Eat Wood Sorrel

Wood sorrel has a sour, lemony taste. After rinsing and drying, the leaves can be eaten raw, as a garnish in salads, or used to flavor food. Sorrel can be used to accentuate soup, to top meat, or to balance out the sweetness in a tart. Cook the sorrel briefly so it doesn’t lose its flavor, then add it to your recipe it give your food a tart kick.

Ingredients

Sorrel Soup

• 4 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup (120 mL) chopped green onion
• 1 quart (950 mL) stock
• 4 cups (950 mL) chopped sorrel
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 egg yolks
• ½ cup (120 mL) cream

Sorrel Sauce:

• ¼ pound (.11 kg) sorrel
• Meat or pasta
• ⅔ cup (160 mL) heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons stock or vermouth
• Salt and pepper

Sorrel Tart

• 1 medium sweet onion
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 5 oz (141.7 g) sorrel
• 1 cup (240 mL) heavy cream
• 2 eggs
• Nutmeg
• Black pepper
• 5 oz (141.7 g) Gruyere
• Pre-made tart shell

Steps

Making French Sorrel Soup

1. Melt butter in a pot. Set your stove for medium heat. Measure out about three tablespoons (45 mL) of butter. Wait for the butter to melt.
2. Add vegetables to the butter. Chop up about ½ cup (120 mL) green onion. Wild onion, another spring harvest plant, can be used instead of store-bought onion.
   • The soup can be made with only onion and sorrel, but you may also add celery, carrot, and lentils.
3. Simmer for ten minutes. Turn the stove’s heat down to a medium-low setting. Cover the pot and let the onion cook for about ten minutes. You may also stir the vegetables from time to time to make sure they get a little soft but don’t change color.
4. Simmer stock in a separate pot. Pour a quart (950 mL) of chicken or vegetable stock into a pot. Turn the heat setting on another burner to low and bring the stock to a simmer.
5. Add sorrel to the stock. Turn up the heat. Use about four to six cups (950-1900 mL) of chopped sorrel leaves. Add a pinch of salt along with the sorrel and stir the stock. Watch the sorrel, since it wilts quickly.
6. Cook the sorrel with low heat. Once you notice that the sorrel has wilted, lower the heat on the stock to medium-low. Cover the pot and cook the sorrel for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Mix in flour. After ten minutes, add three tablespoons (45 mL) of flour. Stir it into the stock. Raise the heat to medium and let the stock cook for three minutes.
8. Combine the stock with the vegetables. Pour the stock into the pot with the onions and other vegetables you used. Use a whisk to stir the pot as you do this. Keep this pot at a simmer.
9. Whisk egg yolk and cream. Combine two egg yolks with ½ cup (120 mL) cream in a separate bowl. To prevent the eggs from scrambling, ladle in three spoonfuls of soup as you whisk the egg and cream with the other hand. Afterwards, whisk the mixture into the remaining soup.
10. Cook the soup for five minutes. Add a tablespoon (15 mL) of butter to the soup. Turn the heat down low so the soup does not simmer. After five minutes, the soup will be ready to serve.

Cooking Salmon with Sorrel Sauce

1. Slice up the sorrel. After rinsing and drying sorrel leaves, pack the leaves tightly together, layering a couple at a time on top of one another. Roll the leaves from the side until they are in the shape of a cigar. With a sharp knife, cut the roll into thin ribbons. ¼ pound (.11 kg) of leaves should give you about two cups (475 mL) of sorrel.
2. Begin cooking the salmon. Slice up 1 ½ lb (.68 kg) salmon. Combine it with one tablespoon (15 mL) of shallots, dry white wine, and ½ cup (120 mL) chopped tomatoes in a saucepan.
   • One way to make the sauce is to add cream to the wine after simmering, then combine it with wilted sorrel.
3. Simmer your cream. Add ⅔ cup (160 mL) of heavy cream to a cooking pot. Heat the cream and then turn down the heat to keep it at a simmer. This prevents it from curdling under the sorrel’s acidic properties.
4. Heat the butter and sorrel. In a separate pot, combine three tablespoons (700 mL) of butter and along with the sorrel. Use medium heat to melt the butter and begin cooking the sorrel. Stir often until the ingredients melt into a strong green color.
5. Stir in the cream and stock. Remove the simmering cream from its pot and pour it into the sorrel mixture. Stir the ingredients together and turn down the heat to keep them at a low simmer. Add two tablespoons (30 mL) of chicken stock, vegetable stock, or vermouth.
6. Add salt and white pepper. Taste the sauce and add as much salt and pepper as you’d like for flavoring. You may also add more stock or vermouth to further thin the sauce.

Baking a Sorrel Tart

1. Cook onions until soft. Slice up one medium sweet onion and add it to a heavy pot. Add ¼ teaspoon (1.25 mL) salt and two tablespoons (30 mL) of butter. Turn the heat to medium-low. Stir the ingredients occasionally and cook them until the onions become soft.
   • Instead of onions, you can get sweetness by making a custard out of eggs, milk, cream, and sugar.
2. Add the wine. Turn up the heat to medium. Pour in a splash of dry white wine. You don't need much, so add enough to spread out along the bottom of the pot. Wait for a minute as it cooks off.
3. Stir in flour. Add one tablespoon (15 mL) of flour to the onions. Stir the pot to mix the flour and onions evenly. Allow the mixture to cook for two minutes.
4. Wilt the sorrel. Add five oz. (141.7 g) of sorrel leaves to the onions and stir to distribute them. Cover the pot and allow it to cook for one minute. The sorrel will quickly wilt. Move the pot away from the heat.
   • You may wish to shred the sorrel to spread out the tart flavor.
5. Combine the filling. In a separate bowl, crack open two eggs. Add one cup (240 mL) heavy cream, a pinch of nutmeg, and a pinch of black pepper. Whisk the ingredients.
6. Add the egg mixture to the sorrel. Dump the whisked egg into the pot with the sorrel and onions. Also, add in 2.5 oz (70.9 g) grated Gruyere cheese.
7. Sprinkle cheese into the tart shell. Line a prebaked tart shell or pie crust inside a round baking tray. Sprinkle another 2.5 oz (70.9 g) of grated Gruyere so it coats the bottom of the shell.
   • The tart shell can be made at home by mixing flour, sugar, salt, and butter. Knead it into a dough, then roll it out over a baking tray. You can add filling ingredients such as beans, rice, or lentils.
8. Bake the tart. Fill the tart with your sorrel mixture. Place the tart in the oven. Turn the heat to 375 degrees F (190 C). After 30 or 40 minutes, the tart shell should appear solid and light brown.

Things You’ll Need

• Two cooking pots
• Pot lids
• Whisk
• Chopping knife
• Baking pan

Sources and Citations

See also

• Make Vanilla Sugar
• Make Oregano Olive Oil
• Make Italian Seasoned Chicken
• Chop Basil Leaves
• Eat Chicory
• Use Ginseng Root
• Eat Purslane
• Eat Kudzu
• Eat Heartsease
• Eat Lamb's Quarters

Read more ...