Pumpkin Lentil Stew

Tomorrow I will publish one of our very favorite Caribbean recipes, for Geera Pork, which I will be making for dinner tonight.  Along side it, we will have the last of the frozen Pumpkin Lentil Stew that I made a few weeks ago, and white rice.  West Indian pumpkin does not look much like the Halloween pumpkin of North America - I found this photo, and hope I'm not sued for using it instead of one of my own - and it is nearly always available in the fresh markets on all of our favorite islands.  I also make a mean Pumpkin Ginger Curry soup; that one has also made it to the repertoire, so I'll get around to posting it eventually.  This stew makes a really great vegetarian main course, too - filling and delicious.  It comes from the English cook and writer Nigel Slater - you can find more of his stuff here - and he thinks of it as a fall/winter dish, but we found it just right in the Tropics, too.

Recipe: Pumpkin Lentil Stew
First prepared: aboard Raconteur in early 2012

1 medium onion, halved from the root and thickly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil, or butter, or a combination
1 large carrot, scrubbed and diced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
a bushy sprig of rosemary, leaves roughly chopped
250 grams (on the high side of 1 cup) small green lentils (like Le Puy)
1.25 litres (5.25 cups) vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
1.5 kilograms (2.8 pounds, before peeling) pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into large chunks
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
a handful of roughly chopped parsley
6 tablespoons crème fraîche
~1 additional tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Warm the oil or butter in a large casserole and add the onion; cook over low to moderate heat until soft and pale gold, about 15 minutes or so. Stir in the diced carrot; after about 5 minutes, add garlic and rosemary.  When all is soft, sweet and lightly colored, add the lentils and 1 litre (4+ cups) of the stock, reserving ~1 cup of stock.  Add the bay leaves, and bring the mixture to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer the lentils for about 45 minutes.


Add the pumpkin chunks to the lentils and leave to simmer until the squash is thoroughly tender - about 15 minutes.  Add salt, pepper and the red wine vinegar, and stir in the parsley.  


Remove two large ladles of the stew; add the remaining 250ml (1 cup) of stock and purée in a blender, food processor or (my new best friend) immersion blender.  Return the puréed mixture to the pan and stir gently.

To serve, pile into wide bowls or deep plates.  Drop a heaped tablespoon of  crème fraîche onto each portion, and drizzle with a little EVOO.  

Serves 4-6, and keeps a couple of days in the fridge or weeks in the freezer and reheats beautifully. 

 

Tortilla Española "Batali"

Ingredients

A few years ago, Susan's friends Mark and Lolly were coming to dinner at her house in Lincoln, and I echoed a very old tradition (dating from sometime in the late 1980's) and cooked several things from one issue of Food and Wine magazine; Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow  made a series for PBS on cooking and traveling in Spain, and the September 2008 F&W had several of the recipes they collected.
I had been in Spain in 2007 with my friends Cindy, Jackie and Joan, and with JP and Susan in January of 2008, so we had eaten quite a few "Tortillas Española"; this recipe produced one of the best, and so became a keeper.  

Today we were getting ready to leave Martinique, and Susan and JP went off to the local discount supermarket "Leader Price"; I had eggs on my list, as I was down to two.  Susan called me on the VHF to say that they only had the 20-count egg box - first I said, no, skip them, we'll get some in Saint Lucia.  Then I re-thought - Tortilla Española, egg salad - what's not to like? - so I radioed back and told her to go for it. So tonight, our first in Rodney Bay, I made the tortilla, and it made a most satisfying supper.

Recipe: Tortilla Española "Batali"

First prepared: Birchwood Lane, Lincoln, MA, September or October 2008


1/4 cup plus 2T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 and a quarter pounds Red Bliss potatoes, peeled and slice 1" thick (a mandoline is great for this)
1 onion (JP likes a bit more), halved and sliced thin
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
8 large eggs

Heat the 1/4 cup of EVOO in a large (cast iron or other broiler-proof) skillet.  Add the potato and onion slices, season with salt and pepper, and cook over MODERATE heat, stirring frequently, until the potatoes and onion are tender but not browned, about 15-20 minutes.
In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper.
Slowly scrape the potato-onion mixture into the bowl, being sure not to leave any in the skillet.
Return the skillet to the heat; add the remain 2T of oil.  Add the egg-potato-onion mixture, spreading in a reasonably even layer.  Cover and cook over low heat until the tortilla is set on the bottom and edges, about 10-12 minutes.
Light the broiler and transfer the skillet to the oven, about 8" from the heat, and cook until the top is set; this will take about 1 minute or so (except on the boat!).
Set the skillet over a large plate and carefully invert the tortilla onto the plate.  Let stand for AT LEAST five minutes.  Cut into wedges; serve warm or at room temperature.

This makes 4 servings as a main and 6 as a side.

When I made this originally, we served it with a version of Poulet Basquaise that I also loved...but the recipe for that is elsewhere (not on the boat) so that will have to wait for a later post. 

One nice thing about this recipe is that you can make it hours ahead of time - in Spain, they seem to make it early in the day, and then cut from it for hours afterwards.