Roast Pork With Sunchokes

Rural Mom is pleased to welcome guest Randall Smith, author of Farm Fresh Flavors: 501 Delicious Meals using Local Ingredients

Randall: Until I started researching this book, I had never cooked or eaten a sunchoke (also called a Jerusalem artichoke for reasons that have nothing to do withJerusalem or artichokes). I had walked by them at farmers markets and supermarket displays without a thought.

I tried and was introduced to yet another surprise that nature has to offer us.I suspect this is the case with many of us and one of the things I hope a book likethis can do is open some doors to experiences that you may have been reluctantto face. Today a sunchoke, tomorrow a change in careers! It could happen.

Sunchokes are moist and crunchy like a water chestnut. They have a mild nuttyflavor that is pleasant and fresh. Sunchokes are tubers that develop on sunflowerslate in the season after they flower. They are harvested well into the winter.

RECIPE: Roast Pork With Sunchokes

Like potatoes, sunchokes absorb pan juices very well and offer a rich side to roast meats. Serves: 4

Ingredients
2 pounds pork loin or pork butt
1-1/2 pounds sunchokes, peel andcut into large pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1tablespoon butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F. Rub pork liberally with salt,pepper and thyme.

Heat olive oil in a Dutch ovenover medium heat and brown pork on all sides. Cover pan and roast for 25 minutes.

Remove panfrom oven and arrange sunchokes around pork. Stir the sunchokes in the pan juices to coat andreturn to oven.

Roast uncovered for 25 minutes until internal temperature of pork reaches 165 F. Remove pork from pan and let rest 10 minutesbefore slicing. 

Slice pork and arrange on serving platter. Place sunchokes around sliced pork.

HeatDutch oven over medium-high heat and pour in white wine. Let wine sizzle and boil while scraping off tasty bits on the bottom of pan. Cook for 2 minutes and stir in the butter. Pour pan sauceover pork and sunchokes.

Randall: Farm Fresh Flavors grew out of work I’ve done helping to promote small organic farmers in central WI. Many were concerned that they were loosing a number of CSA share subscribers because people were having a hard time using all of the produce they would get in their boxes each week. They thought a handbook that would introduce their shareholders to unusual vegetables and new ways of cooking familiar ones would be a great tool.

That is how the book developed. It is an encyclopedia of items you would find in your CSA share, your backyard garden, or the farmer’s market. It is loaded with recipes and techniques for cooking fresh fruits and vegetables while still fresh and for preserving them for use later. Each section has some chef’s tips and it is peppered with anecdotes from the farmer’s themselves. The recipes are simple and easily accomplished by anyone with a stove and a few pots and pans. Each section will include:

• The definition and characteristics of each food.
• Multiple techniques for preparing the food.
• Ways to preserve and extend the shelf life of food.
• Why farm fresh food is a better choice for healthy eating.
• How to connect with local farmers and how it can bring significance to your life.
• Recipes are innovative yet contain accessible ingredients and simple directions.

About the Author:

Randall Smith has been a working chef for over 20 years. He is currently Executive Chef at First and Fresh Catering in Washington DC and was formerly the executive chef at fine hotels and clubs in Wisconsin and Illinois. He is 1999 Middle Wisconsin Chef’s Association Chef of the Year nominee. He has written on using local produce for Farmer’s Markets Today and has been a tireless advocate for using products from farmer’s markets, CSA’s and local sustainable farms.

He has traveled in Europe studying the integration and branding of local food into foodservice, and has worked closely with the Central Rivers Farmshed, The Wisconsin Local Food Summit, and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association. He can be found at http://www.cooklocalfood.com/ or http://www.1st-fresh.com/. For more information on CSA’s and markets in your area visit http://www.localharvest.com/