Happy Friday! I hope you all had a good week. Things are settling back to normal around here and I made two French Fridays with Dorie recipes!
Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Parsley Coulis
This week the group made Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Parsley Coulis. You may be thinking that we just made something with Jerusalem artichokes. Well, yes we did, last month. Now that we are getting down to the last few dozen recipes from the book, we are being strategic about which recipes we do, to make sure we don’t miss certain ingredients when they are in season. Also, certain “odd” ingredients (like Jerusalem artichokes, for example) have been hard sells, and we are finally having to bite the bullet and make those recipes. So, two Jerusalem artichoke recipes in two months.
This soup was actually quite similar to the Celery-Celery Soup we made last month. Same techniques, just a variation in ingredients. This one had butter, two large onions, a bit of celery, on leek, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, and chicken broth. We made a parsley coulis (parsley pureed with olive oil and salt) to drizzle over the finished soup.
What a pleasant surprise! After the so-so results from the Celery-Celery Soup and the Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes, I didn’t have high expectations. But Jerusalem Artichoke Soup had a lovely flavor that both my husband and I enjoyed very much. The parsley coulis and a dollop of heavy cream finished off the soup very nicely.
Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake
This past week I also did a make-up recipe from way back when French Fridays first started: Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake. This is a simple cake chock-full of apples. There are almost more apples than batter!
Dorie recommends using four different kinds of apples, to get varying textures and flavors. I took her advice and I loved the results. She calls for four “large” apples, but I used one large and three that were smaller. Some people have had trouble having too many apples and not enough batter, and I feel that using a few smaller apples helped with this.
Why did I wait so long to make this delicious cake? It’s easy enough to make at the spur of the moment, and a perfect way to enjoy apples at their peak. The touch of rum in the batter really added a nice flavor. I love simple cakes, and this one was a winner!
If you would like to try Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake, you can find the recipe here. The recipe for the soup can be found in the book Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan.
From Scratch 
Good to know you enjoyed the soup! It seems the opinion is split this week. Still no artichokes in Puerto Rico, so I made one of the 2010 recipes, leek and potato soup.
One of my absolute favorite cakes! It looks fabulous! As does your soup! I really enjoyed the flavor of this soup…I cut the amount of sunchokes by half and added potatoes. It was delicious! Happy Friday, Karen!
The apple cake is one of my all-time favorite recipes from this book. I lo-o-ove it! Glad you liked the soup. I have to make it in the next week or two!
I love, love that cake and have made it many times. It’s a nice size too! Yours looks so delicious!! I made a faux version of the soup. um…
Oh my gosh, your cake looks so good!!! I keep scrolling back to drool over it!!!
I loved this soup, too. And now that you’re in on the secret of how good that apple cake is, I think you’ll find yourself making it often. (Rum wasn’t something I ever needed to worry about running out of until I discovered this cake.)
Your cake looks delicious! This was another one of our favorite recipes from Around My French Table. I couldn’t find Jerusalem Artichokes and have decided to abandon the search. I made the recipe using potatoes and it was okay. Your soup looks really good!
This soup did not go over well in our house but I am glad you all enjoyed it.
That apple cake looks wonderful, I remember that we really loved that
recipe. Have a great weekend.
Loved that cake – Have made it a few times now (although, somehow I missed making it back when I had a bushel of apples in late September/ early October).
Swirling the coulis through gave it a much needed pop of color!
Oooh, I loved that cake and it reminds me I should make it again while apples are still in season! Glad you liked the soup and that swirl is lovely!
Sounds like this soup was a big hit, I’m a little intimidated by sunchokes but after reading this post I guess it’s about time to try them. Also I have made that apple cake before and it was a home run.
I never found the elusive Jerusalem artichokes. I have to make that cake!
Glad you enjoyed the soup and the cake. That cake is perfect for this time of year!
You made that soup look absolutely delicious ! No surprise to hear that you enjoyed the results. I chickened out and used potatoes. Time will tell if I ever add another JA to my shopping cart. Great job with the cake also. If not the first AMFT recipe Nana and I did, it was certainly close to it, which makes it all the more special. How I have not made this recently ???—Tricia
Ooh, I LOVE that cake. And I will be having it again in a few weeks because it has made its way onto my annual Thanksgiving menu. My German Thanksgiving guests probably think it’s an American tradition;-)