As we continued to expand our diet to include more foods grown, raised and cultivated in Indiana, we’ve been pleasantly surprised at the breadth of products available. We started with the obvious ones – corn, tomatoes, green beans, peas, potatoes, etc. Our shocking discovery is………INDIANA CITRUS! That’s correct! It was serendipity at its finest. We toured the Lily House at the IMA and there were citrus trees heavy with fruit in the sun room. Then we went to a pitch in dinner and someone brought oranges off of their tree they keep in a green house.
It’s in the spirit of our pleasant discovery that we share this fun recipe using Indiana ingredients (yes, we do have Jerusalem artichokes (aka. sun chokes) in Indiana!). This brothy vegetable soup has a great citrus flavor and is uniquely characteristic of the Provence region of France. This recipe was modified based on one in the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Cookbook.
Jerusalem Artichoke Soup Provencal
1 T. olive oil
1 ½ c. chopped onions
¾ c. peeled and medium diced potatoes
1 ¼ c. peeled and medium diced carrots
¼ c. small diced celery
1 tsp. salt
1 bay leaf (you can grow your own!)
2 ½ c. chicken or vegetable stock
5 artichoke hearts, cut into quarters or 7 oz. sun chokes
1 T. dry sherry
½ T. dry white wine, Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand is the best
1/8 c. fresh orange juice
¼ tsp. freshly grated orange peel
Ground black pepper to taste
Warm the olive oil in a nonreactive soup pot.
Add the onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, salt, and bay leaves and sauté on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add the stock or water and bring to a boil; then lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Add the artichoke hearts or sun chokes and sherry to the soup pot and continue to simmer for five minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice, orange juice, and orange peel and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
Season to taste with black pepper.
Remove and discard the bay leaf.
Serve with a nice crust piece of bread.
