Creamy Sunchoke Soup with Chervil Oil and Sunchoke Crisps

serves 4-6

For Soup:
2 pounds sunchokes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

For Chervil Oil:
1 cup chervil, roughly chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

For Sunchoke Crisps:
2 sunchokes, thinly sliced and soaked in cold water
Canola Oil for frying

Wash and peel sunchokes, slice into one inch chunks. In a large stockpot, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallots and saute for 3 minutes until softened. Then add garlic and saute for another minute. Add sunchokes, chicken stock, bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until sunchokes soften.

Remove the bay leaf and puree soup in batches using a food processor or blender. Return mixture back to pot and slowly whisk in the cream. Salt and pepper to taste.

For the chervil oil:
In a medium pan, heat olive oil and add chervil. Let mixture cool and blend in a food processor or blender. Strain out chervil and reserve oil for garnish.

For sunchoke crisps:
Dry sunchoke slices with a paper towel. In a medium pan, over moderate heat fill about an inch deep with oil. When temperature reaches 365 degrees, fry sunchokes until golden. Season with salt.