My First Ever Go at Lentils
15 October 2007
There is a first time for everything. In this case the first time I ever had a go at lentils. I had bought a lentils salad at a delicatessen store some time ago and I recently decided to give it a try and prepare my own version as a kind of starter for an extensive brunch - without actually having any idea how exactly to cook lentils. But my amateurish try actually worked out very well both in consistence and in taste, and I draw the conclusion that the following elements were key to the success of this dish:
Firstly, I used Puy lentils, also known as French green lentils (although they are rather brownish). They are smaller than what I know as ordinary
lentils and above all they have a very firm texture even after cooking and are not at all floury inside. Originally they were grown in the Puy region
in central France but are now also grown elsewhere and thus widely available. And secondly I added some bacon rind to the lentils while they were cooking
and just removed it before the final seasoning. This was another premiere for me - I usually rather dislike the taste of this kind of fat and using it
would not automatically cross my mind, but in this case for some reason it just seemed right to me. And indeed it strongly reinforced the flavour of
the lentlis without actually leaving any taste of fat behind.
To convert the cooked lentils into a salad I added some firm root vegetables and gave it some acidity with white wine vinegar, and I used some coriander and chili-marinated crayfish for another special twist.
Salad of Lentils and Crayfish
| serves 4 as a starter |
| 120g Puy lentils |
| 200g crayfish, cleaned and cooked |
| a piece of bacon rind (around 50g) |
| 3 shallots |
| 1 clove of garlic |
| 3 leaves of laurel |
| fresh coriander |
| approx. 150ml vegetable stock |
| 100ml white wine |
| 2 carrots |
| ½ celeriac (celery root) |
| 1 chili pepper |
| 50ml olive oil |
| some white wine vinegar |
Marinate the crayfish (which I bought already cleaned and cooked) with olive oil and a few tiny little pieces of the chili pepper (be careful not to use too much if the chili is very hot!) and keep them in the fridge while you cook the lentils.
Briefly fry the bacon rind without any additional fat in a non-stick frying pan until slightly browned. Remove the bacon rind and put it aside; use the fat it has left in the pan to sauté the finely diced shallots and garlic. Before they get really brown stir in the (rinsed) lentils and fill in the vegetable stock as well as the white wine. Add the whole laurel leaves and the piece of bacon rind you have kept aside. Cover with a lid and let the lentils simmer at medium heat for about 30 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let them cool down.
Dice the carrots and the celeriac (you can also use any other root vegetables) to 1-2mm pieces. This sounds like a lot of work but is quite manageable if you use a mandolin slicer to first cut them à la julienne (i.e. to long thin strips), then you just need to chop the strips further into one direction so you get little cubes. Sauté the vegetables in a little bit of olive oil for just 2 minutes and add some salt.
Before further processing the lentils remove the laurel and the bacon rind. Then mix with the diced vegetables and some fresh coriander. Season to taste with salt and some white wine vinegar (just as much as you would use for normal salad; I like it quite sour, but that’s not everyone’s taste). Finally take the crayfish out of the marinade and add to the salad; it is also nice to use a few pieces for decoration.
| Suggestions for Entrées | Suggestions for Desserts |
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