Jerusalem Artichokes

I'm hosting Thanksgiving in Sunset Park for the first time. The number of attendees keeps expanding, and being the kind of hostess that would be mortified to not have enough food, I'm trying to come up with extra side dishes for each additional guest.

I went to visit my friends the Paffenroths this morning to load up on their gorgeous Jerusalem artichokes. Not sure if I've discussed them here, but Jerusalem artichokes aren't actually from Jerusalem. They get their name from the Italian word for sunflowers, girasole, and they're the tuber of a kind of sunflower (hence their alternative name, sunchokes). Most of the time, they come in the shape of knobby, ginger-like playing jacks, but Alex Paffenroth grows a variety that's slim and cylindrical, easy to clean and handle. His sunchokes are favored by restaurants like Craft and City Bakery.

Raw, they're crisp, sweet and nutty, like jicama or water chestnuts. They're excellent roasted City Bakery style, with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, but this year I'm going to reprise a dish I made for my first New York Thanksgiving -- Jerusalem artichoke gratin. It's chic, rich, and couldn't be simpler -- and it's a great way to take advantage of some unique, seasonal, local produce. Make it the day before or the morning of, before the turkey goes in; reheat on a free rack in the oven while the turkey rests.

Jerusalem artichoke gratin

1 clove garlic
Butter
Jerusalem artichokes (1/3 to 1/2 lb. per person, depending on how many sides you already have)
Heavy cream
Nutmeg
Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Smash the clove of garlic with the flat side of your knife. Rub the dry gratin dish with the garlic clove. (I have an oval Emile Henry enameled ceramic that's perfect for gratins -- you can also use a pyrex baking dish, Le Creuset, individual ramekins or even a cake pan, but preferably something heavy that conducts heat evenly.) Grease the garlicked dish with butter.

Peel the Jerusalem artichokes if desired. (I'm sure I won't, but I'm not fussy about skin.) Slice the Jerusalem artichokes on the bias into 1/3 inch slices. Toss with salt, pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg (not too much nutmeg -- think 7 gratings of nutmeg for each pound of Jerusalem artichokes). Arrange the slices in the dish so there are as few air pockets as possible.

Pour cream over the Jerusalem artichokes til just covered. (I know it's a lot of cream, but it's Thanksgiving!) Bake in the oven, undisturbed, for 45 minutes? an hour? or so, til Jerusalem artichokes are potato tender but not mushy. Set aside. Just before you're ready to serve, reheat for 15 minutes in a hot oven.