Daniel Mattern is the chef at Ammo in Hollywood. He uses sunchokes in a variety of ways.
Watercress, shaved sunchoke & roasted beet salad
Aside from roasting the beets, which might take close to an hour, this is a very simple salad to prepare. If press with time, roast the beets a day or two in advance and store them in the refrigerator until ready to use. At the restaurant, we like to toss all the components separately for the sake of presentation. At home you can toss beets and sunchokes together but keep in mind that the beets will probably stain the chokes. If you’re the kind of person who isn’t concerned with those things by all means toss greens, beets and sunchokes together.
Serves 4
1 lb mixed baby beets
1 lb sunchokes
1 cup + 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, minced
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup orange juice
1 small bunch watercress, arugula or dandelion greens (your choice – we like watercress)
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1. Pre heat the oven to 375°F. Place an oven rack in the middle position.
To make the vinaigrette: put shallots, lemon juice and orange juice in a bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper. Slowly pour in one cup of olive oil while whisking vigorously. Once all the oil has been added, check the flavor and adjust as necessary.
2. To roast the beets: wash the baby beets well. Put them in a baking pan, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Cover with aluminum foil and roast in the oven for approximately 45 minutes. Beets will be ready when a pairing knife can be easily inserted in one of them. Remove beets from the oven, let them rest for 15 minutes and peel them while still warmish by rubbing them with a kitchen towel – the skin will come right off. Cut peeled beets in half, place them in a bowl and toss with some of the vinaigrette.
3. Wash the sunchokes, making sure to scrub them well. Using a mandolin or the slicer side of the box grater, shave the sunchokes thinly, place in a bowl, drizzle with some of the vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper.
4. To plate the salad, toss the greens of your choice lightly with some of the vinaigrette and lay on a serving platter, put the beets on top of the greens and the shaved sunchokes on top of the beets.
Roasted sunchokes
Serve roasted sunchokes as a side dish very much in the same way that you would serve potatoes. Peel sunchokes with a vegetable peeler. It might be a little bit of a chore but sweet, tender roasted sunchokes are worth the effort.
Serves 4
2 lbs sunchokes
½ cup olive oil
5 sprigs fresh thyme
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1. Pre heat the oven to 375°F. Place an oven rack in the middle position.
2. Peel the sunchokes and rinse with cold water.
3. Cut into 1-inch pieces and put them in a bowl. Toss with olive oil, thyme sprigs, salt and pepper.4. Lay sunchokes on a baking sheet and roast for 20 to 30 minutes. Sunchokes will be ready when a pairing knife can be easily inserted in one of them. Remove from the oven, let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes and serve.
David West owns Clearwater Farms which brings mushrooms to the market. Right now he has Matsutake mushrooms, a delicacy in Japan. To prep the mushrooms, peel the outer layer and scrub the top. David recommends steaming the mushroom or adding it to a broth. A very popular dish in Japan is Matsutake Dobin Mushi.