Herby Feta, Quinoa, & Snow Pea Salad

What I have coming out of the garden right now is lettuce, snow peas and other peas, and herbs. Lots of herbs. Oh, and garlic scapes. They all come together in a vaguely Greek or Turkish flavoured salad which is pretty much a meal in itself. Since the quinoa needs to be cooked in advance and so do the snow peas, it does take a little advance planning, but it's very simple to put together. Leftovers will keep overnight in the fridge in reasonable quality, which is nice because this is a fairly big batch of salad.

I did put in 4 garlic scapes and you could definitely tell. Garlicky! Mr. Ferdzy kept commenting on how garlicky, but he was not complaining. Still, you should adjust your scapes accordingly. I also had a very heavy hand with the black pepper and I think that is a very good plan.

If Mr. Ferdzy would eat them, I would have garnished this with some olives. A few cherry tomatoes for some colour would have been nice, but mine are all still flowers. Radishes would have made an excellent and seasonal contribution, but mine are all over-ripe, if that's the word, and might as well have been carved from wood. This is why I have mostly given up growing radishes and stick to buying the little dears. Only I didn't. If you are better organized, by all means chop up a few and toss them in.

4 to 6 servings
cook the quinoa 2 hours or more in advance
30 minutes prep time to finish the salad

Cook the Quinoa & Snow Peas:
1 cup quinoa
1 2/3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
225 grams (1/2 pound) snow peas

Put the quinoa, water, and salt into a rice cooker. Turn on and cook. Once done, remove the pot from the cooker andl let the quinoa cool completely. This should be done at least an hour and up to 24 hours in advance. Keep it refrigerated once cool, if not using it right away.

Meanwhile just before continuing with making the salad, top and string the snow peas, and steam or blanch them until just tender - 2 minutes to blanch, perhaps a minute or so longer if steaming. Rinse immediately under cold water to stop them cooking any more and drain them well. 

Make the Salad:
2 to 4 garlic scapes
1/4 cup finely minced cilantro
1/4 cup finely minced parsley
2 tablespoons finely minced mint
2 tablespoons finely minced dill
150 grams (5 ounces) feta cheese
the juice of 1/2 large lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 to 12 lettuce leaves

Trim and finely mince the garlic scapes. Wash, dry, and mince all the remaining herbs. Put them in a mixing bowl with the crumbled feta cheese. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper. Mix well.

Loosen and fluff up the quinoa and stir it in. Gently mix in the cooked and cooled snow peas. Serve the salad over the lettuce leaves, which should be washed and well dried first.





Last year at this time I made - oh, huh - Cheesy Pea & Pasta Salad. Apparently I really like those pea, carb, and dairy salads (and that's a true fact).

Tiramisu alla Fragole - Strawberry Tiramisu

I'd say this is something that can be made in advance, but it is more the case that it must be made in advance. Yes, it's another dessert. We had company, okay? I did keep the sweetener down as much as I could - other people might want to double the honey in both the berries and the cheese filling, and I'm sure it could handle it.

I had a little trouble getting the right size dish for this, and in the end I borrowed one from Mom. Hers probably held about 1 1/2 quarts; it's possible I might have squeezed it into a dish that held 1 quart but it would have been a squeeze. The ideal dish is probably 1 1/4 quarts (5 cups) and who makes one like that? The big thing is that the lady fingers should go into the space in 2 neat layers, with ample but not excessive space around them to allow for all the other ingredients. The wrong container will make it less glamorous, but it will be absolutely delicious regardless, so don't let it keep you up at night.

You know, this has been another instalment in the series "Desserts which didn't have strawberries in them are greatly improved by replacing the usual flavouring with strawberries". Long may it prosper.

6 to 8 servings
30 minutes prep time
PLUS 2 hours to macerate the strawberries
PLUS 30 minutes chill time

Macerate the Berries:
2 cups strawberries
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sherry

Wash, hull, and slice the berries and put them in a container with the honey and sherry. Keep chilled for several hours.

Make the Tiramisu:
1/2 cup 10% cream
3 large egg yolks
1 large egg white
a pinch of salt
2 tablespoons honey
225 grams (1 cup) mascarpone 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sherry
about 1 cup strawberries
12 lady fingers
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped shelled pistachios

Whisk the cream, egg yolks, egg white, and salt in the top of a double boiler. Heat the mixture over simmering water; while it heats add the honey. Whisk regularly until the honey melts and the mixture begins to thicken. Whisk constantly once it starts to thicken, then remove it from the double boiler as soon as it is thick. Whisk in the mascarpone, 1/3 at a time, until the mixture is smooth, then whisk in the vanilla and sherry. Let cool.

Hull the remaining strawberries and slice them in half.

Smear some of the filling on the bottom of your chosen dish and lay half the ladyfingers in it. Drizzle half the macerated berries and their juices evenly over them. Drizzle half the mascarpone filling evenly over them. Top with the remaining ladyfingers, macerated berries, and mascarpone filling in the same way. Garnish with the halved unmacerated berries over the top, and sprinkle any exposed filling evenly with the finely chopped pistachios.

Refrigerate for at least half an hour before serving to allow everything to meld together. 




Last year at this time I made Stir-Fried Zucchini.

Chinese Style Pork & Tofu Meatballs

We enjoyed these meatballs very much. The flavour is delicate and mild, but not bland, and the texture is soft and tender but not mushy.

I did find them a little fragile - they required fairly careful handling while they cook. I made them twice, actually; the first time I made a version with no egg and less flour, but they really didn't hold together well at all. I also didn't drain the tofu the first time. The recipes I referred to called for "firm tofu" but I suspect that there is much firmer tofu out there than what is sold at the local grocery store under that name. At any rate the eggs, extra flour, and draining the tofu made them hold together much better the second time.

This also makes a lot of meatballs. I don't know how they would freeze, but I think it would be worth trying. In theory, you could cut the recipe in half, but since tofu and ground pork tends to get sold in the quantities listed below, you would still be left with half a package of each. Might as well make the meatballs.

6 to 8 servings
40 minutes prep time
PLUS 1 to 2 hours to drain tofu

420 gram (14 ounces) firm tofu
1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
500 grams lean ground pork
1/4 cup barley or other flour
1 large or 2 small eggs
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper
a little oil to fry

Use a fine sieve, or line one with coffee filters. Crumble the tofu into it very finely, then set it to drain for 1 to 2 hours. When it is done, squeeze it a bit to drain out some more liquid. When it is quite dry, transfer it to a mixing bowl.

Trim, wash, dry, and mince the cilantro and green onions. Add them to the tofu, along with the pork, barley flour, eggs, soy sauce, sesame oil, and pepper. Mix very thoroughly; I find it easiest to do it by hand. You can be quite rough with it and even knead it. This will give the meatballs a slightly chewy texture and help them stick together.

Form the mixture into meatballs using about 2 tablespoons of the mixture each. Heat enough oil in a skillet to cover the bottom of the pan generously. Fry the meatballs for a minute or two on each side; for a total of about 6 minutes each. The heat should be medium-high; they can get reasonably browned but slowly enough to allow them to cook through. If you are cooking the entire mixture you will almost certainly need to do them in batches. They can be kept in the oven at 200°F to keep warm as they are done. However, the mixture will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days and can be cooked up as needed.

Serve with rice or noodles; these could also go into soup.

Haskap Raisin Pie

Another dish from last year as I froze it then baked it at my leisure in the winter, not likely to be repeated. Alas! This was delicious, and an excellent thing to do with all those haskaps. I just picked almost 3 quarts of them, and now I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do with them all - they are so sour they really do require dishes with sugar in them, unless you are just having a small handful in a salad.

At 8" this is one of the smaller pies I've made. I still recommend cutting it into 8 slices though, as it is extremely rich and intense. It has an almost mincemeat-like quality, but with the strong tart fruitiness of the haskaps.

8 servings
2 hours - 1 hour prep time, 1 hour bake time

Make the Pastry:
2 cups soft whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup mild vegetable oil
1/4 to 1/3 cup buttermilk

Measure and mix the flour and salt. Cut the butter into it with a pastry cutter, until it is the size of small peas. Mix in the vegetable oil and 1/4 cup of buttermilk. Stir with a fork until everything is moistened and starting to stick together. Use your fingers to press it into a ball; if necessary add a few drops more of buttermilk until it does so. Cover and set aside until the filling is made.

Make the Filling & Finish:
2 cups haskaps
2/3 cup water
2 cups raisins
1 tablespoon rum (optional)
the finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour

Wash, drain, and pick over the haskaps. Put them in a pot with the water, raisins, rum, and lemon zest. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes until the haskaps begin to fall apart and the raisins are soft. Remove from the heat, cover, and let cool.

Mix the sugar and flour well, then stir into the cooled haskap and raisin mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Divide the pastry into a slightly larger and a slightly smaller piece (60%/40%). Roll out the larger piece on a piece of parchment paper, lightly flouring the paper and the rolling pin as needed. When it is large enough to line an 8" pie plate, use it to do so.

Put the filling into the pie crust, and spread it out evenly. Roll out the remaining pastry to cover the pie. Lay it over the pie and peel off the parchment paper. Pinch the edges sealed, and trim them; cut some holes for steam to escape.

Bake the pie for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, until well browned and the fruit is bubbling. On which note, this is a good candidate for baking on a tray unless you like cleaning burnt sugar off the bottom of the oven - mine did not overflow but it looks distinctly possible.

I did not bake this right away, but froze it. Later I thawed it overnight then baked it, with excellent results.




Last year at this time I made Pasta with Sausage & Turnip Greens. 

Ham & Snap Pea Pasta Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

I do love a good pasta salad in the summer. Anytime, really, but the next month or so is the time for snap and snow peas. Quick and simple? So much the better.

2 to 4 servings
30 minutes prep time

Make the Dressing:
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup mayonnaise (light is fine)

In a small bowl, mix the honey, mustard, paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix in the mayonnaise.

Make the Salad:
166 grams (10 ounces) stubby pasta
2 cups snap peas (or snow peas)
250 grams (1/2 pound) chopped cooked ham
1 small onion, sweet would be nice
1 stalk celery
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Put a pot of salted water on to boil, and cook the pasta according to instructions, plus one minute. Meanwhile, wash the peas and string them. Drop them into the pasta water to cook for the last 4 or 5 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water until cool, then drain well.

Chop the ham, the onion, the celery, and the parsley. Toss them into the pasta and peas with the dressing. If you like, you can chop the onion before cooking the pasta, sprinkle it with salt, and let it drain while the pasta cooks to make the flavour milder and the onion more digestible.




Last year at this time I made Green Garlic & Pea Bruschetta with Chevre. 

Chicken & Haskap Salad

Okay, we hit a bit of turbulence there. Mom's eye troubles are not over, and we were making extra trips to Mississauga without much notice, which is nobody's idea of a good time and definitely cuts into the cooking and gardening time.

The good news is we are picking haskaps daily at the moment, along with strawberries. They are a bit late compared to last year but not quite as late as I was afraid they might be. There are lots, and this sudden turn of heat is really making them good.

I am trying to find other things to do with haskaps besides sweet things, but I had to sweeten the dressing a little - they are so very tart. I like to keep some cooked chicken around for salads in the summer. It is very quick to poach it; it can be done in 15 or 20 minutes. Lately I've also been seasoning it, wrapping it in parchment paper, and cooking it in the panini grill. That can get it cooked in as little as 5 minutes, if it's thin pieces.

2 servings
30 minutes prep time
not including cooking the chicken

Make the Dressing:
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
the juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup mayonnaise (light is fine)
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Stir the honey, mustard, and lemon juice together until well blended. Mix in the mayonnaise, and season with salt and pepper. Stir well again.

Make the Salad:
4 or 5 cups prepared lettuce or mixed salad greens
4 to 6 radishes
2 stalks of celery
2/3 cup fresh haskaps
150 grams skinless, boneless chicken - poached and chilled

Wash, pick over, drain, and dry the lettuce or other greens, and be sure they are torn or cut into bite-sized pieces.

Wash, trim and slice the radishes and the celery. Mix them into the lettuce or greens and put everything into a shallow salad bowl or divide between individual salad plates.

Rinse, dry, and pick over the haskaps. Scatter them over the salad. Slice the cold cooked chicken into bite sized pieces and arrange over the salad. Drizzle the salad with the dressing, and serve.




Last year at this time I made Smoked Trout & Wild Rice Salad with Peas.

Sour Cream Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

I made these a few times during the winter, using frozen berries for the sauce. And of course, you can replace the strawberries with other berries in season.

Perhaps it's because I rarely make pancakes these days, but I think these are awfully good pancakes - fluffy, with a bit of zing and tenderness from the sour cream. Yes, it makes them rich and special-occasion-ish, but then, pancakes are a special occasion.

2 to 4 servings - 8 to 12 pancakes
30 minutes prep time

Make the Strawberry Maple Syrup:
2 cups strawberries
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/3 cup dark maple syrup

Rinse, drain well, and hull the berries, cutting them up if they are large. Put them in a pot with the butter and syrup. Bring up to a boil then simmer until the strawberries are softened and starting to fall apart. Stir regularly. Remove to a jug or similar serving vessel. 

Make the Pancakes:
1 cup soft (pastry) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
mild vegetable oil to cook

Meanwhile, measure the flour and mix in the baking powder and salt.

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk until blended. Whisk in the sour cream.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, and pour in enough oil to cover the bottom thoroughly.

Whisk the flour into the eggs and sour cream until smooth, but do not over-beat.

When the pan is hot, spoon in the batter to form small pancakes - a tablespoon or small serving spoon will be the right size. Do not over-crowd them. Cook on each side until set and lightly browned; they should feel firm and slightly springy to the touch when done. Serve with the strawberry maple syrup, along with butter or a dab more of sour cream.




Last year at this time I made Radishes with Lime Juice, Chile, & Mint.

Greek-Style Pork Loin Medallions

We found some pork tenderloin on sale recently, and I wanted to do something really simple with it as we are still spending so much time in the garden.

This fit the bill, and also used up several green garlic plants that had come up in undesirable places - apparently there is a reason garlic is a weed in this town - as well as the patch of oregano growing by the side of the garage. Oregano is actually very early to get started and it is best before it starts to flower so this is getting made none too early. Very tasty, we thought. 

4 servings
10 minutes prep time
4 to 8 hours to marinate
15 minutes to cook

1/3 cup loosely packed fresh oregano leaves (10 to 12 stems)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, OR 1/4 cup minced green garlic or garlic scapes
the finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
the juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon hot paprika, OPTIONAL
2 tablespoons olive oil
500 grams (1 pound plus) pork tenderloin
1 tablespoon olive oil

Strip the leaves from the stem, and mince them (leaves, not stems) and put them in dish which will  hold the pork in one or two layers, and which can be covered.

Peel and mince the garlic. If you have green garlic or garlic scapes, trim off any tough bits and mince the remainder finely. Add it to the oregano. Wash and dry the lemon, and grate in the zest. Squeeze in the juice, add the salt, pepper, and paprika, and add the 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Slice the pork tenderloin into slices about 1" thick. Put them in the marinade and turn them to coat them. Cover and marinate them in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours.

Bring the pork out of the fridge to warm up a bit about 15 minutes before cooking it. Heat the last of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Lift the pork out of the marinade and let as much liquid drain off of it as possible. Cook the medallions in the oil for 4 or 5 minutes per side, until lightly browned and cooked through. While they cooked, I lifted the oregano, garlic, etc from the marinade with a slotted spoon and added them to the pan. It's up to you if you want to be bothered.

When the pork is cooked, remove it to a serving plate and let it rest 5 minutes before serving. 





Last year at this time I made Strawberry Cucumber Salad. Wow, are things late compared to last year. There are piles of strawberries coming, but honestly, half of them are still flowers, never mind ripe. What a different year!

Spinach with Blue Cheese & Mushrooms

This is the last of the spinach from our garden; at least I hope there will be another wave of it later from seed planted this spring, but the overwintered spinach is now gone. We didn't have as much as usual, because the mice have discovered that life under a plastic cover in a spinach forest is a delightful way to pass the winter. Also, before the fence was put up some bloody rabbit came and nested in it too. At any rate, it was starting to bolt so I pulled it all up.

With all the cheese and cream, this is a very rich dish. Serve it with noodles or other pasta, with or without some simply cooked chicken or fish. I can also see it with baked potatoes or polenta.

You will note I do not call for any salt. Do not put salt in it. The salt in the cheese will be an elegant sufficiency and you will regret more salt. Okay? No salt. 

4 to 6 servings
40 minutes prep time

250 grams (1/2 pound) fresh spinach
125 grams (1/4) pound shiitake or button mushrooms
2 to 3 shallots
2 to 3 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon flour
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup 5% or 10% cream
60 grams (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

Wash and pick over the spinach; drain well. Clean and slice the mushrooms. Peel and chop the shallots. Peel and mince the garlic.

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat until melted and foaming. Add the mushrooms and shallots. Cook until softened and reduced in volume. They should not really brown, though.

Add the garlic and the flour. Season with pepper. Mix in well and cook for a minute or two, then add the cream. Stir constantly until the sauce is smooth and thickens.

Add about half the spinach, turning it over into the sauce until it is wilted. Add the two cheeses and mix in, then add the rest of the spinach. Stir gently to mix it in and wilt it, then cook the spinach until it is done to your liking. Transfer to a serving dish and serve.

Rhubarb Ile Flottante

We had some company over for dinner recently, which meant I had an excuse to break out some dessert. And when it comes to dessert there's little I like better than fruit and custard. Right now, the "fruit" is rhubarb.

On the whole this was a successful dessert, and well-received. However, I used duck eggs to make it, and I have to say this is the third time I have tried using duck eggs to make meringue and have not been impressed with the results. They have a lower water content than chicken egg whites, apparently, and they seem to end up dense and tough no matter how well-beaten they are. Also, I cooked them a bit too long. A minute to poach the "îles" seems far too short, but so it was - my last ones were definitely better than the earlier ones.

Traditionally they are also poached in milk, but I am far too cheap to do that. I can't see that water didn't work just fine, my duck problems notwithstanding.

6 to 8 servings
1 hour prep time

Make the Custard:
1 cup milk
1 cup 10% cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk the milk, cream, salt, and egg yolks in the top of a double boiler until smooth - set the egg whites aside in a mixing bowl; you will need them later. Whisk in the maple syrup. Heat over simmering water, whisking frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken. At that point, whisk it constantly until it thickens. This is a fairly thin custard, and once it has thickened noticeably, it will thicken no more, so be careful not to overcook it. Pour it into a shallow serving dish or divide it amongst individual serving dishes.

Stew the Rhubarb:
2 cups chopped rhubarb stems
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon arrowroot or tapioca starch
1 tablespoon sherry

Clean and chop the rhubarb, and put it in a pot with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well to dissolve the starch before you begin to heat it. Heat it gently, stirring constantly, until it begins to simmer. Cover and simmer until the rhubarb softens and disintegrates, stirring frequently.

When it is done spoon it gently and evenly over the cooled custard.

Poach the Meringue:
4 large egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
a pinch of salt

Put a large, shallow pot of water on to boil.

Beat the egg whites until foamy, then beat in the sugar and salt. Continue beating the egg whites until they are very stiff. Drop the meringue by large spoonfuls into the boiling water. Let boil for 1 minute on each side, then remove them with a slotted skimmer, draining them well. Arrange them over the custard and rhubarb. Keep chilled until ready to serve.




Last year at this time, by complete co-incidence, I made Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce on Ribs.

Cool, Soggy Garden Update

This has been a long cool spring that finally seems - according to the weather forecast, at any rate - to be shifting into summer. Planting has been slow but steady, and the weeds have yet to really get going. Mr. Ferdzy has thus had a reasonable amount of time for this years' first big project: surrounding the main garden beds with chicken wire and gates in an effort to foil the rabbits. The rabbits have been terrible the last few years, and they seem to get worse every year. This year they are all over the place! Fenced just in time, I would say.

While he worked on that, I got the runners from our seedling strawberry planted out in their newly assigned bed. In spite of which, they are flowering profusely. If the weather warms up we should have a bumper crop.

Mostly, though, the garden still looks very sparse. Carrots are planted but not up. Beets and rutabaga are planted but not up. Garlic is up, and looks good, and a few leeks have sprouted where they went to seed last year. I'm leaving them in to seed again (I hope) as I lost the packet of seeds I had saved from them. I was seriously annoyed, because these are the leeks that overwintered in the garden as seeds - unusually hardy, in other words, and I particularly wanted the seeds. This way I hope to get some at least.

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and about half the sweet potatoes have been planted, but it has been too cold to leave them uncovered. Those plastic sheets are starting to wear out - hastened by having deer step on them - but we are really pleased by how long they have lasted. I'd have to go back to see when we first got them, but it must be close to 8 years or even 9 years. It is 6 mil vapour barrier for construction, and we didn't really expect it to last more than 3 or 4 years.

Peas are mostly well up but nowhere close to producing, and beans have just sprouted, mostly. Some are not up yet and I am a little nervous that I will have to re-seed if some of them rot in the cold wet soil we have been having.

Our more established bed of strawberries started blooming about a week later than our seedling strawberries but it too is full of blossoms and should have an impressive crop. We have been picking asparagus for over 2 weeks and hope we have at least another week of picking to go. That's not a long season but since the bed is only 2 years old the plants are mostly not as established enough to bear more. However they are doing well and we expect the crop to improve every year.

The last thing I planted was watermelon seeds for the golden-rind project. We are only doing the one this year, as it will still produce far more watermelon than I ought to be eating. They are sharing the bed with some onions - we got carried away with several new kinds this year.

Another view of the covered beds. In the fore-ground the potatoes are just starting to sprout. That apparently empty bed next to them is actually planted with onions too, but they are still so tiny they really don't show up in the picture. I have to say, one of the reasons I'm doing a garden report today is because there is so little in the way of actual vegetables...

The weather is supposed to be shifting today into a warmer gear so hopefully things will start to change rapidly. If nothing else, I expect the next few weeks to include a lot more weeds.

Sorrel Pakoras

When I first thought of making pakoras with sorrel, I did a search to see if there was already such a thing. And while they don't seem common, there are recipes for sorrel pakoras out there. However, they struck me as a bit odd, especially when I looked at the photos, and I soon realized that they were not being made with sorrel as I know it. Eventually I figured it out - it's what gets called sorrel in the Caribbean; a kind of hibiscus.

Well, never mind. It turns out that the local (French or garden) sorrel makes perfectly cromulent pakoras. I really like the tart zing of sorrel in these little fritters, and a slightly sweet chutney would really set them off.

10 to 14 pakoras
20 minutes prep time

Mix the Batter:
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) ground hot red chile
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chick pea flour
1/3 cup water, about

Grind the spices together - I find it helpful to do it with the salt. Mix them into the flour in a mixing bowl. Whisk in the water to form a smooth, soft batter.

Finish the Pakoras & Fry Them:
125 grams (1/4 pound) fresh French sorrel leaves
sufficient oil to fry

Put a kettle of water on to boil. Wash and trim the sorrel, and chop it coarsely. Put it in a strainer, and when the water boils, pour it over the sorrel to wilt it evenly.

Run the sorrel under cold water to cool it, then squeeze it until it is reasonably dry. (It will be much harder to squeeze than spinach, so just do what you can.) Mix it into the batter. You want to have a very soft but not drippy batter; add a little more chick pea flour or water if needed to achieve that.

Heat enough oil in a heavy skillet to cover the bottom of the pan very generously. Dollop out the batter in tablespoons and fry the patties over medium heat until crisp and brown on each side; about 3 minutes per side. I have an aebelskiver pan - meant for making apple pancake/doughnuts - and it made very neat little round pakoras. There is no reason they would not cook just as well in a skillet, though.

Serve them hot. I would like them with the Apple Butter Chutney I used here, but I was pressed for time and just served them with a little mayonnaise. Mayonnaise mixed with some chile-garlic sauce would have been better. Other prepared chutneys would be fine, too.





Last year at this time I made Turkey Sorrel Rolls. Yes, sorrel is definitely becoming a staple at this time of the year when there are not too many local vegetables available.