30-May-20: Today we started with an early beach walk on the last day of Autumn with a beautiful morning to greet us…
For dinner, we had a French-Italian inspired menu, combining some yummy prosciutto and olives at the start, leading into a creamy, cheesy warm dip and fresh baguette, finished with what I will call a “provincial-style French main”, based partly on a Neil Perry recipe and partly on my imagination – scary ! 🙄
Prosciutto and olives are fairly self-explanatory. One thing I like to do with olives is place them in some nice olive oil and some flavours – such as this time, I used lemon infused olive oil and you could add some thyme or rosemary as well – for a couple of hours before you need them and then warm gently in a fry pan before you serve. Just changes the flavour a little.
The dip was a bit of a make up. The proportions are about 100-150g of D’affinois, about 2tbs grated Gruyere and 1 tbs of grated Parmesan, plus some extra for sprinkling on top, before putting into the oven. I use about half a clove of garlic, 3-4 baby artichokes (from a jar/can), chopped up, a sprinkle of tarragon, a level teaspoon of mustard and a squeeze of lemon.
In addition to what I listed above, as I made this, I also added 2 tsps of medium dry sherry and 2 tbs cream.
Again this is done on feel, so go easy first time around and if you make it again, you can adjust to your taste (tasting this before the oven can be a bit blaaah but have a go if you like).
I bake these in individual ramekins for about 15 minutes or until cheese on top is golden. Given the richness of the dip, I served a little green salad of mixed leaves, lightly dressed on the side, with a French-style vinaigrette. This is just light olive oil, white vinegar (2:1), salt and pepper to taste.
For main course, the lentil recipe is based on a Neil Perry recipe from his Good Food cookbook. You can find it under the Pan Fried Ocean Trout with Creamed Lentils recipe. Basically, any lentil braise recipe will do – there’s quite a few online you can reference. The herbs I used in mine are thyme, tarragon and sage. I also included leek in place of any onion a the start.
I varied this recipe to include chicken rather than fish and used 2 chicken Maryland’s, jointed. Alternatively 4 thigh cutlets would also be good or drumsticks. I prefer pieces with the bone in for this recipe as adds to the flavour and doesn’t dry out.
I season the chicken in some flour, salt and pepper and then brown and put to one side. Make up the lentil braise and at the point of adding all the liquid, bring to the simmer and add the chicken. I then simmer with the lid on for about 40-45 minutes – check at about the 30minute mark as to how the chicken is going.
Neil’s recipe has you take out a cup or so of the lentil mix and puree it – this does make it go creamy and recommend you do it. Then add in cream and lemon juice to finish off.
Serve with a fave green veg (of course mine is broccoli or broccolini).
The Chicken with lentils is a comforting, rich but not heavy main – a great farewell to Autumn and introduction into Winter… Happy Soul Food moment 🤗
