What's for supper?

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drank to a little to much red wine and it ended up being popcorn last night fricken hungry now.
 
I have a bag of lentils. What can I do with it, in terms of a savoury dish that could be a meal on it's own?
 
I was hoping to get some inspiration from this section, here we are talking about lentils, blackberry jam on toast with green tea. Where have all the gourmets gone? Lentils reminds me of school camp, a cook who had no imagination but had heard that lentils were cheap and good for you, so we had it every night for 10 days
 
chrisc4290 said:
I was hoping to get some inspiration from this section, here we are talking about lentils, blackberry jam on toast with green tea. Where have all the gourmets gone? Lentils reminds me of school camp, a cook who had no imagination but had heard that lentils were cheap and good for you, so we had it every night for 10 days
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Hey, didn't you just post in Nicci's thread about being nice to people and their posts?

Besides I'm hoping for a gourmet recipe to lift plain old lentils up to something delicious. I've got my own ideas but I first want to hear other people's.
 
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Finally made a steak sous vide. Will definitely try more of this.
 
Cut up some chicken breasts.. made a mixture of lemon juice, mustard, honey, and lots of spices.. folded my chicken into the mix and pan fried for about 30 minutes.. not bad..
 
Randhir said:
Finally made a steak sous vide. Will definitely try more of this.
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With an immersion circulator and pressurised vacuum-pack or did you just control the water temperature well? The equipment required for proper sous vide cooking in this country is exorbitantly expensive. Also read up on the dangers of temperature change in sous vide cooking - it can be dangerous.

I love the sous vide method, but it needs the final sear for flavour...
 
Picard said:
Hey, didn't you just post in Nicci's thread about being nice to people and their posts?
Besides I'm hoping for a gourmet recipe to lift plain old lentils up to something delicious. I've got my own ideas but I first want to hear other people's.
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Lentils for me equates drudge food from my schooldays, but my wife usually mixes something with them and makes it palatable. We have it about once a year. In India you get lots of food that uses lentils and they taste quite different from the little pebbles that you get in a plastic bag. I was staying at a B&B in Ralwalpindi and the lady cooked this stuff, assured us it was not too spicy. It consisted of lentils with pork belly and honey and some spices I had never tasted before. She cooked it all from memory and said she did not have an English recipe book.
 
I'm making a chicken roulade with parsnip chips and Israeli cous cous salad...
 
blunomore said:
Were you there on a holiday? What was it like ?
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Been to India 3 times and it is marvellous for a holiday. Avoid the monsoon season (just finished) and not too much time in the big cities. Mumbai is interesting, stayed with a friend in her flat. Her other family lived in the "slum" as she called it and we visited them several times. It is like stepping back 50 years as you enter. Smells not too bad if you avoid the sewers, but really friendly people, shops selling everything you can think of. There were 17 people living in this house made of wood. We were given some food with knives and forks and they all watched as we ate it. North India is beautiful, the Taj Mahal is over-rated and infested with pick-pockets. In the south it is extremely hot (often 40 deg) with high humidity. To get around we used the trains. Very cheap and people cook food on the train and sell it to western people.

If you can, see the film "Best Marigold Hotel" as this sums up India very well and is quite accurate. Of all the countries I have been in, India is one of the best. The Philippines and Viet-Nam, especially HoChiMin City are also worthwhile to visit and I think the Philippines is one of the cheapest places to live on earth. You can exist quite comfortably on $500 a month, food, rent, transport the works.
 
chrisc4290 said:
Been to India 3 times and it is marvellous for a holiday. Avoid the monsoon season (just finished) and not too much time in the big cities. Mumbai is interesting, stayed with a friend in her flat. Her other family lived in the "slum" as she called it and we visited them several times. It is like stepping back 50 years as you enter. Smells not too bad if you avoid the sewers, but really friendly people, shops selling everything you can think of. There were 17 people living in this house made of wood. We were given some food with knives and forks and they all watched as we ate it. North India is beautiful, the Taj Mahal is over-rated and infested with pick-pockets. In the south it is extremely hot (often 40 deg) with high humidity. To get around we used the trains. Very cheap and people cook food on the train and sell it to western people.

If you can, see the film "Best Marigold Hotel" as this sums up India very well and is quite accurate. Of all the countries I have been in, India is one of the best. The Philippines and Viet-Nam, especially HoChiMin City are also worthwhile to visit and I think the Philippines is one of the cheapest places to live on earth. You can exist quite comfortably on $500 a month, food, rent, transport the works.
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Thanks Chris. I have been to India a number of times and love it. Am forever planning the next trip there. I was actually enquiring about Rawalpindi in particular ?
 
I might as well tell you what I did with that lentils.

I boiled the lentils in some stock (yes, it was a stock 'give me the' cube', boy') <-- a cookie for the person who can identify this quote.

I also fried some bacon in a pan and then fried mushrooms in the same pan in a copious amount of butter.
I also grated in 2 carrots (it added some colour to a very brown affair if nothing else)
and grated in some garlic.
I then added the lentils in the pan and warm everything through.

I also added some cream that was about to go sour ...

For an unsophisticated palate as mine it was quite nice I have to say.
 
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blunomore said:
Thanks Chris. I have been to India a number of times and love it. Am forever planning the next trip there. I was actually enquiring about Rawalpindi in particular ?
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The city is quite old fashioned, run down and sprawling. Much drier than most of India and Pakistan, being in the Punjab. There is the Western Wall which looks a bit like the Great Wall of China, part of the Rohtas Fort and a world heritage site. People speak Urdu there. It is dominated by Islamabad which is quite a modern city. I went to see the cement factory since they export to South Africa. The airport was a nightmare since there was no airconditioning and there were pilgrims returning from Mecca, surly officials, one obviously could not understand English and pointed to my triptique, which was valid until 11 months hence and said "old, old". I gathered he wanted me to pay him, but the fellow I was meeting heard the fuss and came and grabbed me and smacked the official.

You get these amazing painted buses with elaborate decoration, people milling all over the streets, cars, scooters and 3 wheelers all driving anywhere but I never saw any accidents. In the main, friendly people but I prefer India over Pakistan. It is difficult to get a knife and fork with which to eat. Lots and lots of beggars, tugging on your clothes. My guide told me to carry the bare minimum in case it gets stolen.
 
DJ... said:
With an immersion circulator and pressurised vacuum-pack or did you just control the water temperature well? The equipment required for proper sous vide cooking in this country is exorbitantly expensive. Also read up on the dangers of temperature change in sous vide cooking - it can be dangerous.

I love the sous vide method, but it needs the final sear for flavour...
Click to expand...

I used a thermometer and controlled the water best I could, it was consistent at around 133F. I have read about the dangers, so I tried to be careful as possible, it cooked for just over an hour so it was OK. I did do the final sear, a steak for me needs to have colour on it, as well as the Maillard contributing to the taste. One thing I did not do is add a fat to the bag, which might have been better.

Do you visit the eGullet forum anytime? I've been wanting a Sous Vide machine of some sort for ages, but they're all so damn expensive. There's a much cheaper version that came out called the SideKIC that a company has started producing, with good results. The owner of that company is on the forum and has taken notes from users and actually implemented them quite quickly. The problem is they can't keep up with demand, and it isn't made to SA electrical standards yet, but I think it's in the works.

There's also a company called Nomiku (start-up company) that plans to make them for around $300 in Decmeber, but that'll be a while. The SideKIC is around $179 iirc.

Picard said:
I boiled the lentils in some stock (yes, it was a stock 'give me the' cube', boy') <-- a cookie for the person who can identify this quote.
Click to expand...

Transformers? I can't have the cookie, on a LC diet :(
 
A rice mix meal with chicken pieces and peas added. It was yum.
 
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