Roasted Rosemary Sunchokes + Giveaway!

Good morning lovelies!

I hit 100 followers yesterday on my other blog, Gastronomical Sovereignty! And while I know that followers aren't everything, it sure makes you feel good when someone likes you (or at least your blog) enough to click and publicly display their virtual affection. It's the second best thing to comments.

So to celebrate.... I have a giveaway that I'm sharing both here as well as on the other blog because hey! - I want you to get some cool shit. And lemme tell you, this is one sweet deal of a giveaway; not to mention cost some serious cheddar. Aye! 

So here's the deal. School is coming to an end for me. My immediate reaction to that is, "bring on the wine!"... However, I can't ship wine internationally. And so what's the next best thing after vino for sipping in the middle of the afternoon? Well... at the end of every term John gets me a "Floating Cloud" package from this incredible local spa called Silk Road - essentially, it's a one hour full body massage followed by a one hour facial followed by as much fresh brewed tea as I can possibly consume. This place is the shit. So I'm giving away: tea.... but not just any tea.

I'm giving away 9 incredibly diverse and flavourful different varieties (3 green; 3 black; 3 herbal) of their spectacular tea, each one supplying 7-10 cups per package:

A Scandanavian styled, Finnish made steeper/mug that is super fucking cool:

Some home baked chocolate chip cookies:

And of course... a little reading material. John has put together 10 copies of what could be called my very limited edition, very first cookbook ever. Happy Valentines Day to me, yo! And to you! I'll send you a copy along with the package.

So let's review: 9 types (63-90 cups!) of incredible tea, one amazing tea pot/mug, home baked mother ef'n chocolate chip cookies, and something to pass the time with - my first cookbook. Hellz yeah I did yo! 

To Enter: 

Simply click here and follow the directions!

This giveaway closes February 19th - so get your entries in! The winner will be announced on February 20th.

via magisso

...Okay, onto roasted sunchokes! Because really, who doesn't love roasted sunchokes?? 

Sunchokes - aka Jerusalem artichokes - are related to sunflowers! Funny looking gingeresque tubular little guys (tubular as in like a tube, not like TMNT "totally tubular dude!") taste sort of nutty yet sweet and can be prepared the same way you'd prepare a potato or eaten raw in a salad if you so desire. If eating raw make sure to give them a little lemon bath (lemon jc. and water) to make sure they don't discolor.

When buying, look for non-marked knobbles and store in your vegetable crisper for up to two weeks. If I were you, I'd leave the skin on when preparing because their knobbliness (is that a word?) is a bitch to get around. Just scrub well before cooking. 

Seriously! Try them! They're fantastic! And roasting them in the oven with a bit of garlic and rosemary (oooh! or duck fat!) makes a different yet scrumptious addition to any meal. Well, maybe not any meal. I find it hard to imagine that sunchokes would fare very well with these.

Roasted Rosemary Sunchokes

(printable recipe)

Ingredients: 

1 to 2 Lbs of Sunchokes, scrubbed clean, well dried, and chopped into 1" pieces.

5 Cloves Garlic, peeled.

2 Sprigs of Rosemary, finely chopped.

1 Lemon for Juice.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Kosher Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F.

In a baking pan or two, toss the sunchokes, garlic and rosemary with a Tbsp or two of olive oil, lemon juice, and season well with salt and pepper.

Arrange in a single layer in the pan(s) and roast in heated oven for 30-45 minutes or until desired tenderness is achieved.

Remove from the oven and serve.

Eat!

This post is linked up with Tasty Tuesdays; Slightly Indulgent Tuesday; Tuesday Talent Show; This Chick Cooks; Cast Party Wednesday; Simple Lives Thursday; Full Plate Thursday; Tastetastic Thursday; Fight Back Friday; The Gallery of Favorites via the 21st Century Housewife; Fresh Bites Friday; Seasonal Inspiration Saturday; Seasonal Celebration Sunday.