Tonight, the last night of the Christmas vacation, was a simple affair: bread and soup.
I am a big fan of comfort food (as I assume everyone else is, too, given the term). On a winter night, one of the most comforting suppers is a good, hearty soup with a loaf of fresh bread. In this case, I doubled Rose Elliot’s Golden Lentil Soup recipe and halved the Kitchenaid French Bread recipe*:
*if, like me, you don’t use yeast in packages, the equivalent is 4 1/2 tsp; I used 2 1/4 tsp for my halved recipe and it was just right.
We opened up a bottle of Rosemount Estate Diamond Label Shiraz with tonight’s supper. The wine is great, but since I forgot the curry in the soup, it was a little over the top for plain lentil soup. It was certainly acceptable enough to keep the bottle open – but something a little less full-bodied would probably have been just right.
Rose Elliot’s Golden Lentil Soup*
*predoubled for your convenience – this serves our family of four with almost none left!
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp curry powder (optional)
1 pound split red lentils
8 cups water
1 to 2 tbspns lemon juice
salt & pepper
Saute the onion for about ten minutes, adding the curry about halfway through.
Add the lentils and water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat quite a bit, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Check the soup about halfway through, and reduce the heat again if it’s sticking too much.
Puree the soup in a food processor with the lemon juice (you can just leave it, or beat it with a whisk, if you prefer a chunkier soup).