Saturday, November 8, 2014

FFwD: Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Parsley Coulis


Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is „Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Parsley Coulis“, an elegant soup with velvety texture and creamy flavor, just perfect for late autumn.




For the Jerusalem Artichoke Soup, melt the butter in a large Dutch oven, add the onions, celery, leek and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook for about ten minutes. Add the cubed Jerusalem artichoke, then some more pepper and salt and cook for another fifteen minutes. To the vegetables, add the hot homemade chicken or vegetable stock to the pot, cover with a lid and cook for another thirty minutes. Pour the mixture into a blender and blitz until smooth.

Serve the soup while good and hot and garnish with toppings of choice such as Dorie`s Parsley Coulis, simply made of fresh parsley leaves, extra-virgin olive oil, a good grinding of black pepper and some sea salt. Instead of putting a spoonful of cream in the center of each soup plate, a added a bit of cream to the soup before serving.




To add a bit of a seasonal touch and to add another flavor component to this recipe, I chose to prepare some oven-baked Pear Crisps with Maple Syrup that I served alongside the soup.




I loved that I got to use those fragrant local pears from a farm nearby with that incredibly charming name „Vereins-Dechantsbirne“ (also called „Doyenné du Comice“ in French, this autum pear variety hails originally from France where it was first discovered in 1850). Nothing like using local and seasonal fruits and veg for our dishes.




Dorie´s no-fuss soup recipe is surprisingly elegant and was received very favorably by my devoted taste testers. Because the vegetables are very slowly cooked, this soup has lots of lovely flavors.

We really enjoyed the rich and earthy creaminess of the Jerusalem Artichoke Soup together with the fresh and bright taste of the Parsley Coulis. This velvety soup definitely makes a nourishing autumn meal, especially when topped with coulis. Besides, the coulis adds a nice visual element to the soup plate. And the wonderfully crisp and sweet Pear Chips are a delicious treat alongside this soup.




To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this recipe, please go here.

For copyright reasons, we do not publish the recipes from the book. But you can find the recipe for the “Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Parsley Coulis“ on pages 76-77 in Dorie Greenspan´s cookbook "Around my French Table".


33 comments:

  1. The pear crisps are absolutely gorgeous. Kevin was telling me he wished he'd had a bit of crunch with this soup and pear crisps would be a lovely gluten-free choice. I love your presentation of the soup, too. Your parsley coulis has just the right texture.

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    1. Teresa, thank you very much - although I was a day late, I am so gald that I made this soup - I cannot believe that the kids really enjoy the taste of the sunchokes but they do, none left and I am quite happy about that. The pear crisps seemd a "must" somehow - I stared at them for a while, decided against dessert and for these crisps and did not regret it.

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  2. Yes! You really did a fantastic job with that coulis. And the pear crisps sound like the perfect anytime snack. Very inspired!

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    1. Adriana, thank you very much - we really enjoyed all the different flavor components of this recipe and the coulis added a nice bright touch to the velvety soup.

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  3. Everything looks wonderful. I love the presentation of the soup, and the pear crisps are interesting.

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    1. Rosemary, thank you very much - I appreciate your kind comment!

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  4. The pear chips sound fantastic! What a nice way to complement the soup.

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    1. Beth, thanks - the soup just seemed to beg for a bit of something interesting - although it did taste good on its own.

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  5. Hi Andrea, how lucky your taste testers are as they get to enjoy your creamy soup with the parsley swirl and the beautiful pear crisps. The crisps would be good alone as a snack or a compliment to so many other foods. Great post!

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    1. Cheri, the pear crisps are wonderful with some lovely creamy goats´ cheese and toasted nuts as well - or just as part of a cheese spread after dinner. Thank you for your commnet!

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  6. Wow, the soup looks amazing--I love the swirl you achieved! I'll agree with everyone else that the pear crisps look and sound amazing, too. Lovely photos and a great post!

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    1. Thank you kindly, the soup went over really well at our house - which did and did not surprise me all that much - my taste testers "have" to taste so many different dishes these days, they have developed a really open mind when it comes to eating and trying out "new" things.

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  7. Hello Andrea, this soup looks so sensational! I love how you accompanied the pear crisps which seem to be a perfect match with the soup. I must search out the Jerusalem artichoke in this area- as they are not so commonly found here. The parsley coulis gives the perfect contrast, shown off splendidly by your very beautiful photography. And the pears with the knife- look like a painting. I was particularly thrilled to see your Post come through on my email just now- and this may be the first I've received this way! I kept checking back to see what you had Posted! I enjoy reading my favorite bloggers on my email - away from the chaos and distraction- its gotten to be more enjoyable this way- so your soup was a really lovely wrap up to the day. Oh, and by the way, the beet tarte tatin really was amazing- and a big hit with our neighbors. See you soon.

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    1. Peggy, what a wonderful comment - thank you for mentioning all the details that you enjoy about my post - aren´t these pears just the most photogenic ones...I love, love using that autumn pear variety with that wonderful old-fashioned name and great taste (but I am sure that you guessed that already) - the soup looked a bit "lonely" without the parsley coulis and it did add a nice visual and flavor component to the soup. I appreciate all you fabulous comments, your support and friendship! Glad that your Beet Tarte Tatin from the CCC turned out to be such a success with your your neighbours!

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  8. Well, even though I wasn't a fan of the soup, I AM a fan of your pear crisps! I could eat that whole bowl and more!!! Beautiful!

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    1. Liz, thank you very much - I noticed that this was not your favorite one of the soups in Dorie´s book but you would have loved to nibble on those pear crisps, I am sure!

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  9. Your soup looks great. Most of the soups have looked a little gray. I did not find the elusive Jerusalem artichokes and did a make up instead.

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    1. Diane, no gray here - I made sure to keep the sunchokes in acidulated water once peeled and added a touch of half and half to the soup just before serving. Thank you for your kind words!

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  10. I'm glad you and your tasters enjoyed the soup as much as I did. I think pears are a beautiful fruit anyway, but as crisps, they are something special. I admire your creativity this week, as always. Have a good week, dear friend.

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    1. Betsy, thank you, my friend - you just made my Monday morning (it looks so gloomy outside, definitely not a day for pictures) - the crisps are easy to prepare but they take a loooong time in the oven - the things we do to make delicious and attractive looking food...

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  11. Your presentation is gorgeous, my friend! Love the hand-crocheted linens, too! And the pear crisps just make this perfect.

    I don't know if you saw, but in my response to your comment on C&L, I mentioned that we purchased outer tickets to Germany! Our first day will be in Bonn to see you! Then we are off galavanting around Austria and Germany! Liebe Grüße aus Tucson!

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    1. Dear David, now you made my day or rather my week - fabulous news!!! So much looking forward to your visit - cannot believe we will actually meet in a few months time...

      And thank you for your kind comment too! Always such a pleasure to hear from you! Now I am off with the kids to see the Saint Martin´s Day lantern parade in downtown Bonn! Lots of paper lanterns to marvel at and lots of candy for the kids (a bit like "trick or treating", except here the kids have to sing songs in order to get treats).
      Bis bald,
      Andrea

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  12. The pear crisps truly were a perfect touch.
    I always enjoy how you take such special care with each of your posts.

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    1. Cher, so nice to hear from you and many thanks for the kind comment - the pear crisps were quite nice with this velvety soup and I am glad that I gave this recipe a try!

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  13. Beautiful presentation and photography Andrea! This soup sounds delicious, I have often seen the jeruselem artichoke in the markets here but have never tried them before.

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    1. Karen, if you get a chance to make a cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup, you should - it is certainly worth making! Thank you for your kind comment!

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  14. This is such pretty soup Andrea, and I love the swirl...so beautiful...what a beautiful way to complement it with these crispy pears...
    Enjoy your week :)

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    1. Juliana, this is nice - love compliments on how pretty things look in my photos! Thank you!

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  15. I love the Maple Pear Crisps. The soup looks delicious. Perfect for a delicious fall meal:)

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    1. Geraldine, isn´t seasonal cooking and baking the best?! These pears are at their prime right now and perfectly suited to be turned into these lovely Maple Pear Crisps. Thank you for stopping by!

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  16. Your soup is simply delicious looking, as usual, but those stunning pear chips stole the show for me !! I have not heard of these before and they sound (and look !!) absolutely delicious. Those photos of all are simply off the charts. Absolutely professional grade and gorgeous. Lovely, lovely post.

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    1. Tricia, thank you, dear friend - the pear crisps were born out of desperateness - I got so many lovely pears from a local farm and after I stared at them for a while and knew that I did not want to make another dessert with them, I decided to give the "dry-in-the-oven technique" a try - it worked and the pear crisps tasted wonderful - it takes three hours at low temp to dry them and I added some Canadian maple syrup to them.

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  17. Those pear chips are so fancy and beautiful! I don't think I had artichoke soup before and I love artichoke. This is something that I should give a try - always fun to try new recipes inspired by fellow bloggers. :) By the way, you drizzled the parsley coulis perfectly! It's beautiful. xo

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