It’s Cookin’

Soup has to be one of my favorite things to make. I find the whole process very relaxing: chop stuff up, sauté mirepoux (carrots, onion, celery) and other ingredients, infuse with stock and wine, and finally gently simmer until well done. It’s really simple and always leaves with you tons of food – no wonder that the history of soup originates in poverty!

This one is really a meal in itself, as lentils make it a hearty fall soup that is great with salad or a light main course of seafood or chicken. Some crusty bread, oiled and dusted with parmesan cheese and heated at 425 degrees to give it a browned edge will be great with this soup. Coriander and cumin give this soup great flavor and jalapenos add just enough heat.

Method: Sauté, Simmer

Cookware: Dutch Oven, Soup Pot

Lentil Soup

3 Stalks Celery (finely diced)

1 Large Carrot (finely diced)

1 large Black Radish shredded

½ Fennel bulb thinly slice or diced (you can use 1 large diced onion instead)

2-3 canned plum tomatoes or ½ package of diced tomatoes

1 ½ cups of soaked lentils

2 Fresh Jalapenos cut in half lengthwise

2 Tsp Coriander seeds (ground with) 1 ½ tsp. Cumin Seeds

1tbsp Fresh Oregano

6-8 leaves Basil

½ tsp Thyme

2 Bay leaves

3 Potatoes

¼ head of cabbage

2 tsp. Tomato paste dissolved in

1 cup of white wine

1/3 cup of lemon juice

2-3 cups of Spinach Leaves chopped (Arugula, or wild rocket works great as well)

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

4 qt. Brown stock

Olive oil

Salt / Pepper to taste

Cover the bottom of a heavy, large-ass Dutch oven (enamel coated is my preference) or soup pot with thin layer of olive oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Toss in radish, celery, carrot, fennel, Jalapenos, and sauté until soft (8-10mins). Add cabbage, and sweat until soft and translucent. Add tomatoes and tomato paste with wine bring to simmer and add ground coriander / cumin seed mixture, oregano, basil, thyme, dump a cup of hot brown stock in and bring back to solid simmer. Add lentils, remaining stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Please, for crying out loud, be patient and don’t go smoking or watching TV at this time (do it after that) and make sure you don’t boil your soup. Once it simmers (10-15 minutes), turn the heat down to low and let it steep for 45 minutes. Add potatoes, spinach and parsley. Return to simmer and let it work its magic for another 20 minutes. Turn heat off. Add lemon juice, and adjust with salt and pepper.

Tips & Tricks

Making this a day in advance is a great idea. This soup obtains a thicker, richer taste after it “stands” for a while. Grind coriander and cumin seeds yourself, don’t go for ground stuff – whole other flavor. Use large green lentils. (not small red, not French green, not small black.)

This is how a Dutch oven differs from Stainless steel. Dutch ovens are ideal for slow cooking, releasing flavors perfectly and should, consequently be kept at low heat. If using a stainless steel pot, you might need to be on medium-low, medium. You can also cook your soup a little longer, as stainless will cook faster.

Tags: fall cooking, Lentil Soup, winter soup

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 1:28 am and is filed under Soups & Stews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.