Monday, March 19, 2007

Sorrel Recipes



Here's a preview for this week's box.

Andy is putting sorrel in your boxes this week. It's a classic spring green that has a lemony flavor. I like it best in salad (with lettuce) and as a thick sauce for fish dishes. Below are recipes to get you started. They will also be in tonight's newsletter, along with recipes for green garlic (another spring classic!) and celery, and more. If you have a favorite way to use sorrel, post a comment! thank you. -julia


Sorrel Recipes:


Sorrel and Goat Cheese Quiche

2-3 cups sorrel, coarsely chopped
a few scallions, chopped
3-4 ounces goat cheese (chevre)
3 eggs
1½ cups milk
¼ teaspoon salt
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread goat cheese (or any strong flavored cheese) in the bottom of a piecrust. Cover with chopped sorrel and scallions. Beat eggs, salt and milk together. Pour over greens. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until top is golden brown.ps.

Source: A Luna Circle Farm original recipe

Cream of Sorrel Soup

Clean, shred from the midrib and chop:
½ cup sorrel leaves
1½ cups leaf lettuce

Sauté them until wilted in:
1 to 2 tablespoons butter
When they are sufficiently wilted, there will be only about 3 tablespoons of leaves.

Add:
5 cups poultry or vegetable stock
Simmer about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add a small amount of the soup to:
½ cup cream
3 beaten egg yolks

Combine all ingredients and heat until the soup thickens slightly, but do no boil. Makes 5 to 6 cups.

Source: Joy of Cooking


Sorrel Pesto: great as an interesting pasta coating or a thick sauce for fish.

2 cups coarsely chopped fresh sorrel, ribs removed
1/3 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil

In a food processor or blender puree the sorrel, the parsley, the garlic, the parmesan, the pine nuts and the oil, transfer the pesto to a jar with a tight fitting lid and chill it, covered. The pesto keeps, covered and chilled, for 2 weeks. Makes about 1 cup.

To use the pesto: For every pound of dried pasta cooking in a kettle of boiling water, stir together in a heated serving bowl 3/4 cup of the pesto and 2/3 cup of the hot cooking water. When the pasta is al dente, drain it in a colander, add it to the pesto mixture, and toss the mixture until the pasta is coated well. Vermicelli works very well with this recipe.

___________________________

the following thoughts and recipes were gathered by Brenda Hyde:

If you've never used sorrel, try adding small amounts to your salads. In any recipe that calls for spinach you can substitute a small amount of sorrel-try 1/4 sorrel, 3/4 spinach as a start. Place a sprig or two on sandwiches with the lettuce or in place of watercress. Shred sorrel into soups with a tomato or fish base. It is one of the herbs that is best added at the last minute instead of cooking for longer periods of time. Sorrel does not dry well, but you can puree the leaves and store in the freezer to use as seasoning. For salads and when using raw choose leaves that are less than 6 inches, but save the larger ones for cooking.

When adding sorrel cut back on the amount of lemon and vinegar in the recipe. It's a good herb for those on salt free diets because it adds seasoning without salt.

These are simple sorrel recipes that can be adapted to your tastes. Remember that you can add sorrel to any fresh salad, or combine with spinach in any of your favorite recipes!


Greens and Fish
An old authentic French recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 pound chard
1/2 pound spinach
few leaves of sorrel
one garlic clove
2 pounds thin fish fillets
Crusty bread

Place the greens and one peeled, crushed garlic clove in a pot and cook for ten minutes, then chop. Add the fish, and cook for 10-15 minutes until done-NO longer. Place piece of crusty bread on a plate and serve the fish and the chopped greens beside one another with the liquid.

Sorrel Omelet

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 tablespoon cream
1 cup sorrel, cleaned and trimmed
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 tsp salt

Shred sorrel. In a heavy pan, heat half the butter and add sorrel and salt. Cook for about ten minutes, while stirring. Combine the eggs and cream in a bowl, beating gently. Add the sorrel mixture and combine. Add the remaining butter to a skillet and heat until butter is slightly browned. Add the egg mixture and stir briskly with the back of a fork or spoon until the eggs are evenly spread on the bottom of the skillet. Keep moving the unset eggs around with the utensil smoothly until there is no liquid left. Do not overcook. Shake the pan gently over the heat a few times. Fold the omelet over in half and serve.

Sorrel Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 pound sorrel
2 tablespoons butter
6 cups water
1/2 pound potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1 egg yolk

Clean and shred sorrel, then chop. In a large heavy pan, heat butter. Add sorrel and cook, stirring, for ten minutes until reduced to about 1/2 cup. Add the water, potatoes and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 1/2 hour. Strain and mash or puree the vegetables. Stir the cooking liquid into vegetables and return to pan. Bring to boil. Stir in milk and yolk. Cook until hot, but do not boil. Serve with French Bread.

26 comments:

Unknown said...

Sorrel Ginger Chicken

Brine 6 chicken thighs for at least an hour

clean and chop:

a bunch of sorrel (stems and all)
1 1/2 to 2 inches of ginger
some Green Garlic
a few stalks of celery

Brown chicken
then layer with the veggies in a pressure cooker.

add some red pepper flakes
about 1/3 cup water / broth / or diluted brine.

Cook for 8 minutes at full pressure.

cool to remove lid immediately
serve over brown rice.

Anonymous said...

I tried the sorrel goat cheese quiche and it turned out really, really wet! What did I do wrong? I used the sorrel raw. Should I have cooked it first?
It was yummy, but the texture was way too wrong for eating. :(

ChardGirl said...

Soggy Sorrel Quiche!

I admit I'm out of my league, I've no idea. I think you're idea to blanche first is a good one. Also with quiche: It's a good idea to have a real cheese (no low fat versions) between the crust and the filling to help seal in the crust. And the crust should have the full amount of butter/lard or whatever shortening you're using too. If you want a slightly healthier quiche, you can make a mashed potato crust, but it works out best if there's enough fat (butter or oil) in the potatoes. I got this idea from Either Moosewood or Broccoli Forest, one of Mollie Katzen's original cookbooks.

chardgirl, aka Julia

Anonymous said...

I made the Sorrel Goat Cheese Quiche for dinner last night. It was absolutely delicious. The consistency was marvelous. I used whole raw milk, a little more goat cheese than the recipe called for and baked it until a knife inserted about an inch from the edge came out clean (just like pumpkin pie test). We loved it. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Rita

Anonymous said...

The sorrel and goat cheese quiche was great. Do you have any recipes for sorrel and lamb or veal, maybe sort of like a stew?

Anonymous said...

Wilt the sorrel before you put it in the quiche and then take handfuls of it and squeeze it out, just like you'd do with spinach, this'll make it give up less moisture in the cooking process.
To wilt, just put it in a pot with enough water to cover the bottom and put a lid on until the sorrel has wilted right down, it doesn't take long once the steam starts.

Anonymous said...

I saw a tip on the "Hairy Bakers" programme that might help with soggy quiches. They put a spoonful of semolina in the bottom of an apple pie, to stop the base from going soggy. The same might work for a quiche.

Anonymous said...

just Can you dry sorrel?
I have loads in my garden and it's
just starting to go off now - would love to have sorrel on hand for all seasons. One of my favourite dishes in the whole world is classic French sorrel soup - so simple, so delicious - hot or cold.

karoogirl

Anonymous said...

Can you dry sorrel?
I have loads in my garden and it's
just starting to go off now - would love to have sorrel on hand for all seasons. One of my favourite dishes in the whole world is classic French sorrel soup - so simple, so delicious - hot or cold.

karoogirl

Anonymous said...

wilt sorrel with chickpeas... really good

or use it in a sauce popular in germany grunesobe which is basically a german salsa verde which you have with boiled eggs and or boiled meat

Margaret

www.homeorganics.ie

Robin Wendell said...

Love sorrel! Tx for the recipes.

My fav is seasoned halibut filets wrapped in several large sorrel leafs and secured with toothpicks and then poached in a court bouillon or fish broth. Fab with roasted heirloom tomatoes, and rice with peas.

FashionSaboteur said...

Just made a lovely salad out of generous amount of chopped fresh sorrel, tinned white beans plus a few cowslip leaves, chopped chives and other random herbs from the garden. Dressing was rapeseed oil with whole clove of garlic grated in it...Delicious!

Anonymous said...

Wow, made sorrel pesto for friends tonight and they inhaled it! We just spread it on warm focaccia. They ate the whole batch. I want to try pasta with it so I'm making more tomorrow. Up to now I've just been using sorrel leaves in cheese sandwiches, which I love, love, love.

viagra online said...

I love sorrel macaroni, it has been my favorite dish since I tasted. No everybody like sorrel, but probably they don't know the quantity of vitamins it has.It's really healthy.

Anonymous said...

So happy to find these recipes! We grew sorrel for the 1st time this year and my baby daughter loved to pick and eat it raw from our garden... She and I would feed each other the leaves. So until Aug it stayed small and contained. Then it was so hot, we weren't out eating it, and it just took off. Now I have a TON of it and am so glad to have some methods on here to use it in the kitchen. Thinking we'll freeze what's left in pesto form for pasta during the winter. Do you know if it is perennial?

Ellen said...

Glad to have found this site and all the sorrel recipes, especially the pesto, which I will be trying very soon. One of my favorite sorrel dishes is Gongura Dal, an Indian dish. There are several recipes for this on the web.

Anonymous said...

Sorrel was new to me last year and I've loved using it in place of lettuce on cheese sandwiches and adding bits of it to salads and green smoothies. I love love love the sorrel pesto! Thank you.

Kevin J. Timothy said...

Hello,

Would you mind adding a brief description/definition of what Sorrel is? Also, if at all possible add some benefits of it's consumption. You may be greatful to know that your blog ranks very highly when the term, "sorrel recipes" is searched for. Very interesting recipes on your blog, by the way.

Kevin Timothy

ana.the.serious.cat said...

Here is how it's made in Eastern Europe. Prepare about 40 leaves, 2 medium onions, 1 pound of ground meat, 1/3 cup of rice, 1/2 pound sheep sour milk, some young garlic sprouts, ground black pepper, oil. Wash sorrel thoroughly, cut stems and hard ribs, drop by batches in a pot of boiling and salted water to wilt, wash again in cold water, squeeze the water out and chop roughly. Fry the chopped onions, add meat, stir till browned, mix rice. Add water and keep on medium to low, until the rice is almost cooked. Add sorrel, mix well and cook for a few more minutes. Serve with sour milk, spiced with green garlic and pepper. Ossum.

Jim Estill said...

I like sorrel mostly because it is the first green vegetable from the garden (perhaps tied to other perenials like parsley and chives).

It is a bit sour to use as a salad on its own but adding it to lettuce and spinach is an easy addition. I figure the variety is also good for me.

I also use it generously in soups (including those that do not call for it). I simply put it through the blender and it “disappears” and adds to the health of the broth.

It is so hardy in my garden it is almost weedlike. And it grows year after year (so I think it is perennial but it might jut be reseeding itself). And it rarely gets bugs.

All in all – 2 thumbs up to sorrel.

Sue Kerr said...

Great to find this blog and ideas for sorrel. I've only ever had small bits of it to use as garnishes, but in this garden it's growing like mad and I'm not sure what to do with it. I'll make pesto tomorrow! Thank you all.

discount cialis said...

I liked this blog, i think is very interesting, most of all for the new ideas that this blog talk.

jerry schaefer said...

What a find! I've been eating sorrel in salads for years and I've been wanting to try it in other things (especially since it's so prolific). I can't wait to try some of these recipes.

Question, for the soup you use 1/2 pound of sorrel. How many cups would that be?

Anonymous said...

I've grown sorrel for the first time and love it. Tonight I used it simply cut into small strips and tossed with diced avocado, a vinaigrette of cider vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. lovely and fresh. I love your recipes they sound delicious.

michele said...

Thank you so much for posting these recipes! I just bought sorrel for the first time from the local farmers market, and I'm so happy to have found so many lovely things to do with it. We're having the pesto for dinner tonight with pasta and salmon.

Anonymous said...

Have you used the larger stems in recipes? I love using the young tender ones- but worried that the larger ones may have the same problem from the o. acid that rhubarb leaves have. Any thoughts on that?

I also wonder about using the flowers. I usually don't let them grow because I want the leaves to be encourged to grow.