Susan Herrmann Loomis’ French Farmhouse Cookbook, Lentil Recipe

There might be two kinds of people in this world, those who absolutely love all kinds of beans, and those who avoid them at all costs. If you are one of the former group, you need to know about Rancho Gordo Beans, a Napa, California based bean purveyor who specializes in growing and selling heirloom beans, legume, herbs, spices, and products from all over the world. In fact, there is such a cult following for Rancho Gordo beans they offer a “bean club,” like a wine club, which sends you quarterly a variety of special dried beans and recipes to try. I waited a year to get on the “bean club” and had to jump at joining when they emailed me, before my window to join closed. In my first shipment in November, I received “Super Lucky 2021 Black Eyed Peas” for New Year’s Day, Cassoulet beans to make Authentic Cassoulet Bean Soup, a Crimson Popping Popcorn—a rare and wonderful popcorn, and many others.

Spices at Cahors, France Market

One of the first things I wanted to try from Rancho Gordo, was their French Green Lentils, grown in California, but very similar to the famous French green lentil from Le Puy, Auvergne-Rhône Alpes area of France. French Le Puy lentils are thought to have gastronomic qualities that are attributed to this very specific terroir and the area’s predominant volcanic soil. Consequently, Le Puy lentils have a a very desirable distinctive, peppery, flinty taste, and keep their shape after cooking. When I am France, I look for the Le Puy dry lentils at the outdoor markets because they are so tasty, and easy to transport home.

Not only do lentils taste great, they are good for you, full of protein, some vitamin B, carbohydrates, fats, and minerals. Lentils are versatile and can be used in salads, made into soups, as a bed for grilled salmon, mixed with really great sausages, and much more.

Susan Herrmann Loomis has a nice recipe for Simple Country Lentils in her 1996 cookbook, French Farmhouse Cookbook. It has a wealth of French Country recipes to drool over, and she divides her book by interesting components of French eating such as The Farmyard, The Pasture, The Sea, The Breadoven, etc.

Simple Country Lentils

Lovingly Adapted from Susan Herrmann Loomis, French Farmhouse Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 pound small green lentils (preferably from Le Puy or Rancho Gordo), 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 medium carrot peeled and diced, 1 celery stalk diced, 1 small onion peeled and diced, 4 ounces slab bacon-rind removed-cut into 1/4” pieces, 2 cups dry white wine, 2 bay leaves, 4 to 5 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried leaves, 2 cups water, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper.

Directions:
1) Rinse the lentils under cold running water, and set them aside to drain. Look for and remove anything foreign from the lentils.

2) Combine the oil, carrot, celery, onion, and slab bacon in a large heavy skillet. Stir so the oil thoroughly coats the ingredients, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to turn translucent and the bacon is browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the wine and the herbs, and cook until the wine is reduced by half, 5 to 8 minutes.

3) Add the lentils and the water. Stir, cover, reduce the heat so the lentils are simmering gently, and cook for about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and continue cooking shaking the skillet occasionally so the lentils cook evenly and testing them for doneness, until they are tender but still have plenty of texture, 10 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings. Enjoy!

Carrots Hot Off the Grill

I am more of a “recipe seeker” than a recipe developer, maybe that will be change in the future. On the other hand, Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest is a natural recipe genius with her flavor and ingredient artistry and food styling bordering on culinary masterpieces. A Colorado twenty-something with already two cookbooks under her belt, and 1.9 million Instagram followers and counting, she has the ability to create a new mouth-watering recipe everyday. She is simply amazing and fresh in the culinary world. Check her out!

I seek out certain recipes for my culinary repertoire, hunting them down from cookbooks, friends, the internet, magazines, and saved recipe files. You know the ones, like Alice Waters’ Mulberry Ice Cream, Martha Stewart’s Lemon Bars, Patricia Wells Sorrel Soup, Ina Garten’s Spinach Gratin, Dorie Greenspan’s Gougères, and Sheila Lukin’s (Silver Palate days), Corn and Lobster Chowder, see below.

In the Bon Appétit, June/July 2020 magazine issue there is a terrific recipe I want to share with you, Grilled Carrots with Avocado and Mint. This is a “24 carrot gold” recipe. I had never grilled carrots before, roast them in the oven with a few other root vegetables, olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Yes and yum!

Grilling the carrots in this recipe caramelizes them, and the cumin-forward dressing is a perfect dressing companion. This is such a simple and well-rounded recipe. It has big flavor, acid, heat, spice and texture. The combination of avocado, toasted cumin, fresh ginger, mint, and serrano chile are divine!

In San Diego, California, we are lucky that we can grow carrots all year long, and now there are so many heirloom and rainbow colors to grow besides the beautiful orange through seed companies and buy at our farmer markets.

Bon Appétit, June/July 2020 Issue

Bonus Recipe from My Recipe Archive

Shelia Lukin was at one time a Food Contributor for Parade Magazine, dates unknown. This chowder is special and elegant enough for a Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve Dinner, or a very special occasion. Enjoy!

Shelia Lukin’s Elegant Corn and Lobster Chowder

I enjoy hearing from you all, your kind words, suggestions, and comments. They all come to me, and I try to respond back. If you want to comment on my actual blog you will have to click on the tab, “click on original post” at the bottom of this blog post, which will direct you back to my original post location on my blog and website. Either way I see your comments!

Merci Mille Fois!

San Marzano Tomatoes

Last February a dear friend gave me San Marzano tomato seeds from Italian Franchi Seeds to grow. Fast forward to August, and it was time to harvest. San Marzano tomatoes make a beautiful sauce, but I wanted to dehydrate them, a first for me. I have a setting on my oven, and used that method over night.

Dehydrated San Marzano Tomatoes

Beautiful crimson color matched with a flavorful tomato intensity, I wished I had grown more of these tomatoes. Remembering a quick recipe from Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food II, I made her Crostini with Dried Roma Tomatoes, Anchovies, and Capers. This recipe is made with simple but ingredients you most likely have in your pantry, and with the star addition of dried Roma Tomatoes.

Anchovies, Capers, Olive Oil and Dried Roma Tomatoes

Dried Roma Tomatoes, Anchovies, and Caper Mixture Ready for Crusty Bread

Lovingly Adapted from Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food II

Waters likes to add fresh chopped parsley or marjoram to each crostini for a touch of green, punch, and texture.

Please share if you dehydrate tomatoes or other foods you grow. Please share if you have a great Roma tomato recipe.

Italian Pesto Basil, Renee’s Garden Seeds

This year I grew basil from seed for the first time, and had resounding success. I used great seeds from Renee’s Garden. She has many types of basil but I chose her Italian Pesto Basil seeds specifically for making my own pesto. This basil was very easy to grow, in two rows in my raised bed. The green color alone is fabulous, and as you pick the leaves or pinch the flowers the fresh basil smell is intoxicating.

A Partial Glimpse of Beautiful Cinque Terre

My incentive for growing basil, and making my own pesto from the garden was Wine Vault & Bistro’s Italian Culinary and Wine Tour, my husband and I, and friends took two years ago. The tasty tour focused mainly around Florence and Tuscany, and paused in Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is five separate coastal villages perched precariously high above the Mediterranean within Liguria in northwest Italy. These villages because of inaccessibility, were virtually unknown to the world until shortly after World War II. They are all now part of the Cinque Terre National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the fifth and furthermost village of Monterosso, our tour had a planned amazing lobster and seafood lunch along with other local delicacies at the sweet Hotel Pasquale. An extra bonus was an optional pesto making class beforehand from the restaurant’s own Nonna. Taking notes as quickly as I could, I share with you her authentic Pesto Recipe. This is the recipe I am using this summer from my garden, and share with you now.

Informal Pesto Making Class in Monterosso

Italian Basil Pesto (For Two People)

80 small Genoa basil leaves, or fresh basil leaves of your choice. One clove garlic.

One tablespoon pine nuts per person, not roasted but raw.

The best pine nuts are from Pisa, Italy. One heaping tablespoon Parmesan cheese per person.

For more people use 4 tablespoons pine nuts,

3 garlic cloves, but use same amount of Parmesan cheese and garlic proportionally.

Add into ingredients 1/2 cup good olive oil for two people, more olive oil, if making for more people.

With a mortar and pestle crush your basil leaves until they become a paste. Add other ingredients.

Add your olive oil to mixture last. Pesto should be a cream-like consistency.

Don’t normally need salt, because the cheese has salt. Use over warm linguini.

Becoming Authentic Italian Basil Pesto

My recipe notes. You can use a food processor as an alternative to a mortar & pestle for your pesto, but know the Italians still prefer a mortar & pestle.

This pesto is made up of a few simple ingredients, so try and find the best of all of these ingredients. I use this fresh pesto over my pasta yes, but also for my

homemade pizza, and tomato tartines. Enjoy, and maybe it will take you to Italy someday, or take you back to Italy once again.

St. Francis Amongst the Provence Lavender

In a quiet spot in my garden accompanied by St. Francis, patron saint of animals and the environment, I have two rows of Provence lavender growing. For my lavender, it is usually the end of June, beginning of July, when the lavender spikes begin to flower and it is time to harvest for drying. I don’t harvest all the lavender, so as to save some of the lavender for the bees, butterflies, and pollination.

Lavender spikes are ready to harvest when the bottom third of the spike starts to bloom. Make sure lavender spikes are totally dry and not wet from morning dew. Gather your lavender spikes in bundles, tie together with twine, and hang upside down on a wire hanger. I use a simple paperclip to secure my lavender bunch to the hanger. For a small amount of lavender bundles, hang in a dark, dry place with air circulation, like a guest bedroom closet. Place a towel or cloth under your lavender bunches to catch any lavender that drops. Drying in a dark space or closet will preserve the color of the lavender flowers, which will dry in 8 to 10 days. Rub your dried flower heads together over a sieve to separate anything other than your prized lavender buds. Store in an airtight glass jar, either tinted or in a dark pantry. Dried lavender will keep their flavor for culinary use, for many years, but I try and harvest enough lavender buds to last me until next year.

Lavender plants need to be cut back to beautiful mound shapes each year once harvest and their bloom time is over. Cut back your lavender plants by about one half in size and just above their woody stems. This will rejuvenate your lavender plants for the following year.

Hanging Provence Lavender Ready For Drying

Provence lavender is one of the preferred culinary lavenders due to its very low camphor level, and pleasing lavender flavor. So versatile, it can be used in sweet or savory recipes. Think Lavender Sugar, Honey Lavender Ice Cream, Lavender Lemonade, Raspberry Scones with Lavender Glaze, Herbs de Provence, Lavender Balsamic Vinegar, Grilled Lamb with Lavender, and more!

Harvested Dried Lavender

Provence lavender is also a very good landscape lavender known for it’s beauty and fragrance. Planted in mass, it could be a stunning focal point in your garden. Drip irrigation works best, and water in moderation.

With all of these attributes, why not add Provence lavender to your garden.

With an abundance of ripe heirloom tomatoes and Italian basil this month, the two flavors are naturals to be enjoyed together. Doesn't this pesto look like green gold? I started my basil from planted rows of basil seed tape. This was a new method, which looking back worked out well. It took a while for the seedlings to rev up, but with our recent heat, all the basil took off.

I had an abundance of vine-ripened Sun Gold and Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes from the garden. The vibrant color alone is so beautiful.  These tomatoes are  ripe, sweet and ready to eat. I halved the cherry tomatoes, and added a little coarse sea salt and pepper. I then set the tomatoes aside, until the pasta was cooked.

I made the Classic Basil Pesto recipe out of the new The Sunset Edible Garden Cookbook: Fresh, Healthy Cooking from the Garden. Sunset mentions that they originally published this recipe in 1959, and back them suggested serving it over sliced fresh mozzarella slices. When I made this recipe, I doubled it. I would not suggest doubling the garlic amount, when doubling the recipe.

I have really enjoyed this new edible cookbook, and would highly recommend it. It is a great natural step for the gardener, and how to best use one's harvest. I like the recipes, the format, and the photos. There are many more tempting pesto recipes to try, too. Parsley-Mint Pistachio Pesto, Swiss Chard Pesto Pasta, Arugula Pesto Farfalle anyone?

Please share  your favorite pesto recipe from the garden.

This spring I created a small herb garden in a quiet, sunny, protected corner next to my barn using vintage wine barrels. I borrowed this concept, modifying it slightly, from Rosalind Creasy's, Edible Landscaping book. This is a terrific book for incorporating more edibles in your landscaping. Rosalind has a whole chapter on "Designing With Herbs."

An "herb garden a la wine barrels," was multi-dimensional for me. My husband, John, and I make wine, and have access to used wine barrels. We have a functional barn, with a trio of wine barrels already planted with blueberry bushes and strawberries on the right side, why not do something on the left with wine barrels, such as herbs. This particular spot is also close to my kitchen, a must for any herb garden.

I used a trio of half barrels from standard wine barrels, cut in half. You can find these types of barrels for sale at home improvement stores such as Home Depot and Dixieline, nurseries, and garden centers. For my second top row, I used a smaller 15 gallon wine barrel, cut in half and sanded along the edges. All wine barrels need to have spaced holes drilled for adequate drainage. I also placed my bottom wine barrels on top of carefully placed river rocks to save the barrels from rotting in the soil, and allowing further drainage.

Since the barrels are big, it is best to use a sterile filler or upside down one gallon size plastic plant containers. It will save you on filling the entire barrel with soil, mulch, etc. I simply placed my second row, and smaller wine barrels securely on the sides of the base half-barrels, using their weight to stabilize them.

Fill your barrels with clean potting soil, almost to the rim of each barrel. You can add an irrigation system if you like. I chose not to. Select your favorite herbs, and plant. I planted chives, winter savory, curly parsley, Italian parsley, tarragon, sorrel, Italian oregano, sage, cinnamon basil, and Italian basil. Choose herbs that you use frequently in your cooking, and a mixture of annual and perennial herbs. Choose some herbs that have a trailing habit, so as they grow and establish themselves, they will spill over the barrels. As time goes on, you can always switch out herbs for new ones when needed.

Add a layer of mulch on top of your soil, and around your herbs.  Newly planted herbs like to be kept moist initially, and water moderately once established.

Please share if you grow herbs to cook with. Please share how your herb garden is set up and designed.

It seems like the simplest recipes are the best, especially when it comes to tantalizing summer flavors. I recently found in my "recipe archives" a recipe I had saved from The New York Times, July 2008, by Martha Rose Shulman, Recipes for Health, Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula. This recipe is easy, simply delicious, and healthy for you.

If you have an abundance of cherry tomatoes in your garden and fresh basil, you must try this recipe. The secret to this recipe, is combining all of these fresh ingredients-- arugula, cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic, sea salt,and olive oil in a bowl, and let them meld and infuse for 15 minutes. Make your pasta, and then toss with your tomato-arugula mixture. Add your cheese. Heaven!

Cherry tomatoes grow well in my kitchen garden, and often times as volunteers out of the compost. One of my favorites is Sun Gold Cherry Tomato, so sweet, it is like candy.

Please share your favorite cherry tomatoes you like to grow. Please comment on how you like to use your fresh tomatoes in your summer cooking.