sorrel potato salad

Sorrel is a great, but kind of uncommon vegetable. It’s tricky to find at the grocery store, you might find it at a farmers’ market. It’s got a great, tart lemony flavour that is lovely finely sliced into a green salad or over grilled fish. It’s also a super easy green to grow and it produces a ton of pretty, lemony leaves without much trouble. It’s worth making space for growing some sorrel to keep yourself in these slightly ruffled, sour leaves all year round.

I turned my sorrel into a fresh, non mayo-gloopy dressing for a summery new potato salad. Perfect to take to a barbecue or picnic. Also, if you are bringing this to share, it’s gluten-free and vegan, so it should be an easy crowd pleaser.

Sorrel potato salad:

• 3 pounds new potatoes
• 2 cups sorrel leaves
• 1 ½   cups parsley
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 3 tbs almonds
• 1 tbs capers
• ½ cup almonds

Place potatoes in a large pot. Cover with water. Cook on high until the potatoes are very tender, but falling apart. Drain water.

While the potatoes cook, toast the almonds in a dry frying pan over medium heat, stirring constantly until golden brown. Let cool and roughly chop.

Blitz all remaining ingredients in a food processor until they form a paste. Toss the dressing with the hot potatoes. Serve warm or cold, sprinkled with almonds.

cherry and almond ice cream pie

When I was a kid, I used to make ice cream pie quite a bit. The recipe was very easy and had lots of variations - it had a graham crumb crust filled with ice cream mixed with a can of fruit juice concentrate. If you want to try it, I would highly recommend a vanilla ice cream & lime aid concentrate combo. The vanilla and lime mixture is perfectly sweet-tart and sunny. I also enjoyed making this pie for the opportunity it gave me to eat a few spoonfuls of undiluted limeade concentrate. I had a very sophisticated childhood palate. 

This cherry & almond version of ice cream pie is a teeny bit more sophisticated but only the slightest bit more involved to make. I still used graham crumb crust, and store bought ice cream (feel free to make your own vanilla ice cream if you are so inclined), and added some caramelized almonds and some lovely, syrupy cherries. A slightly grown up but still very quick-to-prepare version of my childhood ice cream pie.

The amounts here don't need to be too exact, and the fruit and flavourings can be swapped out to whatever suits you and is on hand. Peaches would be really nice with the crunchy almonds if you prefer. 

cherry & almond ice cream pie:

• 2/3 cup flaked almonds
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• large pinch salt 
• 3 cups pitted cherries, fresh or frozen both work 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• about 8 cups vanilla ice cream
• 1 1/3 cup graham crumbs or finely crushed amaretti cookies
• 1/3 cup butter, melted 

In a medium frying pan on medium heat, toast the almond until they just begin to colour. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar and pinch of salt, stirring constantly until sugar melts and coats almonds and the nuts are deep brown. Cool nuts on parchment lined baking sheet. 

Bring ice cream out of the freezer to soften for about 15 minutes. 

In a small saucepan, combine cherries, 1/4 cup sugar, almond and vanilla extracts and bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook over low heat until cherries soften and syrup thickens, about 10 minutes. Cool in the fridge. 

Combine graham crumbs and melted butter and press into a pie plate in an even layer. Scoop ice cream onto the crust and smoosh it down with your fingers. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the nuts onto the ice cream. Spoon cherries and syrup onto the ice cream and top with another 1/3 of the nuts. Scoop on more ice cream until the cherries are more or less covered, it doesn't need to be totally even or covered, it's nice if some cherries peek through. Freeze the pie for at least 5 hours or overnight. Slice and serve sprinkled with the remaining candied nuts. 

strawberry rhubarb financiers

Happy spring to you! Well, to those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, I don't want to be hemispherist. Happy Fall if you live on the southern half of the planet.  If you live at the equator, which seasons do you go with? Is it Spring, Fall? Neither? Both? I know that there are less dramatic seasonal changes on the equator, but still. What season is it?

Anyway, it's spring!  In this particular chunk of the Northern Hemisphere, cherry blossoms are blossoming in a comforting way, that signals that winter's grip on us has loosened and it won't last forever. And when spring comes, so does rhubarb. Seeing it growing in the garden fills is so hopeful; I love the alien little ball of anemic, pale and slightly slimy leaves, poking through the dirt. 

Financiers are little French almond teacakes. They are pretty casual and unfussy as far as French pattiserie goes. If you happen to be in Paris, or anywhere else with a Maison Kayser, I strongly recommend a bag of their pistachio financiers.  They are so buttery, so pistachio-y. I have tried, but never quite managed, to replicate their glorious pistachiosity. If you aren't currently in Paris, New York or Tokyo (boo) then you can make them at home. They are really easy to make, and they can easily convert to being gluten free with a flour swap, or use hazelnuts or pistachios in place of almonds if you prefer. These ones are are crispy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside and with lovely little strawberry rhubarb centres. 

More financiers: apple & hazelnut, raspberry & caramelized white chocolate

strawberry rhubarb compote: 

• 3 cups rhubarb, chopped

• 2 cups strawberries, quartered

• 1/3 cup sugar (or a bit more, to taste)

• 1 tsp vanilla

Cook all ingredients together over medium low heat, until rhubarb is falling apart. Strain liquid off the compote and set aside for another use, like a tasty spring cocktail. The compote and syrup can be stored in fridge for around a week, or in the freezer for a couple months. 

strawberry rhubarb financiers: 

adapted from cannelle et vanille

• 120 grams egg whites

• 125 grams sugar

• 55 grams all purpose flour or white rice flour

• 25 grams almond meal

• 30 grams hazelnuts, toasted and ground into meal

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 150 grams butter, melted and cooled (browning the butter will add extra nuttiness!)

• 1/2 cup strawberry rhubarb compote

Combine sugar, flour, nut meals and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add egg whites and stir to combine. Stir in butter, cover bowl with plastic wrap and age in the fridge overnight. 

Generously grease financier tins or muffin tins. Fill with batter; only about 1/2 inch high if you are using muffin tins, up to the brim if you are using financier tins. Put 2 tsp of compote in the centre of each financier. 

Bake at 375°F for about ten minutes, until the centres are set and the edges are browned. Cool and then run a knife around the edge of the tins and gently remove the financiers.