These packets are three recipes rolled into one. It seems like a long recipe, but it is not really hard. It does require a little time, but the rewards are great, and the steps can be broken up over a couple days or more. This is an easy recipe to expand, and all elements of the dish freeze well, so making extras is a good idea. You can freeze the lentils alone or combined with the vegetables, or freeze the entire packets for another meal. Once you have done this dish you will find shortcuts or variations of your own. The recipe is three parts; the lentils, the vegetable hash, and the assembled finished timbales (another name for the finished packets). When cutting up vegetables for the recipe, just remember that everything should be around the size of the lentils-keeping in mind the lentils will expand a little when cooked.
INGREDIENTS (Lentils):
1 cup French Lentils (Lentilles du Puy) ½ small brown onion, peeled and diced fine 1 Clove Garlic, peeled and de-germed, minced 3 stems thyme, leaves stripped and minced ½ cup white wine Black pepper to taste 3 cup waterMETHOD:
Wash lentils and pick over for stones.
In a splash of oil, sauté the onion until very soft.
Once soft, sauté the garlic, with the thyme and pepper.
When the garlic is fragrant, add the lentils and sauté until dry.
Add the wine, sauté until almost dry.
Add the water and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until lentils are just tender but NOT mushy.
Drain the lentils and rinse with cold water to arrest cooking. Drain in a colander until dry and set aside.
INGREDIENTS (VEGETABLE HASH):
1 cup chard stems fine dice (Use stems from bunch used below) 1 cup fine dice of Yukon gold potato ¼ cup each fine dice of carrot, parsnip, and celeriac (celery root) ½ cup fine dice of onion ½ cup fine dice of mushroom 1 large shallot minced 1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled, de-germed and minced 1 teaspoon each of fresh minced thyme and marjoram, or whatever herbs appeal to you Salt and pepper to taste 2-4 tablespoons oil 1 tablespoon of butter ¼ cup white wineMETHOD:
Get a pot of water boiling, and add a tablespoon of salt to the water.
Get a fine meshed strainer large enough to hold one cup of vegetables but small enough to fit into the pot of boiling water.
Get a bowl large enough to hold the strainer and fill it with ice water. This will be used to dunk vegetables into to stop them over-cooking.
Blanch the vegetables (chard stem, potato, carrot, parsnip, celeriac, and onion) separately to maintain flavor integrity. Put them into the strainer and dip into the water for 30 seconds. Taste to see if they have lost their “rawness”. As soon as they are no longer raw, submerge them still in the strainer in the ice water to stop the cooking. Set onto a towel to dry.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add enough oil to coat the pan bottom. Add the mushrooms and sauté until colored. Add the white wine and cook until almost evaporated. Add the onions to the pan and sauté until colored a little. Add the butter to the pan and when melted, add the potatoes. Cook until potatoes crisp on the edges and color. Add the shallots, garlic and herbs and cook just enough to soften.
Add the rest of the vegetables and season with S&P. Fold in the lentils and taste for seasoning.
At this point you have the hash. Serve as a side dish or stuff something with it.
INGREDIENTS (CHARD PACKETS):
1 bunch of chard oil or butter as needed 6 4-ounce ceramic ramekins (a.k.a. soufflé cups)METHOD:
Remove the ribs from the leaves of chard. Pour boiling water over them or dunk them in boiling water to maintain them as large and flat as possible. As soon as the leaves soften, dunk in ice water and drain on towels. Be sure to keep the leaves as large as possible.
Oil or butter some ramekins and line them so the tops of the leaves are in contact with the mold. Set the chard into the ramekin so the bottom of the mold is covered by a single leaf without any holes or seams. Leave plenty of overlap.
Fill the ramekins with the vegetable hash and pack tightly. Fold the overlap over the mixture pack again.
At this point the timbales may be wrapped tightly and frozen, covered and put into the refrigerator for using later in the day, or used immediately. When heating, place a dollop of butter or oil on the exposed area to prevent drying out and burning.
To heat for service, allow ramekins to come to room temperature before placing in oven. Heat oven to 350°F, and place ramekins into an oven safe baking dish. Place dish on center rack, then pour boiling water into dish to come ¾ of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 20 minutes or until vegetables are hot inside. ( You can check by inserting a thin knife blade into the packet and waiting a few seconds. Withdraw the blade and hold to below lower lip to check. Be careful in case it is very hot. When vegetables are hot, proceed.
To turn the timbale out, remove the timbales from the water using a spatula and tongs. Grasp the mold with a clean, DRY, towel and invert the timbale onto a plate, or spatula.
Chef’s Notes:
These lend themselves to variations. Use different vegetables based on the rest of the meal. Zucchini work well (do not blanch any summer squash. They just get mushy. Sauté them instead.) Add a dice of prosciutto or ham. Go with seasonal mushrooms. Use a dry sherry to sauté with. Adding some cooked farro will get you closer to a complete protein and adds a nice texture. Toasted pinenuts or pistachios added to the mix would be wonderful as well.
I like to use these under oxtail terrine with red wine sauce. They are excellent to put into a soup bowl, and then pour some broth around them. You could add some grains or small noodles to the broth for interest. For a brunch, you could place a poached egg on top and then ladle some Hollandaise or Maltaise over. These would be fine with a tomato sauce on them as well.
Serves: 6
Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen
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