Sorrel. So lemony and nice.

We received sorrel in our CSA the past two weeks.   When googling it, I found a lot of really interesting recipes (and some cute boots - but those are not edible and the spelling was off). *grin*

Sorrel is a common herb in french cooking.  It looks a bit like a cross between, rocket and spinach.  It tastes a bit lemony and tart.  There were salad recipes which seemed interesting but I think the sorrel should be younger as everything listed it as a spring herb.  So, that was a no-go.

Then I found it!   Salmon in sorrel cream sauce.  So, we had sorrel, cream... but no fish.  Honey to the rescue, he went and picked up some great salmon from Dirk's  for my little project.  They also do a great smoked salmon.  So, if you are already there, you should pick some up and cook it up for a lovely Sunday brunch omelet.     Here is the recipe I started from and then moved on from there.  We had some potatoes already cooked up from when I made cottage pie the other day.  So, the side was potatoes with sorrel and chives.

Salmon with sorrel in cream sauce

• Salmon 
• 1/4 cup (or more) cream
• 1/2 cup milk (because I was saving some cream for coffee tomorrow)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese - shredded
• 1/2 cup sorrel, chiffon and chopped (because I don't like long pieces of leaves)
• 1/8 cup onion (because I didn't have shallots - although I'm sure that would be good too)
• butter (or a fat for cooking)

Start the cream sauce first: 

1. In a reactive free pot,  put in fat and once hot add onions to brown
2. toss in sorrel and cook down
3. add milk and cream, stir and simmer

Start Salmon: cook until done

while salmon is cooking, keep stirring the cream sauce.  Once the salmon looks almost ready, add in the cheese.  Stir until incorporated.   Serve salmon with cream sauce.  

Crockpot beef with tomatillo

The weather is getting colder and tomatillo's are in season.  I was looking for a dish that I could use up the beef stew meat I had put out to thaw and just stick in a crock pot to sort out later for dinner.   Google being my friend, I found a lot of dishes that seemed to fit my needs but didn't quite fit what I felt like eating.   I wanted something with a warm, Mexican and almost taco-esque feel to it.   So, I took a few different recipes and came up with this shredded beef with tomatillo recipe.  Also, I do not like the taste of onions after it has been in the crock pot all day.. so I do not put them during the cooking.  You are welcome to do so if the taste doesn't bother you. :)

Shredded Beef with Tomatillo

• 1 to 1.5 pounds Stew meat 
• 1 quart tomatillo puree (you can make this by blending tomatillo's in a blender)
• 4 tomatillo's - quartered
• 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder (give or take to taste)
• salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds (these were an accident, the plan was to put in coriander powder - but it was morning.  *grin*)
• chili powder, to taste

Toss all the above into a crock pot in the morning and set on low. 

When you come home, separate the beef from the liquid.

• 1 sliced onion 
• 1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

In a pan, heat some oil/butter toss in the onion and brown. Add the liquid and simmer to desired thickness.  While sauce is thickening,  shred the beef.  I do this by hand, but you can use two forks.  Once the sauce is at the desired thickness, toss in the beef.  Stir.  Taste for salt.   Add cilantro.  

Serve.

Dried Cranberry Custard

I love custard and have lately been playing with various flavors.  Lemon, honey, ginger.  Yum! Vanilla, honey - tasty but boring.  Dried cranberry. Yummy!

The main thing with this one is there is some planning - since you want to soak the cranberries in the custard mix.  I let it sit in the fridge for about 2 days and it worked out brilliantly.  I think this would make a good holiday desert.

I know, it kind of looks like grapes!  Or olives. :)

Dried Cranberry Custard

Ingredients:
- 8 eggs
- 3 cups milk
- 1 cup cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup (give or take) dried cranberries

Special equipment:
- roasting pan or deep baking pan where you can put your cups/ramekins.
- ramekins (6 or so) or oven safe cups/glasses

Directions:
 In a large bowl, mix eggs, milk, cream and vanilla.  Blend well.  Add cranberries, place them in a container in the fridge for about a day or two.

I don't worry about adding sugar as the cranberries tend to be sweet.  But, if you feel the need for sugar - you can add some with the cranberries.

A few days later.  preheat oven to 350 F.  Bring a nice size pot of water to boil.
Stir up the custard mixture.

Once the oven comes to temp, place the roasting pan in the oven.  Fill your ramekins/cups about 1/3 way up - making sure to have cranberries in all the containers.  Place the ramekins in the roasting pan.  Then slowly put the water in the roasting pan, making sure not to get water in the custards.  Pour the water to about 1/2 way up the sides of the ramekins.

Cook in the oven for about 1 hour.  Check at about the 45 min mark, to see if the custards have set.  Once it's set, pull it out of the oven and set to the side.  You can serve it warm, at room temp or straight out of the fridge.