Purée de Topinambours

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10 to 12-inch heavy sauté pan with a tight-fitting lid
• •Small saucepan
• •8-inch fine-mesh sieve and firm silicone spatula, or food mill with fine disk
• •Potato ricer or hand masher

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the potato

   Put the potato in a small saucepan, cover it with cold water by about 1 inch, and add ¾ teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a gentle boil, then simmer for 15 to 18 minutes, until a knife enters without resistance. Drain thoroughly and return the potato to the dry pan over low heat for one minute, shaking it, so the surface moisture leaves. Pass it through a ricer or mash it until completely smooth, without adding milk or butter, then cover and keep warm. This potato is the purée's backbone, not filler, so it must be dry and free of lumps.

   Use a floury, starchy potato rather than a waxy one. Wax holds its shape beautifully in a salad and does us no favors here.
2. 2

   Cook in butter

   Peel and slice the topinambours just before cooking so their cut surfaces don't darken. Melt the 2 tablespoons of cooking butter in a heavy sauté pan over medium-low heat, add the sliced roots and ¼ teaspoon salt, and turn them until every piece is glossed. Cover tightly and cook for 18 to 25 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the slices crush readily beneath a spoon. Keep them pale to lightly golden, not deeply browned. If the butter colors too quickly or the roots begin to catch before they soften, lower the heat and add the tablespoon of water; cover again and let that small amount of water cook away once the roots are tender.

3. 3

   Sieve while warm

   Press the cooked topinambours through a fine-mesh sieve while they are still warm, using a firm silicone spatula or the back of a broad spoon. Scrape the smooth purée from the underside into a clean saucepan and discard only the dry fibers that refuse to pass. The sieve is not brigade ceremony. It removes the fibrous skins and gives the topinambour the fine texture the entry intends; a food processor leaves those fibers in place.

4. 4

   Work in butter

   Set the topinambour purée over low heat and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until it thickens slightly and leaves a clean trail across the pan floor. Add the 6 tablespoons of finishing butter in three additions, working each one in completely before adding the next. This preserves the source's proportion of two ounces of butter for every pound of topinambours. If butter begins to pool around the purée, the pan is too hot; lift it from the heat, beat in a spoonful of the warm mashed potato, and continue over a lower flame.

5. 5

   Give it backbone

   Fold about three-quarters of the warm mashed potato into the buttered topinambour purée. Add more potato by the spoonful until the mixture forms a soft mound and the track of the spoon remains visible for several seconds. Hold back any potato you don't need until after the milk is added. The exact amount varies with the water in the roots, which is why the source says enough mashed potato rather than pretending every topinambour behaves alike.

6. 6

   Finish with boiling milk

   Bring the milk to a full boil in a small saucepan. Beat 3 tablespoons into the purée, one spoonful at a time, then add more only if needed. The boiling milk loosens the purée without cooling it or dulling the butter emulsion. Stop when it falls from the spoon in broad, heavy folds but still holds on the plate. If it slumps, return it to low heat and stir for a minute or two; fold in the reserved potato if it remains loose. Ça se rattrape. Taste and add the remaining salt if needed, then serve at once or hold covered over a barely warm bain-marie for no more than 30 minutes. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose topinambours that feel firm and heavy, with taut skins and no soft patches. Their knobs make peeling slow, so use a small sharp paring knife and accept an irregular shape; neat cubes earn nothing once everything passes through the sieve.
• •A starchy potato gives support without making itself obvious. Waxy potatoes need too much working, and too much working makes potato gluey. Rice or mash it while hot, then fold it into the topinambour with restraint.
• •The fine sieve is the tool that matters. A food mill fitted with its finest disk is the honest alternative, though the result will be slightly more rustic. Don't combine the purée and potato in a food processor.
• •Serve this beside roast pork, duck, chicken, or game, where its sweetness can meet browned meat and pan juices. It also welcomes a bitter green vegetable on the same plate.

Advance Preparation

• •The finished purée can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cool it promptly, press a piece of parchment directly against the surface, cover, and refrigerate.
• •Reheat gently in a covered saucepan over low heat, stirring often. Once it is hot, restore its soft texture with a spoonful of boiling milk; if it becomes loose, work it over the heat until it holds again.
• •For a holiday meal, hold the finished purée over a barely warm bain-marie for up to 30 minutes. Stir once or twice and keep it covered so the surface doesn't form a skin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)