The Scottish have been cooking with whiskey forever and now I’ve tried it – it is clear why! This whiskey sauce just goes so well with the creamy butter bean and jerusalem artichoke puree. If you struggle to get hold of jerusalem artichokes, you can swap them out for another root veg such as parsnip or turnip.
Jerusalem artichokes
Jerusalem artichokes are delicious. They have an earthy sweetness unlike any other root vegetable. They contain lots of inulin which is great for the digestive system. It’s not digested or absorbed by the digestive tract but it feeds beneficial bacteria and helps them grow, maintaining a healthy gut biome. Unfortunately, feeding certain bacteria in some people can cause gas and bloating – so they have a bad reputation. For me, the flavour and health benefits are worth a bit of farting! They are great roasted, boiled or pureed.
They grow really easily, so easily they are hard to get rid of. Grow them once, grow them in the same place for ever! Here is what they look like when they grow – a wall of tall green plants. The root is underground and ready to harvest well after the plant dies back in November – February.
There are lots of different varieties to choose from, if you can try to get a smooth variety without many knobbles – they are just much easier to prepare.
Here we’ve boiled the jerusalem artichokes and turned them into a creamy puree that is great with meats and fish – but I wanted this to be vegetarian. So for protein the puree surrounds butter beans. This is topped with a baked portobello mushroom, whiskey sauce and roasted garlic – a mouth watering combination.
Whiskey sauce
This whiskey sauce is made like a wine joux rather than traditional Scottish Whiskey sauce that has cream in it. Depending on the stock you use it can be hard to thicken at the end. If this is your problem, just add a spoonful of cornflour dissolved in a tablespoon of water to thicken it.
Whiskey sauce is often served with mushrooms – but for me it is the jerusalem artichokes that pair with this flavour exceptionally well, adding a bacony, savoury flavour.
More Jerusalem artichoke recipes
Being a little hard to get hold of, there aren’t so many recipes created for this delicious root veg. I grow them and cook them a lot in winter. Here is another comforting dish containing them – jerusalem artichoke, leek and chestnut pie.
Jerusalem artichokes and butter beans with baked portobello mushroom and whiskey sauce
Ingredients
- 300 g jerusalem artichokes
- 100 ml double cream
- 470 g cooked butter beans 2 drained 400 g cans of butter beans
- salt and white pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 shallots
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 75 ml whiskey
- 200 ml stock
- 4 portobello mushrooms
- knob butter
- 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to degrees Celsius.
- Boil the jerusalem artichokes in salted water for 30 – 40 minutes until falling apart.
- Whilst you are waiting for the jerusalem artichokes to cook, finely slide the shallots and fry them with the sprigs of thyme in the olive oil on a medium heat until softened but not coloured. This should take 5 minutes or so.
- Pour in the whiskey and allow most of it to evapourate. Once you have a few tbsps of liquid left pour in the stock and allow this to reduce until you have 3-4 tbsp of liquid left.
- Meanwhile, wrap each mushroom in tin foil with a knob of butter and a little salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray in the oven for twenty minutes.Add chopped garlic to the tray 10 minutes before the end of cooking.
- Once the jerusalem artichokes are ready, blend them with cream, salt and white pepper.
- Stir in the butter beans and gently heat for 5 – 10 minutes to warm the beans.
- The serve, place the butter beans in the jerusalem artichoke puree in the center of a plate. Top with the mushroom and pour over the whiskey sauce and roasted garlic. Serve with a side of cabbage or purple sprouting broccoli.
