Late Summer Lentils with liver / or toasted Halloumi

Puy lentils, one carb that can be cooked simply and still instills extravagance to me - or possibly this may be the romantic in me that associates these little green jewels with the South of France.

One of my tastiest suppers which takes a few nods from difference recipes over the past number of years (I won't admit how many) and which, is simply great at this time of year with the end of season celery and fennel.

 

The lentils:

• 150 grams of puy lentils
• 200 grams of roughly chopped fennel and celery (in equal proportions), include the tops of the celery if available, also roughly chopped
• One medium onion, roughly chopped
• Two large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 20 grams of finely chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
• Water/vegetable stock to cover
• 25 grams of butter
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Heat the butter and oil in a shallow pan and add the vegetables and herbs and cook slowly until softened. 

Add the lentils and mix together with the vegetables until each jewel is glistening with the juices in the pan.  Turn the heat up and add your liquid, enough to cover the mixture to about a half to three quarters of a cm above the surface.  Bring to just below the oil and then simmer slowly until cooked.  Add more liquid if you feel the need.

Accompaniments:

Liver can strike most people with dread, but whether using chicken liver or, at this time of year, rabbit liver may be on offer from some artisan butchers, this is really good partnership with this dish.  Prepare your liver, clean and sliced, not too thinly, and fry in butter until brown on the outside and still pink, inside, but solid not raw.  At the end of the cooking add a little cider vinegar and let it evaporate in the heat of dish. 

Serve on top of the lentils with perhaps some chopped parsley or finely chopped tops of celery.

Alternatively, this goes very well with toasted Halloumi which is then mixed into the lentil mixture immediately before serving.  Or, for just an extra ten minutes, try slicing Brie or Camembert over the lentils in a shallow ovenproof dish and bake in a moderate oven until the cheese melts through and is just turning brown.

Post Eurovision recipe - number two

Tarragon Parcels

I love this recipe because so many different combinations can be used.  I originally used the filling recipe to go with pasta and then altered it to use for pastries when a vegetarian friend came round for supper unexpectedly one day.  I had already made a chicken pie so there was left over pastry in the fridge. 

Sometime afterwards we were having a Summer party and I wanted something other than the regular snacks, dips, chicken pieces and tarts, so I had the idea to make these in large batches. 

Once you've done it once, it's very easy to scale up for large amounts of people.

Try this with pork and sage and use the white part of leeks for the vegetable.  The stock should be made of half vegetable stock and dry cider.

Alternatively, try with salt cod and using smoked paprika  and thyme and using sweet red and orange peppers as the vegetable.  To the stock add three crushed cardamom pods.

For the pure veggies amongst you, use chestnut mushrooms or, if in season, puff balls and use the same ingredients (bar the meat of course) as the recipe below.

***

• 50 grams of fresh tarragon
• 200 grams of chicken breasts
• 150 grams of asparagus or artichoke hearts
• 100 grams of single cream
• Plain flour
• Olive oil
• 1oz of salted butter
• Pepper
• 1 medium sized onion
• Two pints of vegetable stock
• Pre-bought short crust pastry (500 grams)
• A large egg, beaten and a pastry brush.

***
First poach the chicken in the vegetable stock and allow to cool in the stock.

To make the cream sauce, first melt the butter in the olive oil, add finely chopped onion and ground black pepper on a medium heat until the onion has softened.  Then add two heaped teaspoons of plain sifted flour and combine thoroughly until the mixture becomes "sticky".

Add approximately a third of the remaining vegetable stock and keep stirring until the mixture has started to thicken.  Turn the heat down to low and add the single cream a little at time whilst continually stirring and maintaining the thickness of the sauce.   Then remove from the heat.

Cut the asparagus into 3 cm lengths, including an additional top 3 cm of stalk if early in the season and/or artichoke hearts into slices of approximately the same dimensions.  Blanch in salted water that has been brought to a rolling boil for about 3 minutes.  Drain, and allow to cool

Chop the chicken, the cooled vegetables and tarragon and mix into the sauce mixture well.  Set aside to steep and marinade.

Creating the parcels:

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a 2-3 mm thickness.  Using a tea plate as a template, cut out a number of circles of pastry.  Bring together the remaining pastry and re-roll out for further rounds.

With a buttered baking tray ready, take your first round of pastry and add a desert spoon of the chicken mixture to its centre.  Depending on the size of the round you may get a little more filing onto it whilst still leaving one and a half cm around the edge.  Using the a little of the beaten egg mixture on the edges for "glue" and taking bringing the folding furthest edge over towards you and pressing into a half moon.  Crimp the edges between thumb and forefinger and place on baking tray.  This should make up to eight good sized parcels. 

Use either the remaining egg or rub olive oil over the top of each pocket before placing in 200c pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.

Once cooked leave on the side to cool.  Freezes well.  Defrost completely and then reheat gradually on a baking sheet with paper underneath in a medium oven (160/170c).