Friday, March 15, 2013

FFWD - Orange Scented Lentil Soup

I'll start out saying this is NOT a visually pretty dish, I did TRY to make is pretty, but that color is REALLY hard to disguise!  BUT this soup is amazing!  What a great taste.  The ginger and tangerine peel added such a wonderful flavor.

I did add a little yogurt and crumbled bacon...but it would have been fine without it!

To make the soup... cook onions, celery, carrots in a little olive oil until softened.

Next add, chicken broth, French green lentils, and tangerine peel.  I had to laugh when adding the spices ... 6 black peppercorns, 3 coriander seeds, 1 clove... Just because I like to live on the edge, I added 6 coriander seeds, and 3 cloves!!

Dorie talked about blanching her bacon... this was a first for me. 

After cooking for one minute, take the bacon out and pat it dry.
Next saute your bacon.  I am not sure what the blanching really did... a little less greasy while cooking the bacon?  Think I'll skip the blanching in the future... Who needs another pan to wash?!!

Orange-Scented Lentil Soup
from the cookbook
Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan
Page 90

12 comments:

  1. Hi, Kendra! I know - I love Portmeirion, too! This soup does taste so much better than it looks. Have a great weekend!

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  2. This was truly a food photography nightmare. I used orange peels to distract from the muddy color of the soup. Those who didn't puree it had much nicer presentations.

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  3. The soup chapter of the book in general has not been the most photogenic. Though, this one may take the prize. I give you credit for trying to dress it up though, I just ended up photographing more of my bowl than the soup.

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  4. Kendra, I so agree!! This one was hard to photograph. You did pretty it up quite nicely! I also agree that it was amazing…even my husband enjoyed it! Have a great weekend!

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  5. You are right, this soup tasted soo much better than it looked. Hope you have a nice weekend.

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  6. I find soups hard to photograph anyway, so I knew this one was going to look terrible! But it really isn't a pretty soup at all - good thing it tastes so good! I could easily see this becoming a family favorite. Have a nice weekend!

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  7. You're right, Kendra. One clove seemed silly. I did have some issues with those spices pureeing in the soup, so I was glad there was only one because I ended biting into every single whole spice in the pot.

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  8. Geez- I totally missed the thing about blanching :) So glad to know I can skip that part if I catch it next time. And I love how you nailed this presentation - that drizzled yogurt with the bacon looks gorgeous !! Great job ~

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  9. I love your beautiful swirl! I think I'm ready for another batch!!!

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  10. You make me laugh. I'm like you, Kendra, I like to live on the edge. Only I call it going out on a limb (that's the midwestern term). Usually with Dorie, I double the spices and flavoring. But with cloves, coriander seeds and peppercorns, I was just pitching those babies in there. Unlike other Doristas, I never bit into an entire clove, coriander seed or peppercorn and I ate the entire batch of soup myself! This was delicious, I agree, but, to photograph????a nightmare.

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  11. Yeah, funky color but good soup.
    I never follow the spice directions - I just pull out my spoom and toss em in :-)

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  12. I think yours looks pretty with those lovely swirls on top :) It's definitely not a great colour but I've seen a lot of good looking ones!

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