Mama’s looking up etymologies of words, inspired by a friend in Rome who sent her a wonderful recipe for Jerusalem artichoke soup. It seems that Americans called the sunchoke they found in the New World a girasole, which is French for sunflower and girasole got changed to Jerusalem and then it became Jerusalem artichoke, nothing to do with Jerusalem. I had a little taste of this soup and it’s awfully good except for a few…er…repercussions, with emphasis on the percussion, haha.
Just kidding, folks; Jerusalem artichokes are full of nutrition, and here’s the recipe:
Peel 2 pounds or a kilo of jerusalem artichokes with a carrot peeler. It helps if you choose the oval ones without too many bumps and they will be easier to peel.
Cut into 1/2-inch slices (or medium dice)
Peel 4 large potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch slices (or medium dice)
Chop a sweet onion into six pieces.
Put them all in a pot and cover with chicken broth (or vegetable broth, if you like). Bring the broth to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Add the juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper to taste, but if you are using bouillon cubes, do not add salt until you’ve tasted the soup.
Let cool and purée the mixture until very smooth and creamy.
You may add a spoon of cream but it’s really good without it. I tasted the one without cream and I was very happy with it. I sort of wanted the cream on the side…
Serve with croutons or with a little spoon of yogurt in each soup plate or decorate with fresh chopped mint, parsley or basil.
I think I’m going to take up cooking, as I love to sit and watch mama do things in the kitchen and I’m very patient. I’m not sure I want to stir up the focaccia because if there is anything hard to clean, it’s the dough on cat fur!!!
And speaking of cat fur (to make kitten britches, haha), mama is saving all of my fur to put in a little sack for a friend whose mother has arthritis, and I mentioned in another blog that kitty fur is supposed to help arthritis if you put it in a little sack in your bed.
Well, I AM a little sack of fur and I sleep next to mama’s knees and she doesn’t have any problems now with arthritis, and of course, I attribute that to ME!
Uh, oh, I’m feeling a little stiff in the back leg.
Maybe papa will save his haircut hair for me…
Just a little off the sides should do it…
