This is really a great soup on a cold day. Lentils are perfect cold weather food and I’ve made this with a pork stock, so it is very Hudson Valley, because local pork is really good here.
Pork stock
Pork bone with meat and fat on it
Bay leaf
1 clove
1 carrot roughly chopped
peppercorns 5 or so
onion 1 yellow sliced in half
garlic 2-3 cloves cut in half
shallot 1 cut in half
parsley, little bunch
Put the bone in a pot that does not have a very wide bottom. You would rather it be a deeper pot than a wide pot. Pour water over the bone until it is covered and bring to a boil. Add all the other ingredients and bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer with open top for at least an hour, preferably two to two and a half hours.
Remove from the heat and strain through cheese cloth. Set aside. Keep meat from bone for the dog’s dinner.
Soup
Little green French lentils
1/2 red onion chopped fine
3 cloves garlic chopped fine
olive oil
thyme
bay leaf
Pork Stock
salt & pepper
red wine vinegar
Bring pork stock to a boil, set some water to boil as well. Set big pot on stove with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high heat. Add onions and sautee for about three minutes, until translucent. Add garlic and stir around for about a minute. Add some salt, dried thyme and bay leaf. Add lentils stirring them around until every little one is coated and shiny. Add the stock to cover the lentils, stirring all the time. If there is not enough stock to cover the lentils by about 1 inch, add some boiling water. Partially cover, reduce heat to simmer. Check in about 20 minutes to make sure you have not run out of water in the soup. Add more boiling water if necessary.
Lentils take about 30-40 minutes to cook. Stir in about 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaf. At this point you can run it through a food mill or not, depending on your mood. Serve with good crunchy bread. Or if you have croutons, that is good too. I’m eating it with cheese toast. Oh, I also say you can add some finely chopped red onion, and/or some sour cream or aioli or a touch of red wine vinegar. YUM.