sorrel

Sup! Loves Cookbooks: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi (Guest Review by Wind Attack)

11 Aug 2011
Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

I asked Andy from Wind Attack to handle this month's cookbook review for me. He is one of my co-hosts at The Table Set so I know firsthand how knowledgable he is about cooking. The book I chose for him was Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi, a London restaurant chef. I just knew the moment I received this book that it belonged in Andy's hands. GREG

When Greg asked me to do a guest post on a new cookbook it wasn't hard to say yes.

“It's so you!” he said as he handed me the book.

I held the book in my hands, hard bound, yet soft to the touch. On first glace what appeared to be roasted eggplants with fresh mozzarella, roasted tomatoes and herbs, the cover image seduced me instantly.

I didn't realize it at the time, but this wasn't my first experience with this cookbook. A few months earlier, I was visiting another blog friend in San Francisco. She works for the publisher of this book, and had an advance copy on her shelf. During my visit, she cooked one of the recipes for me: Bánh xeo, vegetable-stuffed Vietnamese rice pancakes!

It was only later as I browsed the recipes inside that I remembered this dish and that I realized that my eyes mistook me. The cover image was in fact roasted eggplants with buttermilk sauce and pomegranate.

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Royal Potato Salad

Potato Salad with basil and sorrel
By jgreghenry Published August 11, 2011
Prep time: 60
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 15 quail eggs
  • 1 c shelled fava beans or peas
  • 1 c fresh basil leaves
  • 0.5 c fresh parsley leaves
  • 0.333333 c pine nuts
  • 0.5 parmesan cheese, grated
  • 2 clv garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1 c extra virgin olive oil, or less to taste
  • 0.5 c red wine vinegar
  • 1 bn sorrel (or mint) leaves,
  • 0 salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Place the quail's eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for between 30 seconds (soft-boiled) and two minutes (hard-boiled), depending on how you like them cooked. Refresh in cold water, then peel.

Blanch the peas (or fava beans) in boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain and refresh. Set Aside.

In a separate pan of boiling water, cook the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are soft but not falling apart.

While the potatoes are cooking, place the basil, parsley, pine nuts, parmesan and garlic in a food processor and blitz to a paste. Add the oil and pulse until you get a runny pesto. Pour into a large bowl.

Drain the potatoes, then cut in two (or more pieces for larger potatoes) as soon as you can handle them (they will absorb more flavor when hot). Add to the bowl and toss with the pesto, vinegar, sorrel and peas. Mix well, even crushing the potatoes slightly, so all the flavors mix. Taste and adjust the seasoning; be generous with the pepper. (I ended up adding much more vinegar than prescribed).

Cut the eggs in half and gently fold into the salad. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Source: adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbook "Plenty"

Stinging Nettles: Super Food for A Super Hero Named Sup!

29 Apr 2010
Onion Tart with Stinging Nettles, Sorrel & Poached Egg

"Look up in the sky it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s a nettle defying super hero named Sup!"

That’s right I am here to rescue you from your fear of stinging nettles!

Stinging nettles—also known as Urtica dioica if you speak Latin – can be a bit fearful. You are probably familiar with the stinging nettle. If you have ever gone for a stroll in the woods you may have been attacked by a stand of them. They can be evil super villains! Because just brushing up against them in the wild will cause a painful stinging sensation and an itchy reaction that can last several days.

I was recently sent a bunch of them by Justin at Marx Foods as a promotional challenge. Well, I may not actually be a super hero, but I tend to think that I am endowed with a few super powers, so a challenge like this does not go unmet in my kitchen.

So to show you my (near super hero) super human strength I plan on putting these stinging nettles in my mouth. I will then chew them and swallow them!

Sippity Sup Continues »
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Sweet Onion Tart with Nettles, Sorrel & Poached Egg

onion tart with nettles sorrel and poached egg
By jgreghenry Published April 28, 2010
Prep time: 120
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 4 c fresh nettle leaves, blanched in boiling water for a minute (this removes the "sting"), drained and roughly chopped
  • 1 c sorrel leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 shallots, minced
  • 1 clv garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 c chicken stock
  • 1 pk store-bought puff pastry
  • 3 T unsalted butter
  • 3 c onions, thinly slices
  • 0.75 t dried marjoram, divided
  • 0 salt, as needed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 pn red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 T white vinegar
  • 0 coarsely ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Add the nettles to the sorrel and set them aside. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan set over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring about 3 minutes until they have softened somewhat. Add the garlic and cook another minute of two. Add all the greens to the pan along with the chicken stock. Stew the greens about 20 minutes, stirring often, until the moisture has nearly evaporated. Turn off the heat and set them aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lay one sheet of the store-bought puff pastry on the counter in front of you. Sprinkle evenly with 1/4 t dried marjoram. Lay the other sheet on top. Roll both sheets together into a rough 16x16 inch square. Cut this into 4 roughly 8x8 inch squares. Rustic shapes are just fine. Move the squares to two parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate. Melt the butter in a large saute pan set over over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a few pinches of salt. Cook the onion, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Then continue to cook them, undisturbed, until they begin to brown on the edges. Stir the onions and cook another few moments undisturbed to further brown the onions now in contact with the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low and add the bay leaf, red pepper flakes if using and the remaining marjoram. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the onions are lightly golden, about 15-20 more minutes. Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning. Take the rolled out squares of dough from the refrigerator. Divide the onion mixture evenly between the dough squares leaving a 1-inch or so border. Fold these borders over themselves creating a raised edge. Crimp the dough all around to assure a good seal. Sprinkle the edges of the dough with a little additional salt. Bake until the crust is golden brown about 35 minutes. To serve. Heat the greens over medium heat, stirring often. At the same time bring a pot of water to a simmer over medium heat. Add the vinegar to the water. Crack an egg, keeping the yolk in tact, and carefully pour it into a small ramekin. Dip the ramekin into the simmering water allowing some of the water into the ramekin. Once the egg begins to whiten carefully pour it into the hot water. Use a spoon to gently roll the egg in the water before allowing it to settle to the bottom. Repeat with the other 3 eggs. Cook them 3 minutes and no more. Using a slotted spoon carefully move the eggs to a heated plate. Top each onion tart with a fair amount of the greens, followed by one poached egg per tart. Sprinkle with pepper and serve warm.

Notes:

Serves 4. You will probably have to remove the leaves from the stems after you purchase your stinging nettles as this is how they most typically appear at markets. So please use gloves for this job.

Alice Waters Taught Me All I Need To Know About Green Garlic Soup (with Sorrel)

21 Apr 2010
green garlic soup with sorrel

I want to discuss green garlic again.

In one of the greatest cookbooks ever published, Chez Panisse Cooking, Alice Waters and Paul Bertolli write: "Garlic is commonly used as a mature plant when the bulb containing many cloves has formed. Green garlic is the same plant pulled from the ground at a much earlier stage, before the bulb forms and when the plant resembles a leek, with a stalk about 1/2 inch in diameter.”

That quote was probably my first introduction to green garlic. Though it may have been years later that I actually got my hands on any. Because even in Los Angeles, where we have year round access to the greatest produce in the world green garlic is only just now becoming fairly common at the springtime Farmers Market. To make this point I’ll quote Alice Waters once again: “Until recently, green garlic never appeared in the market and was largely unrecognized by cooks. The quality of green garlic is unique and of great use in the kitchen”.

So you see green garlic is not exactly a new ingredient to me, but it’s not exactly a staple in my life either. It took me a while but reading her words has made me a little bit obsessed with green garlic at the moment. So I am bringing it back for another look. This time in a soup. I have much to learn and Alice Waters may be the perfect teacher.

Sippity Sup Continues »
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