Chilled Watercress Spring Nettle And Sorrel Soup Recipes

CHILLED WATERCRESS, SPRING NETTLE, AND SORREL SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, warm the olive oil and butter over medium heat until the butter is foamy. Add the onion, leeks, garlic, and salt, and stir to coat. Let cook 10 minutes, then add 4 cups stock or water. Bring to a simmer. Add the watercress and nettles and simmer just until tender. Using a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl, strain the soup, separating the liquid from the solids, but reserve both. Transfer both to the refrigerator and cool 2 hours. Remove the separated cooled soup ingredients from the refrigerator and recombine. Puree the soup in batches in the food processor or in a blender, and add the sorrel leaves a little at a time. The soup will have some texture. When finished processing, taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Transfer the soup to chilled bowls and garnish with a spoonful of crème fraîche, a drizzle of olive oil, and a few thin slices of leek tops or green garlic tops.

COLD SORREL SOUP

Steps:

• Melt butter over moderate heat in a medium stockpot or Dutch oven. Cook onion with salt and pepper until soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in sorrel and cook over moderate heat, uncovered, about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally so the sorrel is evenly cooked.
• Add half and half, water, and Tabasco pepper sauce. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Puree in a blender until smooth and strain through a medium sieve. Stir in lemon juice, adjust with salt and pepper, and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours, or, to serve immediately, chill in bowl rested in another bowl of iced water. Serve cold.

CHILLED SORREL SOUP

Steps:

• Remove center ribs and stems from sorrel; tie ribs and stems in a bundle and wrap in cheesecloth. Chop leaves into this strips. In a 2-qt. saucepan, combine water, lemon juice, sorrel leaves and bundle of stems. Simmer for 20 minutes; discard stem bundle. , In a small bowl, beat egg yolks; add a small amount of sorrel mixture, stirring constantly. Return all to the pan. Cook and stir until soup thickens (do not boil). Cool; chill for several hours. Add salt and pepper. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and additional sorrel if desired.

CHILLED SORREL SOUP

Steps:

• In a soup pot, bring the water, potatoes, dill & scallions to a medium boil & cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the chopped sorrel & lemon juice, salt, pepper & sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat & discard the dill sprigs.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the cold water till light.
• Very slowly pour 2 cups of the hot stock.
• into the egg mixture, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Then pour egg mixture back into the soup pot, stirring thoroughly.
• Chill until very cold, at least 3 hours.
• Just before serving, whisk in the sour cream & garnish with dill. Top with cucumbers.