Lentil Soup

Motivation:

Recipe adapted from Serious Eats.  Do not underestimate how much gremolata you'll need.  It's strong juju, but the people crave it.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Lemon Zest

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Fresh Parsley

1/2 cup Olive Oil

6 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 Tbsp)

Salt and pepper

1 cup leek, finely chopped

1 cup Onion, finely chopped

1 cup Carrot, finely chopped

1 cup Celery, finely chopped

1 lb dried lentils

2 bay leaves

2 quarts stock

Protein, slices sausage or bacon.

Mise en Pace:

Combine lemon zest, garlic, parsley, and 1/4 cup olive oil to form gremolata.  Chop all the vegetables and any protein you're planning on using.

Method:

Put 1/4 cup olive oil in stockpot and brown protein if using.   Soften onions and vegetables for about 5 minutes.  Add 1/2 of the gremolata and dry lentils.   Stir together and then add stock.  Add bay leaves. Simmer for one hour covered.  Add more stock if lentils absorb enough liquid to appear above the surface.

Blend 1/2 of the soup until smooth and add back to the stock pot with lemon juice and adjust salt.

Garnish soup with remaining gremolata.

Ghanian Curry

Motivation:
ChefSteps sent out an email with the skeleton of this curry recipe.  I finished fleshing it out and have had good success with it.

I've built this to be pantry/spice cabinet friendly.  You can sub in fresh ginger/turmeric or other spices if you want.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Onions, chopped
• 5-6 cloves Garlic
• 2 Tsp ground Cumin
• 2 Tsp ground Cinnamon
• 2 Tsp ground Ginger 
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 2 Tsp ground Tumeric
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp ground Pepper
• 1/2 Tsp ground Cayenne
• 6 Cardamon pods 
• 1 can diced Tomatoes
• 2 cans Coconut Milk
• Coconut oil
• 2+ lb Meat (chicken, lamb, goat, etc)

Mise en Place:
Set oven to 420 F.

Chop up onions, and any other fresh spices you are planning to use.  Cut meat into bite sized pieces.
Measure out spices in a bowl so they can be easily added at once. 

Method:
Heat oil in dutch oven, and then add Onions and garlic.  Cook until onions are soft and cooked down.  Add the spices and mix.  Once everything is smelling fragrant, add the can of tomatoes.  Add meat and two cans of coconut milk.  Stir and put lid on the dutch oven.

Cooked for about 2 hours.  I usually set the timer for when I need to start the rice cooking. 

After 2 hours remove from oven and serve on rice.