Beef with Jerusalem Artichokes

I made this years ago because I had never eaten Jerusalem artichokes and wanted to see what they were like. After two supermarkets and four fruit & veg shops I finally found some and brought them home to cook up this fantastic dish. The sauce was absolutely divine, I couldn't wait to have the leftovers again the next night. I will definitely be making this again, it's a perfect dish to serve guests as long as you get the meat cooked just right.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 boneless rib of beef (800g - 1 kg)
50g butter
100g shallots, roughly chopped
500g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and cut into small cubes
400g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced thickly
1 tbsp fresh thyme
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Nutmeg (freshly grated or ground) for serving

Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 large Jerusalem artichokes (200g in total), peeled and chopped
2 1/3 cups milk
Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Heat the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook over low heat until soft. Add the artichokes and milk, stir and simmer gently for 30 minutes or until the artichokes are tender.
In a blender (handheld or regular) puree the artichokes and whiz the mixture until light and frothy. Season with salt and set aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan over high heat and brown the beef all over.

Transfer to a greased baking dish or rack and roast for about 25 minutes (for medium-rare) or until cooked as desired.

Remove from the oven, cover with aluminium foil and rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large saucepan, add the shallots and cook over low heat until soft. Add the artichokes, mushrooms and half a cup of the prepared sauce. Stir and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until the artichoke is cooked but still a little crunchy.

Remove from heat, stir through the thyme and season to taste.

To serve: Spoon some mushroom mixture on to serving plates, place the thickly sliced beef on top and spoon over some fluffy sauce. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Serve with a glass of Cabernet sauvignon

Serves 4

Source: The Age Epicure, Winter Food. Luke Managan