Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Lentil Soup!

I didn't think I really cared about lentil soup before, but now I have changed my mind. Yesterday I didn't want to really take a long time choosing what I was going to make for dinner because it was already starting to get late by the time I started, so I opened the book and chose a random page.I had chosen a lentil soup recipe.
We went out to the grocery store and I got only a few things: dry lentils, tomatoes, and boar fat. We had the other ingredients. The butcher didn't really sell boar fat and they looked at me strangely when I asked, but they were sweet and cut it off the boar meat and they said we didn't have to pay for it because they don't usually sell it.
I didn't really like the idea of lentil soup with boar's fat in it, but I figured that since I had not had it in a while, I should try it again. I put the lentils in the pot, accidentally spilling some of them all over the kitchen, and added water. Then I worked on dessert while I waited an hour for the lentils to soften.
I made granita for dessert by squeezing blood oranges and lemons. Then I also put sugar on the stove with water until the sugar dissolved completely. Then I added the juice with the sugar water and let it freeze for about five hours, taking it out every hour to cut it up with a fork.
When the lentils were soft enough I boiled the boar's fat. It started to lack appeal and I decided that I didn't really want to use it in my lentil soup no mater how good it tasted.
I chopped up the onions and found that I started to cry almost right away.Then I chopped up the garlic and threw the onions and garlic into the olive oily pan.  The mixture started to pop and sizzle and turn brown. That's when I cut up the tomatoes and let them hang out with the onions and garlic.
 After that was done, I mixed the lentils and veggies together and added pepper flakes, making it spicy to my liking. I usually like my food to be very spicy, but unfortunately, Florence and Jeremy are pretty sensitive to that type of thing. 
I cut up some blood oranges and put them in a pretty arrangement on the table. I also put grissini into some tall glasses on either end of the table. I had a four-star dinner.  It was a bit too spicy for Jeremy and Florence, but they said they liked it except for that.
Mummy told me that I should make that same dish again when Daddy comes. She usually wants us to try new dishes, but she liked it so much that she wanted it again.
This is the most delicious cake for Easter. It has almonds and white clumps of sugar on the top. It WAS in the shape of a dove. 

Jeremy's cello teacher.

Jeremy and his teacher.

My blood oranges for dinner.

The family eating dinner in the small kitchen.

Another picture of the oranges.

Blood orange and lemon granita with a blood orange on top.



Love,
Ashley

3 comments:

  1. I'm not so sure about the boar's fat, either. I'll eat just about anything...but that might be a little too much. On another note, I've never actually had lentil soup - or lentils for that matter. It's on my list of things to try but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

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  2. Lentil soup is a favorite at our house! 'Would love to try yours... I've just caught up again on the March blogs, and the photos of Burano are among my favorite...'love the colorful buildings! I hope all of the music lessons and studies are going well! :) Have fun!

    Love,
    Mrs. Tolentino

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  3. I can't believe you didn't go for the boar's fat! I love lentil soup, and I am sure the blood orange granita was awesome too. You guys seem to mention those in almost every post...eat them much?
    Jeremy's cello teacher looks suer nice. Jem Jem, are you practicing? C doesn't practice as much as she should.
    Ok, my burning question is how you got to eat the special Easter bread a whle month before Easter! I guess you'll have to have another when it is actually Easter?! It looked yummy and beautiful! And what is grissini?

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