La Mame

Lentil Soup

This soup is easy to make and wonderfully flexible - can easily be made into a hearty Winter stew and served with rice for a delicious and healthy meal which will sustain you through the current global freeze. Lentils are a great source of protein but remember only to use red or yellow lentils as these cook quickly.

1 cup red or yellow lentils (rinsed in cold water)
2 cups of chicken or veal stock
2 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 carrots finely chopped
1 stick celery finely chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
small knob of butter (optional)
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger (optional)
salt, pepper

optional extras
2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley or cilantro (coriander leaves)
1 finely chopped jalapeno pepper

Sweat the onion in olive oil (and butter if using) for couple of minutes on a medium heat until the onions are slightly translucent. Add carrots, celery, garlic and ginger, if using,  and  stir. Allow to sweat together for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the pot. Add jalapeno if using. Add the lentils and stock and cook for 20-30 minutes. Test lentils to see if cooked. Season to your taste with salt and pepper. To make soup smooth use a hand held blender to whiz it - this is not necessary as it is just a textural thing but will give the impression of a wonderfully creamy soup. To serve drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle some parsley.

This soup freezes really well. If you want to make it into a stew, add some chopped potato (small cubes), courgette (zucchini) or tomato into the soup when you add the stock and do not blend at the end. Babies love it!

Bon appetit!

Stuffed Vine Leaves 'Dolma'

Grape Leaves ·

If fresh, wash thoroughly, remove stem, and par boil;
Rinse if canned.  · Set aside, but keep moist.

Meat Filling · 1 lb ground lamb (or beef) · ¾ Cup rice · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp pepper · ½ tsp allspice · 2 cloves garlic (crushed) · Juice of 1 lemon Seasoned Cooking Water · 2 Cups hot water · ½ tsp cinnamon · 1 tsp salt · dash of pepper · 1 clove garlic (crushed) · Juice of 2 lemons · Dried mint (crumbled)

1.In a large bowl, prepare the meat filling by combining the meat, rice and spices.

2. Place a small handful of the meat and rice mixture in the center of a grape leaf.  Fold over two opposite ends of the leaf onto the meat mixture, and starting from one of the other sides, being careful not to tear the leaf, roll up the mixture into the leaf to form an oblong “cigar” shaped packet.  Make sure the meat mixture is entirely encased within the leaf.  Set aside and repeat until all the meat and rice mixture is used.

3. Mix the Seasoned Cooking Water.

4. Place a rack or an inverted salad plate in the bottom of a large pot (so that the stuffed grape leaves will not sit directly on the bottom of the pot when cooking, otherwise they may burn).  Carefully stack the stuffed grape leaves into the pot in rows, aligning each row 90° from the previous row, being careful that they do not unroll and leaving plenty of room for water to surround each as it cooks.  After all the stuffed grape leaves are in the pot, place an inverted salad plate on top of them (to hold them down below the surface of the seasoned cooking water once it has been added).

5. Once all the grape leaves are in the pot, add the spiced cooking water even with the top of the stacks of grape leaves.  Sprinkle crumbled dried mint leaves on top.  Cook one hour on medium heat.  Serve with plain yogurt, sprinkled with crumbled dried mint leaves.

Honey Glazed Pear Upsidedown Cake

Taken from the New York Times weekend of October 20th, 2007
A delicious sounding recipe perfect for the season:

1/4 cup chestnut or other intense honey
4 small or 3 large Bosc pears, peeled, quartered lengthwise and cored
3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
1 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup sliced almonds. 1.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9-inch ovenproof skillet (not nonstick), simmer honey until it begins to reduce, caramelize and darken in color, 6 to 10 minutes. Do not let honey burn; if it starts to smell burned, turn off heat. 2. Arrange pears, close together and cut-side down, in a circular pattern in skillet, stem ends pointing toward center. Simmer over medium heat, turning them from one cut side to the other, until they begin to turn golden, about 10 minutes. 3. Flip pears over to their curved side and scatter with thyme sprigs if using. Transfer skillet to oven and roast, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes. 4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together sugar and lemon zest. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Fold in flour and salt; stir in 1/2 cup butter. 5. When pears are soft, remove skillet from oven, discard thyme sprigs and brush edges of pears with remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter. Pour batter on roasted pears and scatter almonds over batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cake cool for 30 minutes in pan. Run an offset spatula along edges of pan to loosen cake; carefully invert cake onto a serving platter. Serve warm or cooled. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

5 hour Lamb (from Patricia Wells Vegetable Harvest book)

Ever since I had a slow cooked lamb dish in Madrid some years ago, I have searched high and low for the recipe. This one is as close as it gets.

This truly divine way of cooking lamb is well worth using your chicken stock for and is so easy once you have turfed it into the oven.

Ingredients:

A leg of lamb with fat trimmed well from top of the bone (- ask the butcher for the extra bit of bone from the top of the leg is possible)
1/4 teaspoon of salt chilli mix (ration 4:1 salt:chilli)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
3-4 cups of chicken stock

Oven temp 350 F or 180 C

You will need a pot with a cover which can be used on the stove top as well as in the oven.

Brown the lamb on all sides in the olive oil (about 10 mins)

Remove from pot and massage in the salt chilli mix. Return to the pot and add the chicken stock and garlic cloves. Bring to a simmer and transfer the pot with cover to the preheated oven. Turn the meat every 30 mins - esp for first couple of hours - less important in last hour or so. Check in 4 hours - as it may be close to done by then in which case just turn off the oven and leave it to sit till you are ready to serve.

Mashed potato allows you to soak up all the stock soup.

Preserved Lemons

I love preserved lemons and normally just pack any left over lemons I have in jars of salt and leave airtight for a month and hey presto, I have my preserved lemons ready for lamb tagine or roasted chicken Morrocan style. In this recipe, Kathy uses another technique.

Preserved Lemons:
6 lemons 2/3 cup kosher salt
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
4 whole cloves
1 cup olive oil

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a medium non-reactive saucepan. Add lemons and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, plunge into cold water, let cool then drain again. When cool enough to handle, cut each lemon into quarters. While the lemons are cooling, prepare the brine. In a medium non-reactive saucepan combine 6 cups of water, the salt, cinnamon, coriander and peppercorns. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat and cook until the salt has melted. Tightly pack the lemons into hot, dry, sterilized jars with lids. Ladle in the hot brine, including the spices, to within 1/2 inch of the rims. Add the olive oil and cover with the lids. Store in a cool, dark place. Let stand for 2 months before using. Once opened, store in the refrigerator.

North African Salad Dressing a la Laura

The first of our postings from this year's cook week:

This dressing is outstandingly good with some cooked beetroot (boiled or roasted).

1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp paprika
1 large clove crushed garlic
1 tbsp sumac (*)
1 tbsp honey
Sea salt and crushed black pepper
80ml lemon juice
120ml good olive oil
Bunch of chives, finely chopped
Bunch of mint finely chopped

Place aromatic ingredients in a pestle and mortar and grind to a paste, add lemon juice. Slowly grind in olive oil. It may not make an emulsion but this is fine. Either, leave overnight and then blend with an immersion blender to make a dressing, adding chives and mint at the end. Or, scoop mostly oil from the mixture over root vegetables (especially good on beetroot) before roasting, and then coat with the thicker dressing at the bottom when hot out of the oven. Finally sprinkle with chives and mint.

If used with roasted beetroot, it is great when left to cool and served with feta or strained yoghurt.  The roasted beetroot is also delicious when blended into a spiced puree and served as a relish with baked goats cheese or a crumbly hard white cheese (eg. Wensleydale).

* Laura, I must confess I suggested adding a tablesppon of sumac to the recipe we used which Pola did. It's frequenty used in North African dishes and has a beautiful rich red colour.

Daube Provençale

This very traditional Provençal beef stew has many variants. Manou’s is one of the simplest and also one of the most delicious.

It is made with 1 kg of lean beef, cubed; 3 cloves of garlic, 3 cloves, 1 piece of orange peel, 2 bay leaves, a heaped teaspoon of powdered cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick, salt and pepper. Manou left out “petit salé” or streaky bacon, but 100 grams of this may be added in small cubes.

Brown the meat and bacon, if you use it, in a little olive oil, add the rest and one litre of a decent Provençal red wine and simmer all night! Actually, a 2 and half hour simmer might do, but this is a dish that improves with long slow cooking and re-heating. The fragrance of this recipe is wonderful and fills the whole house while it cooks. This is the kind of dish that can easily be made for a large number of people. The recipe is good for about 6 people. Serve it with boiled potatoes, white rice or couscous.

Roast Guinea Fowl Le Beausset-style

1 guinea fowl
small pot of crème fraiche (c 125g)
large bunch of fresh thyme
50g butter
one lemon
salt and black pepper
glass of red wine 

Strip the thyme leaves from all but one stem and mix into the crème fraiche along with the juice of half the lemon, lots of black papper and salt to taste. Put the butter, remaining thyme and half lemon inside the bird and smear about 2/3 of the crème fraiche mixture all over the outside. Roast in a preheated hot oven (200-225 C) for about 45-50 mins. Meanwhile put the livers etc (our fowl came with all its innards and rather more neck than usual) in a pan with the wine and a bit of water if needed to almost cover and simmer for half an hour (I’d have added an onion had I had one), initially covered because of the smell but then uncovered to reduce. Strain well (discarding all the bits). When the bird is just done, take out and keep warm. Pour the wine mixture into the pan, stir around to pick up the pan juices and bring to the boil before adding the rest of the crème fraiche, heating through and adjusting seasoning.

Lapin au moutarde (rabbit with mustard)

Another favourite from our neighbour Louis. His mother, Manou had a wonderful collection of recipes which she referred to as humble meals. Looking at the setting below - their terrace would seem the perfect setting far from humble. I envisage a lunch stretched out far into the afternoon with family and friends. Truly a thing of luxury:


Louis  writes: This rather “piquante” recipe became one of the favourites with all the family, including the grandchildren. It was a standard festive dish when numbers grew… as they often did. Try to find a wild or free-range rabbit in the market. One rabbit easily feeds at least 6 people, especially if you ask the butcher to give you the liver and kidneys, which also contribute to the flavour of the dish. Like chicken, rabbits have many very small bones, so have the animal cut up or jointed carefully to avoid bone chips. This is a dish that takes only ten minutes to prepare and 1 hour and 15 minutes to cook. As well as 1.2-5 kilo rabbit, the ingredients required are 1 glass or 3 tablespoons of strong Dijon mustard, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 250 grams of cream, salt, pepper and a “bouquet garni” made of 2 bay leaves and some sprigs of thyme and 5 branches of parsley. Brown the pieces of rabbit until they are golden, remove the oil before adding the mustard, spread over all the pieces of rabbit, salt, pepper and the herbs, stir, cover and cook slowly for 15 minutes. Add the cream and two glasses of water. Cover and let it cook slowly for 45 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve with fried or boiled potatoes, ‘pommes dauphines’ and haricots verts.

Bonne annee! Happy 2007 to all!

We are back after a 10 week hiatus - due to the arrival of little Bean our daughter....So to start the new year, something very simple but deliciously tasty:

Poulet au citron (Lemon Chicken)

This wonderfully simple dish comes from our neighbours in Provence. A great favourite with all the family, this recipe is so easy that Manou even taught Russell how to do it!

For 6 people. In an earthenware baking dish, place one chicken thigh (and drumstick if small) per person in the dish skin-side down, pour the juice of one lemon over the meat, cut the squeezed lemon into eighths and place them in the dish, add a knob of butter to each piece or a little extra virgin olive oil if you prefer, salt and pepper. Heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade and cook for about 45 minutes. While it is cooking, after 30 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over, add a little more lemon juice and water if you see that it is too dry. Cook for another 15 to 20 minutes till the skin is golden and crisp. Remove the pieces of lemon and pour the sauce into a sauce dish. Serve with white rice or fried potatoes and a crisp green salad; children usually love this! It is also delicious cold. After a night in the fridge, it becomes poulet en gelée.