October 2 Meal: The Case of the Missing Sunchokes

Saturday was the big game, Florida vs. Alabama.  That called for a big meal to prepare to cheer on the Gators.  Never mind that they lost in a rather depressing game, the meal was great.  We had Roast Chicken with Parsnips, Golden Beets, and Jerusalem Artichokes with Beer Pan Juices, Peel-and-Eat Spiced Shrimp with Chipotle Remoulade, and German Chocolate Brownies.  To complete the meal I steamed some kale and heated up the leftover braised red cabbage (see yesterday’s post).

Roast Chicken with Parsnips, Golden beets, and Jerusalem Artichokes with Beer Pan Juices

Roast chicken is a pretty common meal at our house.  I usually pick one up from the farmer’s market and do something with it once a week.  My favorite chicken farmer is Harland’s Creek Farm.  They are always very friendly and say something like, “I watched this chicken grow up and it was just butchered this week.  Enjoy!”  I picture happy little chickens running around the farm.  I’ve promised them I’d take good care of it so that it didn’t die in vein.  The recipe calls for a 4- to 4½ lb. chicken, but for just the two of us I used one that was 2½ lbs.

You start by placing herbs under the skin on the breasts and in the chest cavity and let it hang out on the counter for 2 hours with its wings tucked under.  I’m not sure why the wings need to be tucked, but as the picture here shows, it makes for a bird that really looks like she’s enjoying herself (despite the herbs protruding from her rump and not having a head).  After the resting period, the chicken is placed in a roasting pan with the parsnips, golden beets, and Jerusalem artichokes that have been mixed with oil and herbs.  However, this chicken only got beets and parsnips with it.  I was not able to find Jerusalem artichokes (also known as sunchokes) anywhere.  The season doesn’t start until the very end of October.  You might be wondering why I couldn’t just substitute artichoke hearts from a jar.  Well, despite the name, sunchokes aren’t really artichokes at all.  They are actually a species of sunflower and the part that is eaten is a tuber that resembles a ginger root.  While I’d love to try them, if they aren’t available, the show must go on without them.




After an hour or so of roasting and a few stirs of the veggies the chicken was done.  The juices get poured from the chest cavity and all meat and vegetables are taken from the pan.  Next, the pan is placed on burners and beer is added to make a juice with the brown bits at the bottom of the pan.  The recipe called for a lager or pale ale and I assume that my husband, an aspiring brewmaster, had one of those sitting around.  We had an IPA, which is close enough.  It turned out alright, but didn’t really improve the taste of anything.  Overall, this was a good chicken, but not my favorite of the roasted chickens I’ve made before.  I thought that all the herbs would provide a lot of flavor, but was a little disappointed with their subtlety.  The chicken itself was very moist and we had about half the bird left for lunch for the next couple days.

Yumminess: 6 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $17 for 4 servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 1 hour of prep and 4:10 hrs. total. I spent maybe 20 minutes in “prep,” 2 hrs. with the chicken on the counter, and about an hour of cook time, so my total time was around about 3½  hours.

Was it worth it?: Yes, it was not any more expensive than other roast chickens I make, but I’d probably only do it once in the fall when the vegetables are in season.

Peel-and-Eat Spiced Shrimp with Chipotle Remoulade

This is a recipe that I would have just passed over usually.  Even though I like shrimp I can’t remember ever making a peel-and-eat recipe.  This one is definitely the best I’ve ever tasted.  The recipe was for 12 servings, but I cut the number of shrimp in half.  A brine of salt and spices gives the shrimp a slight spiciness after their quick cook of 3 minutes.  The shrimp were great by themselves, but amazing when dipped into the chipotle remoulade.  A remoulade is a French sauce generally characterized by aioli or mayonnaise and can contain a number of different things.  This remoulade contains mayo, chipotle chilies, cilantro, and lime and provides a great contrast to the shrimp.  The lime is the star of the sauce.  I felt like my mouth had been asleep and was just woken up.  This recipe provides a great bang for the small amount of time it takes to prepare.  I don’t have any pictures because we were too busy eating to remember to get a shot.

On a side note, I purchased the shrimp from Whole Foods and chose the more “local” North Carolina-caught shrimp instead of the farmed shrimp from Nicaragua.  This made the shrimp twice as expensive.  Depending on your priorities, you can cut down the cost by a lot if desired.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $9.50 for 2 servings

Time: For shrimp, Bon Appetit said 30 minutes of prep and 45 minutes total and for Remoulade 10 minutes prep and 10 minutes total.  For shrimp, it took me about 15 minutes to heat the water and make the brine, then another 10 minutes of cooking for a total of 25 minutes.  For the Remoulade, it took about 10 minutes total.

Was it worth it?: Definitely!  This is a great recipe for dinner parties or a week(end) treat.

German Chocolate Brownies

Wow, these things are amazing!  The recipe is in the R.S.V.P. section from a restaurant in St. Augustine, FL named The Bunnery Bakery & Café.  I made 1/3 the recipe in my 8x8 glass pan.  The brownie part has vegetable shortening and corn syrup, not usual brownie ingredients for me, but I think they made the difference.  On top is a topping like what’s on German chocolate cake, hence the name.  Shredded coconut and pecans are mixed with a combination of half and half, sugar, butter, egg yolk, and vanilla that has been cooked on the stove.  The mixture is cooled and then smeared on top of the cooled brownies.  As long as you like brownies and coconut this dessert is sure to be one of your favorites, too.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $7.50 for 16 servings (depending on how big you like your brownies and if you can get free eggs from your boss)

Time: Bon Appetit said 50 minutes of prep and 3 hours total.  It took me about 30 minutes of prep, 30 minutes of cooking time, and 1 hour to cool for a total of 2 hours.

Was it worth it?: Definitely!  This will be one of my go-to brownie recipes, but it is a lot more involved than the regular chocolate ones I’ve made.