In my personal utopia, every backyard would have a patch of sorrel, preferably right outside the kitchen door so that you could grab a few handfuls and have a fresh and lively soup and/or salad within minutes. Unlike spinach, another early spring candidate for soup or salad, sorrel leads a double life. It is both a regular cooked vegetable and a pungent raw herb. Like other herbs, it can be made into a pesto or added sparingly to salads for extra zing. If you prefer the milder side of sorrel, you can cook it in sauces, soups, or omelets. Either way, it is high in vitamin C and imparts a tangy lemon flavor wherever it is used.
Sorrel has been a springtime favorite from the time we were hunter-gatherers. Whether gathered wild in the woods (sheep sorrel or wood sorrel) or from a garden (broad-leafed sorrel), sorrel has long been heralded as a healing and rejuvenating elixir. In 1720, herbalist John Evelyn wrote that sorrel imparts "so grateful a quickness to the salad that it should never be left out." He went on to assert that its strong flavor "renders not plants and herbs only, but men themselves, pleasant and agreeable." In 1864 Fearing Burr wrote of sorrel in The Field and Garden Vegetables of America that "we have not one [other vegetable] so wholesome, so easy of cultivation."
Why, then, is this nutritious perennial green seldom found in our grocery stores? The answer is simple: because it does not meet the requirements of the mass-market food-distribution system. Sorrel does not take kindly to machine harvesting, thousand-mile truck journeys, or days on the shelf in the produce section. No, this green needs to be gently picked by the human hand and taken from the garden to the market in a day or less. So seek it out at farmers’ markets or specialty food stores. Or better yet, grow it yourself in your own backyard. It is a perennial plant and you will be rewarded with spring after spring of fine fresh sorrel.
French Classics
The French may be the experts on sorrel. Crack any French cookbook and you will find at least a dozen recipes featuring sorrel. The cook is often told to faire fondre (melt) or faire amollir (soften) the sorrel in a pan. Melting has always seemed to me the perfect description of what happens to the seemingly substantial sorrel. As soon as it hits the heat, it melts into a silky sauce.
If the sorrel leaves are large, you may want to de-rib them before cooking to eliminate any stringiness. The easiest way to do this is to hold a leaf folded lengthwise in one hand, and pull off the stem and center rib with the other hand.
Basic French Sorrel Sauce
You can use the sauce as-is, as a side vegetable, as a base for soups, over fish or chicken, or folded into omelets.
1 bunch sorrel (eight to ten ounces)
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon crème fraiche or heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Wash and de-rib the sorrel. Place it and the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir from time to time as the sorrel begins to wilt.
2. When it has given up most of its liquid, stir in the crème fraiche and continue cooking until all the leaves have wilted and turned from bright to dark olive green.
3. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately. Makes four servings.
Sorrel-Wrapped Salmon Steaks
This recipe came from an Evanston farmer’s market customer, and has since been passed on to many more. Everyone who has tried it has raved, and we trust that you will too. The leaves melt into the fish, giving it a lemony tang.
4 salmon steaks (halibut also works well)
12 sorrel leaves
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Wash and pat dry the salmon steaks.
2. Wash and dry the sorrel leaves. (De-rib if they are large.) Wrap each steak in three (or more) leaves. Brush with olive oil.
3. Place on the grill or under a broiler about five minutes per side, or until done. Makes four servings.
Sorrel Soup
This is the classic French way to prepare sorrel. The more cream and potato you add, the milder the sorrel taste will be.
1 bunch (eight ounces) sorrel
6 cups water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound potatoes, cubed
2 large eggs
1/2 cup crème fraiche or heavy cream
1. Wash the sorrel and de-rib the leaves if necessary. Put it in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, until the sorrel has melted into a purée and nearly all of its liquid has evaporated.
2. Add the water and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook over low heat until the potatoes are cooked through — about fifteen minutes.
3. Combine the eggs and crème fraiche in a warmed serving bowl. Mix until well blended. Add a ladle of the potato and sorrel mixture and blend well. Pour in remaining potato and sorrel mixture and serve immediately. Makes six to eight servings.
Sorrel, Radicchio, and Lettuce Salad
If you like a salad with attitude, then this is for you!
1/2 bunch sorrel (four to five ounces)
1 small head radicchio
1 head of romaine or other soft lettuce
1 large egg
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons snipped chives
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1. Wash and dry the sorrel. De-rib and tear the leaves into small, bite-size pieces.
2. Separate the radicchio leaves, rinse, and dry. Cut larger leaves into small pieces. Do the same with the lettuce. Combine all leaves in a salad bowl and refrigerate.
3. Place egg in boiling water and cook for one minute. Run under cold water.
4. Crack the egg into a food processor or blender, scraping white from shell. Process until fluffy, about sixty seconds.
5. Add anchovies, Parmesan, vinegar, lemon juice, one tablespoon chives, and hot pepper sauce. Process thirty seconds. Then, with machine running, slowly add the oils. Chill.
6. To serve, thin the sauce to taste with a little boiling water. Spoon about half the dressing over the leaves and toss. Add the remaining tablespoon of chives to the salad and toss. Makes four to six servings.
Sorrel Pesto
This pesto is particularly good with fish. Try it with grilled salmon.
3 cups loosely packed sorrel
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 half-inch-thick salmon steaks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Reserve four sorrel leaves for garnish and blanch the rest in the water for five seconds. Drain and run under cold water.
2. Drain the sorrel well and place in a food processor or blender with the parsley, garlic, olive oil, and salt. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides.
3. Grill the salmon steaks until just cooked, about five minutes a side. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Cut the reserved sorrel leaves crosswise into thin strips. Divide the salmon steaks among four plates, top with a dollop of pesto, and sprinkle with the sorrel strips. Serve immediately. Makes four servings.
Leek and Sorrel Pancakes with Smoked Salmon
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 cups chopped leeks
2 cups roughly chopped sorrel
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
4 ounces smoked salmon
Sour cream for garnish
Chopped chives for garnish
1. Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add butter. After butter melts, add leeks and sauté until tender.
2. Add the sorrel. When the sorrel has "melted," remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Add flour; whisk until smooth. Add cooled leek-sorrel mixture.
4. Heat griddle over medium-high heat. Add about one tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, drop about two tablespoons batter per pancake onto griddle. Cook until brown. Turn and cook until brown on the other side.
5. Remove from griddle and top with salmon, sour cream, and chives. Serve immediately. Makes four to six servings.
Terra Brockman is the director of The Land Connection Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving farmland and promoting small-scale, diversified, organic agriculture in Illinois. Visit www.thelandconnection.org or call 309-965-2407 to learn how to get involved.