Louisville Magazine

JUL 2012

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

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[ Dine In ] How Green Was My Entrée T V viewers of yore hee-hawed when- ever Granny of Te Beverly Hillbillies would cook up a pot of dandelion greens. We were intended to be in on the ridicule: Only mountain folks known for frying up a pan o' possum or simmering a groundhog stew would actually eat any part of the weedy dandelion. We were so wrong. Any present-day trip to the local farmers' markets or the produce section of a decent grocery store will prove just how wrong. Tis is especially true in early summer, when you'll find not only the more typical spinach, kale and collard greens, but also mustard greens, pea greens, kohlrabi greens, rainbow chard and (my fa- vorite) sorrel. Which brings us to one of the great comic dilemmas of the consumer world. Sorrel, though it grows like wildfire, is very hard to come by in groceries. If you hit the farmers' market at precisely the right time (generally only for a few weeks in early summer), you may score, but your best bet, if you don't do your own gardening, is going to be a friend or neighbor who just happens to have an overload. In contrast, dandelion greens are right now being sold in gourmet groceries, and they are not exactly cheap. Te irony is that if you don't mind appearing to your neigh- bors as an obsessive-compulsive weeding freak, you could gather enough dandelion greens in the average Louisville city block to feed a family of 10. And by the very next week, all that you managed to pull from the ground will have been replenished. Tis can go on for months. Dandelion greens are literally everywhere. As I type this, I can hear at least five lawn- mowing companies shredding them to smithereens, but it's a lost cause, gas hogs. Te greens will be back. And if I time it right, I can get to a bunch of them before they are whacked again. In fact, on my vari- ous dog walks and bicycle rides around the Highlands, I have located certain protected spots, where the abundant greens have little exposure to various whirring blades and their concomitant pollutants. Let's put it this way: Tat extra plastic [44] LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 7.12 >>By Mary Welp Photos by Mickie Winters bag (biodegradable, of course) I carry in my pocket has nothing to do with walking the dog. Of all the greens named above, dandeli- ons are the closest in flavor and texture to sorrel, which I learned to love in France. Sorrel is to many French cooks what parsley is to the English. It often is at the base of a dish as well as in the middle, and sometimes even more is added to top off things in the end. Oh, and then there's sorrel soup. In case you haven't come across it, sorrel looks like spinach's lighter, thinner cousin. But it is actually a member of the rhubarb family, which is what lends its puckerability. Some would call it sour. I prefer to think of it as lemony, or as having the tartness of a super-crisp green apple. It definitely holds more tartness in the stem than in the leaf, which is one of two reasons to use only the leaf in most recipes. Te other is that the stems rapidly become stringy during cooking. You have to be a die-hard addict to do serious stem munch- ing. I love sorrel so much that I can take it as the only green in a salad, but many diners find it too bitter this way and prefer it as an accent green. Cooking it brings out its best features. It's a wonderful counterpoint to the creaminess of vichyssoise, for instance. Sorrel's most obvious protein pairing is with fish, which is why you can find loads of recipes for fish baked in sorrel leaves. As Mark Bittman has pointed out, it also meets its match in a braised chicken recipe. Te one below is an elaboration (you might call it a Frenchification) of one of Bittman's fa- vorite quick stews. His recipe had no garlic, cream, or wine in it, but I thought of Cal- vados because of the hints of tart apple in every leaf of sorrel. the recipe>> Chicken in Sorrel Sauce 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon butter 1 2½- to 3-pound chicken, cut into serving pieces Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large or 2 medium onions, peeled and cut into ¼-inch slices 2 large garlic cloves, minced 1 cup chicken broth ½ cup Calvados (apple brandy) 6 cups loosely packed sorrel, about ½ pound, trimmed and washed ⅓ cup half-and-half Chopped fresh parsley and a few extra sorrel leaves Put the olive oil and butter in a large fry- ing pan and turn the heat to medium- high. When the butter begins to melt, swirl it around the pan. When its foam subsides and it begins to brown, add the chicken, skin side down. Cook, rotating pieces after three or four minutes so they brown evenly. As they brown on the skin side, sprinkle them with salt and pepper and turn them over; sprinkle the skin side with salt and pepper as well. If necessary, lower the heat to medium to prevent burning. Remove the chicken to a plate when it is completely browned all over, in 10 to 15 minutes. Immediately add the onions to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften but still hold their shape, about five minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth and Calvados and cook for a min- ute, stirring occasionally, until it reduces slightly. Return the chicken to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and sim- mer, covered, for about 10 minutes. Un- cover, add the sorrel, stir and cover again. Cook about 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the sorrel is dissolved into the onions and liquid. Stir in the half- and-half and the remaining green leaves. Serve hot with rice, couscous or crusty bread. Serves four.

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