Spinach Schav Recipes

ICE-COLD SCHAV

Steps:

• Melt butter in nonreactive soup pot. Sweat shallot and minced potato scraps in the butter slowly, stirring gently. Season with salt.
• Put diced potatoes in the water, season with salt and bring to a boil. Simmer potatoes until perfectly cooked, a couple of minutes only. Taste one cube to determine.
• Add sorrel to sweating shallot-potato mixture, and season with salt. Stir and wilt the sorrel, which will happen almost instantly, turning drab immediately.
• Add the cooked potatoes and their salty water to the pot of sorrel. Season with salt, if needed, keeping in mind that when chilled, the flavors are dulled significantly.
• Chill immediately and thoroughly - overnight even.
• Chop the hard-boiled eggs, and scatter in the cold soup. Mince half the reserved stems from the sorrel as you would chives, and sprinkle over soup.

SPINACH SCHAV

Steps:

• Boil up a pint of chicken stock using the (parve) chicken bouillon cubes. Add in the onion, garlic and pepper to taste.
• Put the can of spinach in the fridge. Put the stock in a tall container. Add the yolks and cool in your fridge.
• Use an immersion blender to mix the yolks through the stock.
• Open the cold can of chopped spinach. Add the contents to the chicken stock fortified with egg yolks.

SCHAV BORSCHT - SORREL SOUP

Steps:

• Wash the sorrel thoroughly in several changes of cold water. Remove and discard the stems. Chop the leaves into thin ribbons. You can make this with spinach but the taste will be different. Sorrel has a sour/bitter flavor.
• Heat the butter or oil in a 3 quart saucepan and saute, the sorrel and onions.
• Cook stirring, for 10 minutes until the sorrel is wilted and the onion translucent. Add water and salt.
• Let the soup simmer for 25 to 30 minutes more.
• Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add the lemon juice a little at a time, tasting constantly to achieve the degree of tartness that pleases you.
• Beat a tablespoon or two of the soup into the egg yolks, then stir egg yolks into the soup. Reheat the soup but do not let it boil after adding the egg yolks.
• Serve hot or cold, accompanied by sour cream.

SCHAV

Steps:

• Stem and wash the sorrel, and cut the leaves into ribbons. Peel the potatoes and cut them into half-inch dice. Cut the leek in half, chop it and wash it thoroughly.
• Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and cook the leek for two minutes over medium heat. Add the sorrel and potatoes and cook for five minutes. Add the stock, two cups water, salt and pepper to taste, and the sugar, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the potatoes are very tender.
• Puree the soup in a blender or food processor. (A blender works better than a food processor; if you use the processor, puree the solids first and gradually add the liquids). Stir in the cream and chill the soup for at least an hour. Just before serving, add the lemon juice and additional sugar and salt, if necessary - the soup should be refreshingly tart but a little sweet. Serve schav in bowls with dollops of sour cream. Garnish each bowl with chopped scallions.

SHAV - SORREL SOUP WITH HARD BOILED EGG

Steps:

• Wash thoroughly the spinach in cold water, then chop finely.
• Add 8 cups of water to a pot and bring to a boil.
• Add the chopped spinach, chopped onions and sour salt.
• Bring back up to a low boil and cook for 10 minutes, then set aside and allow to cool somewhat, then into the refrigerator to chill.
• Pour the chilled soup into 4 individual bowls, add a chopped up hard boiled egg and a dab of sour cream in the center.
• Serve with slices of hard crusted pumpernickel bread, enjoy.
• Notes:.
• If sorrel is used instead of spinach use less since they are expensive and therefore use less water for cooking, plus only use 1 teaspoon sour salt.
• Some people add egg yokes to the luke warm soup when it starts to cool and blend well, And make sure the egg does not curl up, I often use the egg yokes from a carton (found in the supermarkets) to reduce the risk of Salmonella from uncooked eggs.
• Go to this URL for more info on Sorrel Soup http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrel_soup.