Sorrel Soup

Hi Friends,
Well, it's a quick post from me this week, as it's Thursday already & my job list for the week is only about half done due to one thing & another. I thought I'd share my sorrel soup recipe with you, as it's that time of year when sorrel leaves are so bright green & lush, it's a shame to waste them.

I bought this sorrel plant as a job lot of herbs - one of those 4 for £5 type of offers - years ago. Sorrel is very easy to grow & doesn't seem to have any special requirements. It is perennial, so it dies down in the winter & grows back again ready to use in early Spring. It's so useful, I don't know why more gardeners don't grow it. I use the baby leaves raw in salads (they are like a lemony-flavoured spinach), it's good in quiches, frittata, as curry greens, & for many recipes as a substitute for spinach. Sorrel grows wild too, so if you are hot on plant recognition, you can forage it for free. I do a small amount of foraging, but I never risk eating anything I'm not 100% confident I've identified correctly. I used to gather field mushrooms, but have stopped since the Big Hairy Half of the Relationship informed me, "I trust you with my life, Babe, but I'm not eating any mushroom YOU'VE picked'! (Hmmm!)

If you find a little corner of your garden for a sorrel plant, it will soon fill out sufficiently for you to divide it up & give starter plants to friends. If you're one of those non-gardeners who could even kill bindweed, then this is a good plant. In that very cold winter of a few years ago, we experienced overnight temperatures down to -16 degrees here, but the sorrel still popped straight back up in springtime.

So, my soup recipe, which is what I most often make with our home grown sorrel. It doesn't require any weird ingredients.

Sorrel Soup

1 quite large onion, chopped.

1 smallish potato, chopped.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch of fresh sorrel leaves - you want a generous handful - shredded.

300 ml vegetable stock (I use Marigold powder or Aldi veggie stock cubes which are great in soups)

300ml semi-skimmed milk

Salt & freshly ground black pepper 

Heat olive oil in a pan, add the onion & cook gently until softened, but not browned. Add the potato, sorrel, stock, milk & salt/pepper to taste. Bring pan to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Put the lid on & let it cook gently together for about 20 mins. The contents will look rather curdled at this stage because of cooking the milk, but don't worry, this is normal. Take pan off the heat to cool a little, then blend it until smooth with a stick blender (or put in liquidiser goblet...... if you like washing these up). Taste the blended soup for seasoning & add a little more salt & pepper if needed. Reheat gently before serving.

If you want to go a bit la-di-dah fancypants, then add a swirl of cream to the top of each bowl.

This soup freezes really well, so just divvy it up into portions & that's a few free lunches & pack-ups to enjoy in weeks to come. It's a very velvety soup, & quite delicately flavoured, so it makes a good 'starter' for anyone who wants to look a bit cheffy.

I find these quantities make about 3 portions, but it depends on size of appetite like everything else. For recipes which state 'Serves 4', I mentally add 'Or my husband!'

I made my last batch of sorrel soup about 2 weeks ago. The sorrel has already completely grown back ready for cutting again, so it's a nice productive little plant to cultivate.

For those of you who I know like a regular update on Albert Whiskers.....well, he's been busy testing a brand of cat biscuits this week. Burgess Cat Biscuits with salmon, chicken & chicken & duck. He thought they were worth waiting for..........

.....& threw himself into this task with his usual food-related vigour. After snarfing all three bags (just to make sure), he has declared them all most definitely fit for purpose. Burgess Pet Foods seems to be a UK company too, so I'll look into that, as may want to support a small British company more than a huge multi-national. Albert Whiskers won't care, as the only ethics that matter to him are the ethics of his hungry tummy.

Have a good week all,

Will soon be ready to share a little tour of our veggie garden to show how it's getting on for the new season.

Cheers,

C x