Soup Sorrel and Seabass

Hi everyone and welcome to the blog. This week’s blog is all to do with soup, sorrel and sea bass. The recipes featured this week are Spinach Soup with Beetroot Ribbons, Sea Bass with Seville Orange Sauce and Mulled Apple and Calvados Warmer. The herb of the week is Sorrell.

My first recipe is Spinach Soup with Beetroot Ribbons, recipe by Trina Hanemann, courtesy of Sainsbury’s Magazine Dec 2010.

This recipe serves 8, takes 20mins to prepare and can take 1hr to cook.

2 tbsp x Olive Oil
2 tsp x Cumin Seeds
1 x Onion, roughly chopped
2 x Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
2 x Large Potatoes, peeled and cubed
1.5kgs x Spinach Leaves (or 1kg Frozen Spinach)
1 tsp x Freshly Ground Nutmeg
200ml x Double Cream

For the Beetroot Ribbons
2 x Large Raw Beetroots
500ml x Grapeseed or Sunflower Oil

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the cumin, onion, garlic and potatoes. Cook gently for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1.5 litres of water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the spinach (a handful at a time if fresh), nutmeg, salt and freshly ground black pepper, and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, leave to cool a little, then blend until smooth. Peel into thin strips using a potato peeler. Put the strips on kitchen paper to dry.
Pour the soup back into the pan, add the cream and reheat while stirring. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep saucepan and fry the beetroot, 5 or 6 strips at a time. Remove with a slotted spoon as soon as they turn light brown on the edges. Drain on kitchen paper. Season the soup and serve garnished with the beetroot ribbons.


Herb of the week - Sorrell (rumex acetosa)
Also known as Bread and Cheese, Sour leaves, Tom thumbs, Thousand fingers and sour sauce. Sorrel is a native of Europe, Asia and North America. It has naturalized in many countries throughout the world on rich, damp, loamy, acid soils. The generic name, Rumex, comes from the Latin rumo, “I suck”. Apparently, Roman soldiers sucked the leaves to relieve thirst, and their doctors used them as a diuretic. The name Sorrel comes from the old French word surelle meaning “sour”. The Tudors considered the herb to be one of the best English vegetables; Henry VIII held it in great esteem.
Rumex Acestosa is also known as broad-leafed sorrel, common sorrel, garden sorrel, meadow sorrel, and confusingly French Sorrel. It is a hardy perennial that can grow to a height of 60-120cms with a spread of 30cms. It bears small, dull greenish flowers which turn reddish-brown as the fruit ripens. Its mid-green lance-shaped leaves have 2 basal lobes pointing backwards.
Sorrel is considered to have blood cleansing and blood improving qualities in a similar way to spinach, which improves the haemoglobin content of the blood. It also contains vitamin C. A leaf may be used in a poultice to treat certain skin complaints, including acne. WARNING:-Care has to be taken that sorrel is not used in too great a quantity or too frequently. Its oxalic acid content may be damaging to health if taken in excess. Very large doses are poisonous, causing severe kidney damage. This herb should not be used medicinally by those predisposed to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or gastric hyperacidity. The leaf may cause dermatitis.
This is an excellent herb with which to experiment. Use sparingly in soups, omelettes, fish sauces, and with poultry and pork. It is useful for tenderizing meat. Wrap it around steaks or add pounded leaf to a marinade. Eat leaves raw in salads, especially the buckler-leaf sorrel, but reduce the vinegar or lemon in any accompanying dressing to compensate for the increased acidity. Cook like spinach, changing the cooking water once to reduce acidity.


My next recipe is Sea Bass with Seville Orange Sauce, recipe by Sam & Sam Clark, courtesy of Sainsbury’s Magazine Dec 2010.

This recipe serves 4, takes 15mins to prepare and takes 30mins to cook.

4 x Sea Bass Fillets (or Bream Fillets) approx 200g each (or alternatively 8 x smaller fillets)
3 tbsp x Olive Oil

For the Seville Orange Sauce
100ml x Seville Orange Juice (3-4 Oranges, or use a mixture of half orange and half lemon juice)
1 heaped tsp x Grated Seville Orange Zest (or ordinary), briefly blanched in boiling water to remove the bitterness
2 x Bay Leaves
A sprig of Thyme
A Good Pinch of Cinnamon
150g x Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into cubes
2 tsp x Caster Sugar, or to taste

To make the sauce, put the orange juice and zest, bay, thyme and cinnamon in a small pan and bring to a simmer. Stirring constantly with a balloon whisk, add the butter in 3 batches. Keep the pan over a very low heat and make sure that the sauce emulsifies nicely. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, discarding the flavourings, add sugar to taste and season with salt. It will take more salt than you might think to balance the acidity. Keep over a pan of barely simmering water and simmering frequently.
Heat a large frying pan over a high heat. Season the sea bass with salt and a little freshly ground black pepper, drizzle the olive oil into the pan to cover the base and, when the oil is smoking hot, gently ease in each fillet, skin-side down, shaking the pan as you go to prevent sticking. You may need to do this in batches. Lower the heat to medium and fry the fillets for 4-5minutes (or 2-3 minutes for smaller fillets), until cooked halfway through. Turn them gently and fry for a couple more minutes, until just cooked through. Serve with the warm sauce spooned over the fish.


My last recipe is Mulled Apple and Calvados Warmer, recipe by Trina Hanemann, courtesy of Sainsbury’s Magazine Dec 2010.

This recipe serves 8, takes 15mins to prepare and takes 55mins to cook.

2kgs x apples, cut into quarters
200g x Caster Sugar
2 x Cinnamon Sticks, plus extra to use as stirrers
200ml x Calvados

In a large pan, bring the apples, sugar, cinnamon sticks and 2 litres of water to the boil, stirring. Simmer for 30 minutes. Strain through muslin or a fine sieve and discard the apples and cinnamon sticks. Pour into the cleaned pan and bring to the boil. Add the Calvados and pour into 8 heatproof glasses, each with a cinnamon stick stirrer.

If you have enjoyed my blog, or have tried out the recipes I have included and wish to comment, please feel free to comment using the comment button or by visiting my guestbook, all comments and suggestions will be gratefully received.

Hope you enjoy!!..... ChefGarfy =D
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