Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Ingredient Intrigue :: Sorrel & Black Garlic

Scooting out quickly this afternoon to do a grocery shop for tonight's dinner, I spotted two ingredients that I'd never used before and to be quite honest, wasn't really sure what to do with. Sorrel, a lemony leaf herb that's actually poisonous in extreme doses, and black garlic, a fermented version of white garlic with a rich molasses-tone often used in Asian dishes.  So what's a girl to do?  Always up for a bit of culinary experimentation, I snapped them right up.  First on deck, sorrel.  I was already planning on making a simple frittata for dinner and thought the lemony, sharp flavor would be perfect to toss in with sauteed red bell peppers and mushrooms.  The final result: pretty fantastic and finished in under 20 minutes.
 
A good drizzle of olive oil + chopped red bell pepper & asparagus + 2 stalks of spring garlic & a bit of diced hot pepper + chopped cremini mushrooms & 1 small bunch of sorrel torn into pieces.  Saute up the red bell pepper and asparagus, add in the spring garlic, hot pepper, sorrel and mushrooms.  Saute on medium-high heat for about 8 to 10 minutes or so.  Whisk 6 eggs and season with cracked pepper and salt. Pour into the skillet, evenly covering the vegetable mixture.  Turn the heat down to medium and cook the eggs about 5 minutes.  Finish the frittata under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes.
(sorry no pic taken tonight, but here's a lovely poached egg and sorrel dish from NY Times contributor Melissa Clark)


We'll see what black garlic brings...

 images: Vegetable Matter, New York Times, House of Brinson

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