, and from crossword puzzles, because often I came across a question about an earth bulb, but for some reason I could not remember the word "Jerusalem artichoke", it seemed that it was such an exotic vegetable, or a fruit that We do not meet.

But once in the garden of friends I saw thickets of some tall grass (stems of some specimens higher than human growth), with relatively small yellow flowers, like a small sunflower that grew instead of a hedge around the perimeter of the site, almost like a weed. And it turned out that this is the same Jerusalem artichoke that I could not remember.

When I pulled out of the ground tubers, which are not at all like a pear, but rather on uneven, knotty potatoes. It turned out that these tubers can be eaten raw, as it should be washed from the ground, and that they are very useful, especially for people suffering from diabetes (actually they were grown by the owners in that garden). I read later that from the tubers of earthen pears in the US (and the birthplace of Jerusalem artichoke, who does not know, it is North America) make even a surrogate coffee for dietary purposes.

Since I took a few tubers of this unpretentious plant for breeding, I also became interested in what dishes from Jerusalem artichoke can be cooked, because it's easy to chew this earth pear, no matter how useful it is, and most did not particularly like it, yes And the old people are not always to the teeth.

It was found out that it is possible to prepare the most simple dishes from Jerusalem artichoke, which do not require any preliminary culinary processing (such as salads), but can be heat-treated - stew or fry - the dishes only benefit from this.

I offer several recipes, which dishes from Jerusalem artichoke can be prepared at home.

Salads from grated Jerusalem artichoke

These salads are of the easiest type, since you simply skip the peeled 2-3-4 (depending on their size) tuber of the Jerusalem artichoke through the grater, add finely chopped garlic (one single slice), salt to taste and season with mayonnaise. You can add your favorite greens here.

You can mix Jerusalem artichoke with grated carrots, add a few drops of lemon juice, season with burnt vegetable oil - this is another version of the light vitamin salad.

Jerusalem artichoke dishes are perfectly combined with sour apples. Add to the grated Jerusalem artichoke the apple, passed through the grater, and finely chopped, slightly rumpled cabbage, mix everything with your beloved greens and season with sour cream or mayonnaise (or, as in the previous case, sprinkle with lemon juice and pour oil on it).

Now consider the Jerusalem artichoke, the dishes from which are subjected to heat treatment. I personally prefer to cook fritters or cutlets from Jerusalem artichoke.

To make cutlets, take Jerusalem artichoke and cabbage in a ratio of 1: 1 (half a kilogram of one and the other), a couple tablespoons of flour, 2 eggs, salt, half a cup of cream, vegetable oil for frying and bread crumbs for cutting cutlets.

Cabbage must be finely chopped, carpets fillet and grated on a large grater, combined with cabbage, mixed and, adding cream, put it out until the vegetables are ready in a deep frying pan under the lid (or in a saucepan).

In the received hot mass to hammer in eggs, salt and quickly mix with a flour to reception of a homogeneous consistence of type of mashed potatoes (it is better in a blender). To form cutlets, roll them in breadcrumbs and then fry, like usual cutlets, on both sides (turn carefully so that they do not break).

Serve these cutlets on a table with sour cream sauce.

If possible, plant an earthen pear on your site - this plant does not require special care (besides it is perennial and will grow itself), then the Jerusalem artichoke dishes will become another source of healthy food on your table!