Lentil Pecan Pate

I first had this at Cafe Flora in Seattle and reversed engineered a recipe I was (and am) quite happy with. The recipe for their version eventually became available in their cookbook and mine is quite different. But since I'm happy with it, I'm sticking with it.

Ingredients:

1 cup of lentils
2 bay leaves
2 cups water

1 onion, halved and sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
olive oil

1 cup pecan pieces

1/4 cup tahini
water

2 T minced onion

Salt to taste, at least a teaspoon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
ground pepper to taste


Cook the lentils in the water until quite soft, adding more water if necessary.

Saute the onions in oil until they start to brown. Add the garlic and continue to cook until the garlic is no longer raw.

Heat the oven to 350 and toast the pecans until they just start to brown, four to five minutes.

Put the tahini a food processor and blend, adding water until the mixture is the texture of thick cream. Add the onion garlic mix, raw onion, lentils and half the pecans and process until smooth.

Add the salt, pepper and spices and combine well. Correct seasoning as necessary. The mix should be slightly overseasoned at this point, as the remaining pecans are still to go in, and because the mix will mellow over time.

Chop the remaining pecans fairly fine and combine them with the puree in a mixing bowl. Correct seasoning if necessary. This can be served right away, but it improves by sitting for 24 hours to allow the flavors to mellow.

Serve with olives, cornichons, caper berries, onion confit, and baguette slices or crackers.

This recipe makes enough to serve 12 to 15 as part of an appetizer buffet. Leftovers make wonderful "meatloaf" sandwiches. In fact sometimes I mix up a batch of this specifically for sandwiches. It freezes well.

Blender note: It's possible to make this in a blender, but you will need to process the mix in batches and will need to add some additional water. But it will still turn out fine. If there are a few lentils that aren't fully pureed, that's fine too.

Christmas Dinner

Mark Bittman's Beet Salad

Cream of Celery Soup

"Steak" Diane

Mashed Potatoes with cashew gravy

Brussels Sprouts Ubuntu

Armagnac-Glazed Apricots

Coppola Pinot Noir 2008

Christmas Eve Supper

Guacamole and chips

Ensalada verde

Green Corn Tamales with Tamale gravy

Cabbage with pico de gallo

Arroz Mexicana

Frijoles negros con cotija

Rosie's Chocolates

Neighborhood Christmas Open House

Lentil Pecan Pate
Spiced cashews
Endive with blue cheese and walnuts

Mulled wine with homemade acquavit
Spiced cider (TJ, doctored)

From Trader Joe:

hummus and pita (make pita chips)
brie and crackers
chocolate covered ginger
lebkuchen
ginger cookies

Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

This was inspired by the dressing on the Apple Glazed Parsnip Salad at Feast. I don't think that dressing had tahini in it, but I thought it might make a good base.

1-1/2 Tablespoons tahini
1/4 cup water
1 small garlic clove, minced
1-1/2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons whole grain mustard
Scant 1/2 Cup olive oil
salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

In a blender, combine the tahini, water and garlic and process until throughly combined. Add the vinegar and mustard and process briefly until combined. With the motor running, add the olive oil in a stream. Correct the seasoning as necessary with salt, pepper and/or lemon juice. The first time I made this, I found the dressing a tad on the sweet side until I added the lemon. Hasn't been the case subsequently.

Sesame Asian Kitchen: Ashland, Oregon

Stopped in Ashland for lunch today, the result of a yarn emergency. Just around the corner from the destination yarn-weaving store The Web-sters, found Sesame Asian Kitchen. It’s a bright sunny space that looks out onto Lithia Park. The interior is sleek and attractive and the food is good. We started with vegetarian eggrolls which were beautifully presented and fine, but not exceptional. The Asian slaw on which they were sitting was great however, as were our entrees. I had the crispy eggplant with tofu and Mr. Gastronome had the pumpkin curry. Both were winners. Service was mostly attentive and very friendly. We’ll definitely plan to stop here again. As far as I can tell, Ashland is the only outpost of civilization between Portland, Oregon, and Sacramento, California, in a valley that regards the “theory” of evolution as a communist plot. And I’m not that sure about Sacramento… But Ashland is definitely solid. Actually upon further reflection, Corvallis and Eugene obviously have progressive leanings.

Carrot Ginger Soup with Curry Leaves and Cumin Seed

2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 ounce ginger, peeled and chopped
5 cups of water or vegetable broth
1 pound of carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Generous pinch red pepper flakes
6 cardamom pods
15 curry leaves


Put the oil in a stockpot and heat until almost smoking. Add asafoetida and cook 30 seconds, then add the cumin seed and cook, stirring, until the seeds are evenly golden brown – 30 seconds to a minute. Add the ginger and cook until fragrant. Immediately add the water or broth to keep the mix from burning.

Add the carrots, salt, pepper flakes, cardamom and curry leaves. Bring the pot to a simmer and cook until the carrots are very soft, 20 to 30 minutes.

Allow the soup to cool enough to handle. Remove the cardamom pods (just like a surgeon with clamps and sponges – count ‘em going in, count ‘em coming out). Puree the soup in batches in a blender. Taste for seasoning and correct as necessary.

Reheat the soup and serve. Like almost all soups, this tastes better if made a day ahead reheated.


Serves four.