lentils-msg - 2/22/08 Period lentil dishes and comments on lentils. NOTE: See also the files: peas-msg, beans-msg, gourds-msg, beets-msg, lettuce-msg, vegetarian-msg, mushrooms-msg, vegetables-msg, fd-Mid-East-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 18:40:44 -0500 From: dangilsp at intrepid.net (Dan Gillespie) Subject: SC - re: Lentils Hello from West Virginia! Here's a recipe for a lentil dish from the 1607 "Arte de Cozina" that I'm working with. I thought it was nicely spiced, but the other person who tried it thought it a bit bland. You can always adjust the seasonings at the end. Let me know how you like it. Antoine de Bayonne Cap xiiij De caldo de lentejas. Despues de limpias y escogidas las lentejas se echaran a cozer, y despues que cuezen un poco, se freyra una poca de cebolla, y ajos picados, y se echara en las lentejas; y toma pan rallado, y echaselo para que espessen con quatro, o seys maravedis de especias molidas, perexil yerba buena; y quando se vuieren de echar en las escudillas, se les echara un poco de vinagre: es buen caldo, sino que es melancolico, como dize Galeno, cap. 5. Chap 14 On a broth of lentils After the lentils are cleaned & sorted, cast them to cook, & after they cook a little, fry a little onion, chopped garlic, & cast them to the lentils; & take grated bread, & cast it so that they thicken with 4 or 6 maravedis of ground spices, parsley & mint; & when you cast it in the bowls, cast a little vinegar: it is a good broth, except that is melancholic, as Galen says in chapter 5. A Dish of Lentils - -2 C lentils, sorted & rinsed - -2 med onions, chopped - -2 Tbsp olive oil - -4 cloves garlic, minced - -1/2 tsp pepper - -1/4 tsp ginger - -1/2 tsp cumin - -1/2 tsp coriander - -pinch of cloves - -salt to taste - -1/4 C bread crumbs - -1 Tbsp mint, finely minced - -2 Tbsp parsley, finely minced - -2 Tbsp red vine vinegar Cover lentils with 2 inches of water & cook til they are soft; the time depends on which type of lentils you use. Turn heat to low. Saute onions in oil til soft & clear; add garlic & continue to saute til garlic is slightly browned. Add this mixture to lentils. Add the spices & herbs & sitr in the bread crumbs. This made a stew thinner thatn porridge & thicker than soup. Remove from heat & stir in vinegar. Serve warm Dan Gillespie dangilsp at intrepid.net Dan_Gillespie at usgs.gov Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 12:03:20 -0700 To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 'A cooked dish of lentils' >So, in pursuit of Pennsic food we were going to try the Cooked Dish of >Lentils from the Miscellany. It doesn't say to pre-soak the lentils, which >confused me. Is this assumed, or do you really start out with dry lentils? > >-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa I've never soaked lentils and they've cooked in a reasonable amount of time, depending on how soft you like them - and i like mine pretty soft, but i've only made about a quart of cooked lentils at a time. If you're planning on making a much larger quantity, i guess soaking it would make cooking time shorter. Anahita / Subaytila Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 16:20:37 -0400 From: margali <margali at 99main.com> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 'A cooked dish of lentils' > So, in pursuit of Pennsic food we were going to try the Cooked Dish of > Lentils from the Miscellany. It doesn't say to pre-soak the lentils, which > confused me. Is this assumed, or do you really start out with dry lentils? > > -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa Lentils are one of the few legumes that you cook starting dry - they actually cook rather fast [sort of like you can push split peas into soup form in under an hour if you realllllly need to ;-) margali Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:39:59 -0500 From: Irmgart <irmgart at gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] lentils To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> On 1/11/06, Lonnie D. Harvel <ldh at ece.gatech.edu> wrote: > I have picked up a bag of dried lentils. I have enjoyed them many > times, but never prepared them. Recipes? Suggestions? > > Aoghann My *favorite* way to do lentils is from Rumpolt: *Linsen* (Lentils) Rumpolt Take lentils/ wash them fine clean/ and soak them. Take also a good beef-broth/ let simmer/ cut onion and a little garlic into it/ so that it comes nice and thick/ and when it is cooked/ so put green well-tasting herbs/ that have been chopped fine/ thereto/ and cooked bacon/ let it simmer therewith/ so it becomes good and tasty. You can also cook lentils without onion/ how one likes to eat it/ so it may be prepared. To be fair, I usually cook the bacon in the pot, take it out, saute the onions and garlic in it, then add the broth and lentils. For fresh herbs, I like it best with rosemary, but that's me, :) This is a favorite in my house when we are broke as broke can be, because lentils, garlic, onions and stock are cheap, I buy bacon when it goes on sale and store it in the freezer. -Irmgart Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:12:08 -0800 From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] lentils To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> > I have picked up a bag of dried lentils. I have enjoyed them many > times, but never prepared them. Recipes? Suggestions? This is a favorite of ours--we've often done it at Pennsic over the fire. Cooked Dish of Lentils al-Andalusi p. C-5 (no. 377) (Good) Wash lentils and put them to cook in a pot with sweet water, oil, pepper, coriander and cut onion. When they are cooked throw in salt, a little saffron and vinegar; break three eggs, leave for a while on the flame and later retire the pot. Other times cook without onion. If you wish cook it with Egyptian beans pricked into which have been given a boil. Or better with dissolved yeast over a gentle fire. When the lentils begin to thicken add good butter or sweet oil, bit by bit, alike until it gets absorbed, until they are sufficiently cooked and have enough oil. Then retire it from the flame and sprinkle with pepper. 1 1/2 c dried lentils = 10 oz 2 medium onions = 1/2 lb (Egyptian beans) 2 1/4 c water 3/4 t salt (yeast) 1 1/2 T oil 12 threads saffron 4 T butter (or oil) 3/8 t pepper 2 T vinegar more pepper 1 1/2 t coriander 4 eggs Slice onions. Put lentils, water, oil, pepper, coriander and onion in a pot, bring to a boil, and turn down to a bare simmer. Cook covered 50 minutes, stirring periodically. Add butter or oil and cook while stirring for about 5 minutes. Add salt, saffron (crushed into 1 t water) and vinegar, and bring back to a boil. Put eggs on top, cover pot and keep lentils at a simmer; stir cautiously every few minutes in order to scrape the bottom of the pot without stirring in the eggs. We find that if the heat is off, the eggs don't cook; if the heat is up at medium, the eggs cook, but the lentils start to stick to the pot. A larger quantity might hold enough heat to cook the eggs without leaving it on the flame. When the eggs are cooked, sprinkle with a little more pepper and serve. Makes 5 1/4 c. -- David/Cariadoc www.daviddfriedman.com Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:20:00 -0400 From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org> On Oct 20, 2007, at 1:57 PM, Heleen Greenwald wrote: > Once again I made a pot of lentils and rice with Indian spicing, and > once again the lentils didn't cook all the way til soft. I put just > the lentils and water in a big pot and let them "cook" over low heat > for about an hour and a half (!). Then I added the spice, turned up > the heat to medium high and cooked for another half hour. Then I > added more water and rice. Brought the whole thing to a boil then > turned it down to medium and let it keep cooking for another hour.... > What is my problem? Other than I should give up cooking entirely! > You might be able to tell that I am quite annoyed! > Thanks for any advice. I don't know how helpful this would be, but sometimes peas, beans, and lentils will remain sort of hard almost forever if the pH of your cooking liquid is off. Maybe you've got some kind of strange soft or acidic water where you are (PA?). Or perhaps tomatoes or lemon are part of the Indian spicing? The Romans (as well as some 19th-century English and American cooks) used to solve this by adding a very small pinch of soda (in their case, cooking or washing soda, in your case, presumably baking). If you add too much, it will louse up the flavor of the food, giving it that lovely, distinctive salty-soapy flavor. As such, I'm not really actively recommending it, but it might be something you could experiment with. 2.5 hours of ineffective cooking for any lentil that isn't a chick pea sounds quite extreme -- I doubt the cooking time is an issue here, per se. Adamantius Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:27:54 -0400 From: "Saint Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org> I was thinking, A, that maybe the easiest way for her to test the water idea is to get a gallon of distilled water from the store, and try a batch. Neither lentils nor gallons of bottled water are terribly expensive, and this might give her an idea. I don't think we ever cook lentils for longer than an hour, pretty much at a mumbly simmer. Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:29:49 -0400 From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org> -----Original Message----- I was thinking, A, that maybe the easiest way for her to test the water idea is to get a gallon of distilled water from the store, and try a batch. Neither lentils nor gallons of bottled water are terribly expensive, and this might give her an idea. I don't think we ever cook lentils for longer than an hour, pretty much at a mumbly simmer. > > > > > You could also be dealing with some old, stale lentils. Really old legumes and such will get tough and resist softening, so getting a new supply from a store that presumably moves stock would give you a surity on that front while using the distilled water and soda . . . dancing with the ceremonial head dress and chanting the lentil cooking song. niccolo difrancesco (serious about old lentils ,. . . silly about the last part . . . all the ideas present previous could be very very helpful) Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:10:16 -0400 From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org> -----Original Message----- Thank you for all your good suggestions, folks. I'm thinking.... old lentils - I do have a tendency to keep storable food *too long*... But how old is too long? 6 months? a year? I have a sinking feeling that I've had these lentils over a year. (If you can't remember when you bought them.....) > > > > > > Your storage time is really just one factor. How long they've been sitting in the warehouse and then the grocer's shelf will be probably a bigger impact. 3 months on your shelf is a small part of the life story of that tiny protein disk. A year is probably too long since dried beans and lentils and such are really rather inexpensive. But, airtight, cool storage of good product from a decent volume vendor could last a year or more. It's about time and temperature stress as always. niccolo difrancesco Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:11:55 -0700 From: Lilinah <lilinah at earthlink.net> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Odd... i've cooked really old lentils (hanging around my house for well over a year, maybe even over two, and not tightly sealed) and I've never had this problem. They were soft enough to eat in... I think about 45 min or so... and nice and soft after an hour or 1-1/4 hours. It certainly didn't take 3 hours! Soaking them overnight before you cook them ought to help shorten the cooking time. I am assuming you are using the standard lentil in the US, which is relatively large, has a sort of olive brown skin. The tiny "French lentils" (much smaller and a different shade of green than the "usual") have taken much longer to cook in my experience. On the other hand, the orange lentils often used in Indian cooking cook even more quickly than the "usual", since they are split and skinned. The orange lentils would not need to be soaked, while the French lentils would no doubt cook more quickly if soaked. And i've no idea how long the tiny and black "caviar lentils" take to cook as i've only bought them already cooked. -- Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM) the persona formerly known as Anahita Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:47:22 -0400 From: Heleen Greenwald <heleen at ptd.net> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org> I used a yellow lentil. I read some time ago that lentils do not need to be pre-soaked and only take about 45 minutes to cook. I have always had a problem cooking lentils until done enough..... I guess I will have to test for water acidity now....It's really annoying. Phillipa <the end> Edited by Mark S. Harris lentils-msg Page 7 of 7