Wednesday, October 10, 2007

balsamic lentils




I found these amazing french lentils at D'elish store in Lindfield. When I went for the tasting of my wedding dinner, one of the courses had a confit quail leg sitting on a mound of chewy, flavoursome green lentils. Ever since then the concept has stuck with me, and trust me, these are mind blowing with the fresh orange peel and a great quality balsamic vinegar. For less chewy lentils, cook them slightly longer, but be sure not to overcook or you might invent balsamic dhal. I served this with crispy skinned salmon on mash- the lentils added the perfect amount of acidity and citrus to cut through the richness of the main ingredients.

Ingredients

2 1/2 Cups french green lentils
1 litre Fond de Veau (Veal stock)
1/2 cup aged balsamic vinegar (only the best will do)
3 Orange peelings
1 Whole clove of garlic
2 Bay leafs
1 tbsp ground black pepper

Method

1.Put the lentils and the stock in a pan with a bay leaf and bring to the boil. (do NOT add salt at this point)

2. Boil for 7 minutes, stirring. Then cover the pot, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until the lentils are just chewable. Strain the stock into another pot, rinse the lentils in cold water and put aside.

3. In the stock, add the pepper, whole garlic clove, balsamic, and bay leaf. Reduce this by at least 1/2, add the orange peelings and salt to taste, and cook for another 3-5 minutes. At this stage it should be a bit syrupy and dark.

4. Strain this and add to the lentils before serving.

NB Vegetable stock can be used for vegetarians

2 comments:

Anh said...

I love lentils, especially cooked this way. I think your combo of lentil and balsamic must work very well! Just a very lovely meal!

snaplings said...

Thanks anh, i tell you it is very tasty indeed- especially if you use a good balsamic with low acidity percentage- so you get more flavour! If only it was my idea! hehehe

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