Sunchoke, Celeriac, and Potato Purée

I bought sunchokes (or Jerusalem artichokes) at the farmer's market thinking I'd make a salad. Over the course of the day, as I mentally thought out my evening's menu (scallops with ramp butter over a sunchoke puree), I realized I would need more sunchokes. By the time I left work, the market was closed so I was out of luck. I still wanted to make a puree that was springy and somewhat lighter than potato. I picked up a celery root and one potato and it turned out wonderfully. It's tasty and like and has the consistency of whipped cream. It has a little bit of an artichoke taste (even though sunchoked/Jerusalem artichokes are not at all related to artichokes). It works very well under scallops, and would work equally well as a base for short ribs. Definitely a keeper!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1/2 a large or 1 small russet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium-sized celeriac/celery root, peeled and cut in half and then into 1/2 inch slices

2 large sunchokes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup half and half, warm

Ramp, Stinging Nettle, and Sunchoke Soup

This soup just oozes spring. I've been totally going overboard with ramps - I made them with duck, made them into pesto, topped them with olive oil and grilled them... I'm drinking the cool aid. Before they go out of season, I wanted at least one more try.

I went to the farmers market yesterday hoping for veggies. I'd been eating a little unhealthily this week, so I needed it. I grabbed some stinging nettles, ramps, and sunchokes all at the same stand and thought it would make a great, springy soup. It did! Very easy to make and takes about 45 minutes. It's a beautiful bright green and goes really well with a parmesan twist from Amy's Bread (or a roll or baguette or any other bread). I can't wait to eat it again for lunch! The sunchokes thicken it up a little, the ramps give it an earthy smoothed out bite, and the nettles are super springy. It tastes great and you feel like you're being healthy. Just don't touch the nettles with your hands until after they're cooked!