Samphire! Who uses it and how?
I'm in England on vacation and have been coming across the vegetable samphire in Farmer's Markets and on menus as a pairing for seafood.
I'd never heard of this vegetable before this trip, so I bought some and cooked it up with salmon. It was delicious! It looks almost like miniature asparagus, but has a briny ocean flavor, a bit of bitterness, and when well-cooked, maintains a nice crunchy bite.
(A more detailed recipe is posted at: http://hungrycanuck.blogspot.com/2009...
)I wonder if this will catch on in North America any time soon. I'd love to experiment with it more when I get back from my holiday. Anyone else use this regularly at home? Any suggested recipes?
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The Dairy Queen
Aug 6, 2009 01:29 PM
Neat photos, thanks for sharing.
Ottolenghi, the current COTM, has two recipes that call for samphire: 1) aparagus and samphire and 2) fried scallops with saffron potatoes, asparagus and samphire. You might consider checking the COTM threads or doing a google search on Ottolenghi+name of recipe and see if you can find them.
~TDQ
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Pata_Negra
Aug 6, 2009 12:52 PM
i'm so glad it is now common here [across the channel]. i would only flash blanch it, absolutely no longer than that. lovely with seafood, as a side, even in pasta, or with lamb. so versatile!
ice plant... now this one is hard to come by!
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re: greygarious
Shrinkrap
Aug 6, 2009 01:08 PM
That looks and sounds like the "sea beans" from that "Chopped" episode!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/shows/episode/0,1000011,FOOD_32078_63759,00.html
Is it the same thing? ...Some posts suggest it is.
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carswell
Aug 6, 2009 11:33 AM
It's nice in salads. Samphire and sliced radish with olive oil and lemon juice was my latest. Speaking of asparagus, glancing through a friend's copy of the Ottolenghi book the other day, I noticed a recipe for a salad or side of samphire and aspargus and thought the combination sounded appealing. Perhaps someone who has the book can provide details.
