Dismal day, it was pissing down all morning. Lou made a red lentil soup along the lines of her triumphant Ezo Gelin from 10.10.07 and once again it seems to have hit the spot. Comments included, 'warm, filling, hearty and tasty just like something...' A Soup Kitchen regular - whose hand writing I recognise - put 'much nicer than Russell's' and then goes on to say it was 'truly warming and filling'. Yer well, next time I'll fill you with something hearty and fulfilling, don't you worry about that.
I was in a shitty mood, myself, and got told off for souring the air in the Pullens Centre, so I do find it a tad sus that three people should have been inspired to remark on the friendly atmosphere. One wrote: 'Absolutely delicious - Lou has always a smile which warms the soul also'. Yer well, she may have a Saintly radiance but she only served 18 bowls of soup, five short of the usual 23. I dunno why our numbers are down in the second week of January, when the weather's diabolical and people are broke after Xmas. You'd think they'd appreciate hot soup for whatever they want to pay and those that manage to prise themselves out of their flats and offices do. But we need more custom.
Showing posts with label red lentils. Show all posts
Showing posts with label red lentils. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Friday, October 19, 2007
Day 15: Spiced Red Lentil
This recipe is out of a big glossy book portentously entitled The Soup Bible (ed. Debra Mayhew) that a thoughtful friend got for me from that discount book shop on the corner of The Cut, diagonally across from the Old Vic. It echoes last Friday's Çorbasi and, in my interpretation, uses some of the left over ingredients.
It also incorporates coconut milk, which has become something of a trademark of Pullens Soup Kitchen. For the sake of experimentation, this time around, I used two tins of coconut milk (79p each) instead of a single block of creamed coconut (about 50p) to achieve much the same effect. Admittedly, the stuff from the can is has a more ready-to-use consistency, but in future I'll stick with the cheaper option.
There wasn't much shopping to do for this soup, but the daily expenditure was inflated by the purchase of a decent sized sieve and a storage jar. Also, I restocked with Marigold bouillon powder from Fair Shares and bought several varieties of bean and pulse, including a 2kg bag of red lentils, which I used in this soup.
I started by peeling and mincing two heads of garlic, then peeling and dicing six medium sized British onions, and put them into a little oil in the bottom of the soup pot over low heat. With the lid on the soup pot, I sweated the onions and garlic for a few minutes while I assembled the spice mix of turmeric and cumin - I used two tablespoons of each - plus a big stick of cinnamon and a couple of dozen cardamom pods. I added these spices to the pot, mixing them thoroughly with the onions and garlic, before adding the contents of three cans of chopped tomatoes (that cost a quid from Iceland). I also added half a jar of sweet red pepper paste that was in the fridge.
Taking the pot off the heat, I tipped in three quarters of the big bag of red lentils, probably 1.5kg, plus the rest of a bag of fine bulgur wheat, perhaps 250g, left over from last Friday's recipe, which called for half as much bulgur as lentils. Here, I figured a much smaller proportion of bulgur would combine with the coconut fat to give the lentil soup a velvety texture. Adding two litres of boiling water and two litres of Marigold bouillon, I brought the pot to the boil and simmered the lentils for about half an hour before blending.
While whizzing up the lentils, I slowly added another two litres of bouillon and then I finished the soup by blending in the contents of the two cans of coconut milk the about 500ml of lime juice (limes were five for a quid at Oli's). This was as per the recipe in The Bible, which suggests that you 'reserve a little of the coconut milk for the garnish'. If I were going to do that, I'd squeeze a wedge of limes into the soup as its served, too, since the coconut and lime flavours quickly became muted as the soup sat warming on the hob.
The soup pot sat undisturbed for quite a while, as trade was slow. Maybe half a dozen people from the workshops and offices in the yards came in with their bowls to collect soup to take back to work - Alex Monroe and his posse; the good people of Six O'Clock Cleaning Services - leaving me alone and the Pullens Centre deserted, so when Taz (left) tried to pull the same stunt, I implored her to linger 'n' chat. Later, a few more women (all women!) came in and a couple generously wrote 'Wow' in the log bok. Joy said, 'such a lovely place to come for lunch. Wow, what a fab soup' and Essie said, 'Wow! Absolutely gorgeous. A real treat'.
It also incorporates coconut milk, which has become something of a trademark of Pullens Soup Kitchen. For the sake of experimentation, this time around, I used two tins of coconut milk (79p each) instead of a single block of creamed coconut (about 50p) to achieve much the same effect. Admittedly, the stuff from the can is has a more ready-to-use consistency, but in future I'll stick with the cheaper option.
There wasn't much shopping to do for this soup, but the daily expenditure was inflated by the purchase of a decent sized sieve and a storage jar. Also, I restocked with Marigold bouillon powder from Fair Shares and bought several varieties of bean and pulse, including a 2kg bag of red lentils, which I used in this soup.
I started by peeling and mincing two heads of garlic, then peeling and dicing six medium sized British onions, and put them into a little oil in the bottom of the soup pot over low heat. With the lid on the soup pot, I sweated the onions and garlic for a few minutes while I assembled the spice mix of turmeric and cumin - I used two tablespoons of each - plus a big stick of cinnamon and a couple of dozen cardamom pods. I added these spices to the pot, mixing them thoroughly with the onions and garlic, before adding the contents of three cans of chopped tomatoes (that cost a quid from Iceland). I also added half a jar of sweet red pepper paste that was in the fridge.
Taking the pot off the heat, I tipped in three quarters of the big bag of red lentils, probably 1.5kg, plus the rest of a bag of fine bulgur wheat, perhaps 250g, left over from last Friday's recipe, which called for half as much bulgur as lentils. Here, I figured a much smaller proportion of bulgur would combine with the coconut fat to give the lentil soup a velvety texture. Adding two litres of boiling water and two litres of Marigold bouillon, I brought the pot to the boil and simmered the lentils for about half an hour before blending.
While whizzing up the lentils, I slowly added another two litres of bouillon and then I finished the soup by blending in the contents of the two cans of coconut milk the about 500ml of lime juice (limes were five for a quid at Oli's). This was as per the recipe in The Bible, which suggests that you 'reserve a little of the coconut milk for the garnish'. If I were going to do that, I'd squeeze a wedge of limes into the soup as its served, too, since the coconut and lime flavours quickly became muted as the soup sat warming on the hob.
The soup pot sat undisturbed for quite a while, as trade was slow. Maybe half a dozen people from the workshops and offices in the yards came in with their bowls to collect soup to take back to work - Alex Monroe and his posse; the good people of Six O'Clock Cleaning Services - leaving me alone and the Pullens Centre deserted, so when Taz (left) tried to pull the same stunt, I implored her to linger 'n' chat. Later, a few more women (all women!) came in and a couple generously wrote 'Wow' in the log bok. Joy said, 'such a lovely place to come for lunch. Wow, what a fab soup' and Essie said, 'Wow! Absolutely gorgeous. A real treat'.Soup Maker: Russell
Soup: Spiced Red Lentil
Other ingredients: Cumin, coconut milk, lime
Garnish: Cumin seeds, chopped parsley
No. of bowls served: 16
Expenditure: £24.67
Donations: £21.67
Dry goods: 30.13
Running balance: +£110.03
I've been a bit slow to update the blog because, instead of doing it last night, I went to watch Capital Tales, 'a whistle-stop journey across 100 years of London' via a selection of rarely seen short films shown on a big screen in Trafalgar Square:
Other ingredients: Cumin, coconut milk, lime
Garnish: Cumin seeds, chopped parsley
No. of bowls served: 16
Expenditure: £24.67
Donations: £21.67
Dry goods: 30.13
Running balance: +£110.03
I've been a bit slow to update the blog because, instead of doing it last night, I went to watch Capital Tales, 'a whistle-stop journey across 100 years of London' via a selection of rarely seen short films shown on a big screen in Trafalgar Square:
Friday, October 12, 2007
Day Ten: Turkish Red Lentil
Today went by so fast, I failed to photograph it, so here's one I made earlier of Oli's, the Turkish supermarket in Walworth Road that provided all the ingredients of today's soup and, indirectly, the inspiration to make Ezo Gelin Çorbasi, the Turkish Red Lentil 'Ezo The Bride' Soup. What actually happened was that Nadia, who works in one of the architects' offices in Iliffe Yard, gave us this recipe. So we gave it a go.Louisa was making the soup today along with Kadett from Beautiful & Damned and she had some paprika. I went to Oli's and shopped for the rest of the ingredients before meeting them at 10:30. Ish. They were a bit slow to get going and I left them to it until gone midday, when Louisa came round to say what she'd thought was paprika was obviously cayenne, so I hot footed it round to Oli's...
Half an hour later, when I went round with the log bok, the soup was far from cooked and so I left 'em to it for another hour, when I got a panicky phone call saying Louisa was swamped! What had happened was that Kadett had to leave at 1:30 and, soon after, a legion of architects from DSDHA trooped in and set about the soup. By the time I got there at ten to two, it was all gone! Or just about. I did warn Louisa not to use that gigantic ladle for portion control!
Louisa managed to extend the soup to get a few extra portions out of the pot for Caroline and Gareth, who nipped off to the Italian deli at the bottom of Brixton Road for a loaf to go with. I still didn't get any pictures. Log bok comments included: 'I didn't manage to spill it down my new shirt,' (Bruce); 'a truly tasty tummy filler, but if I end up married I will complain,' (Jan); and 'what's next?' (Anon).
The perfect end to a pretty good week, I felt Louisa and I had earned ourselves a treat so we went and spent thirty quid from the donations on dim sum at Dragon Castle. Have a good weekend, won't you?
Soup Makers: Louisa and Kadett
Soup: Turkish Red Lentil
Other ingredients: Paprika, cayenne pepper
No. of bowls served: 28
Expenditure: £10.77
Donations: £48.34
Dim Sum subtraction: £30
Running balance: +£92.76
Soup: Turkish Red Lentil
Other ingredients: Paprika, cayenne pepper
No. of bowls served: 28
Expenditure: £10.77
Donations: £48.34
Dim Sum subtraction: £30
Running balance: +£92.76
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