One of my first plants that is up in the spring is Dock, I have a few different kinds of Dock plants in my front bed, this bed is always melts out much faster and heats up and is very dry in the summer. However the dock is the first harvest from the garden for 2018.

Dock has a light lemon taste to me, the young fresh leaves are far less strong or tough compared to later in the season, this plant’s leaves can get upward of two feet when mature, if you are going to use older leaves, take out the ribs and just use the leaves but for fresh early like right now, I use them both, leaves and stems.

It can be used to make a lovely Cream Sauce that goes very well with Chicken or Salmon. In this case I make it to go over pouched chicken breast, Mashed Potato’s and Roasted Veggies. It was a solid 2 thumbs up from Dear Hubby which is not easy to get LOL

Creamy Dock Sauce

• 2 cups chopped dock leaves (see above, fresh young leaves, picked, washed and coarsely chopped)
• 1 cup whole sheeps milk or 1 cup light cream
• 1/4 cup of Parm cheese-grated
• I clove garlic -diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp butter

In your pan, add your butter and garlic at med heat till its cooked, then add your prepared 2 cups of chopped dock leaves, cook till wilted. Bring your heat down just a touch and add in your rich whole sheeps milk or light cream or if you want to go full out, heavy cream.  Bring it up to a very soft simmer, stirring often.. Add you cheese and allow it to naturally slightly thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste

This was served over the pouched chicken breast and on the mashed potato’s. It works for either or both very well indeed.

Lots of people try to eat dock fresh in salads and then believe they don’t like it much, if you think of it as a “lemon” Green in your cooking, it will open up idea’s on how to use this plant.