French Green Lentils

[Saffy]

I love these lentils.

They seem to be under used considering how tasty they are!

I make a soup with them with mix of garlic, carrot, leeks, onions, spinach, cumin, olive oil, and vegetable stock that is so tasty.. sometimes I will add in spicy sausage chunks ( like hunters sausage if our vegetarian daughter is not around for the meal

I just wondered what other people make with these fantastic lentils

[Gifted Gourmet]

Often referred to as "poor man's caviar", French green lentils are a delight to use in various dishes! I like using them because they hold their shape when cooked and have a deep clean flavor with creamy interior. Because they are both delicious and beautiful, I use them in soups, both cold and warm salads, and they are quite attractive mixed with pastas or rice!

[rooftop1000]

Grilled chicken, wild rice, apricot, and lentil salad done with a champagne or apple cider vin.... cool, creamy, firm, and chewy all at once.

its yummy

T

[Bernaise]

I like them in place of starch. For instance, smothered in thyme and duck fat drippings-holding up a lovely confit of duck leg.

Mixed with heaps of caramelized onions and piece of salmon-any style.

[Gifted Gourmet]

smothered in thyme and duck fat drippings-holding up a lovely confit of duck leg.

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Served with lamb shanks, braised with red wine, and cipollini, baby carrots, spring green peas ...

[Corinna Dunne]

I like them in place of starch.  For instance, smothered in thyme and duck fat drippings-holding up a lovely confit of duck leg.

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...and mixed with sauted pancetta, carrots, celery and onions. It is worth trying the Italian lentils from Spoleto in Umbria if you are a Puy lentils fan. They are smaller, like beautifully polished brown/grey pebbles and are even more robust with a very good bite and clean earthy taste.

[LindaK]

It is worth trying the Italian lentils from Spoleto in Umbria if you are a Puy lentils fan.  They are smaller, like beautifully polished brown/grey pebbles and are even more robust with a very good bite and clean earthy taste.

Interesting. I've never heard of them or seen mention of them in Italian cookbooks. Where do you buy them?

Mine is a slight French variation. I usually cook them for a lentil salad, with some carrots, onions, parsley,garlic, bay leaf, garlic in a light chicken broth--toss warm with a good vinaigrette, chopped parlsey and chives, and bacon lardons. My favorite flavor trick: stud the onion with a couple of whole cloves when cooking. They add a great spicy and aromatic quality to the lentils.

[Corinna Dunne]

I hadn't heard of them either until I discovered them in Spoleto. I have never seen them on a menu or even for sale outside of this area. I have just tried Googling the words, and got nothing which is disappointing, because I thought I would be able to find some way to buy them online. I'll put up a post on the Italy Forum and see if anyone there can be of help.

[Corinna Dunne]

I just got some good advice from Albiston in the Italy Forum: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=74644&hl= to search using their full Italian name "Lenticchie de Castelluccio".

Here is a link that tells a bit about them: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=e...2004-14,GGLD:en but I need to do a bit more searching before I find a supplier.

Edited to add: and here is the link to buy them online from hathor in the Italy Forum: http://www.gustiamo.com/cgi-bin/front_end/prodotto?id=173

Edited September 24, 2005 by Corinna Dunne (log)

[SobaAddict70]

And of course, there is this:

...I went back to the butcher and got a wedge of bacon.  Tonight we begin with the famous Dr. Montignac lentils.  The recipe is not his, but the idea is.  He says that in the year 1920, the French used to eat 8 times more lentils than they do now.  The idea was that this was a staple of the French diet and now people never eat these anymore.

Great! I thought.  I can look up all kinds of fabulous lentil recipes from my old cookbooks, one from the turn of the 20th century (it's not dated but it is estimated as circa 1900 by the person who sold it to me), the other from 1922. 

There is not one recipe for any preparation involving lentils in the 1922 cookbook and a vague and sketchy description of a dish in the older book, which is actually a handbook for scullery maids, and the recipe does not even mention bacon!  Dude this is crazy! 

Further investigation and I find out that lentils were considered the "meat of the poor" and no one from the class that would buy a cookbook would ever prepare such a dish.  France must have had more than 8 times the number of poor people in the 1920s!  I love lentils!  I'm poor!  This works!     

Bacon, onion, bouquet garni.

Brown the bacon, add the onion and slowly sweat until it releases enough liquid to deglaze the pan.

After picking through and washing the lentils (do that because I found a rock and 2 unknown sticks), add them to the bacon and onion, throw in your bouquet, and a teaspoon of salt. 

This is about as close to Janes Crazy Mixed up Salt as we get over here. 

Cold water to cover, bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. 

Lentils. 

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From The Montignac Method thread in the France forum.

Soba