Recipe: Moroccan Lemon Lentil Soup - Dark Days Challenge

MOROCCAN LEMON LENTIL SOUP WITH RICE
Serves 3-4

1 cup dried lentils
1/2 cup wild or brown rice
1-6 cloves of garlic (I used 6!)
2-4 pieces of Moroccan Preserved Lemon, seeds removed
Salt to taste
1/2 cup of yogurt or sour cream

This makes a very simple, meatless meal. It looks kind of funny, but it tastes really good. At least, we thought it did. For a full meal, add some fresh bread and a salad and you're good to go.

I get to cheat on this recipe a bit - the lemons in this recipe are home-grown! I have a potted Meyer lemon tree that lives in my greenroom half the year and outside in the garden during the other half.*** Last year I got quite a few lovely little fragrant and thin-skinned lemons and - not wanting to waste one precious bite (not even the peels) I decided to make Moroccan Preserved Lemons (click to view the recipe I used.) Here's what they look like.



If you don't have preserved lemons, you could probably just add a bit of fresh lemon pulp and some grated lemon peel. It won't be the same, but it should still be good. In the meantime, if you have access to any Meyer Lemons (or another thin-skinned variety) then click on the recipe link above and get some started for next time! They really are wonderful. I sometimes make a very simple vegetable stir fry with rice dish and just one of these preserved lemon sections diced finely really peps up the flavor all by itself.

So, back to the recipe. Start the wild rice first, because it takes the longest to cook. Cook it according to the directions on the package. Make sure it is fully cooked and tender, because it won't be cooked any more. Cook the lentils, lemon pieces and garlic cloves in enough water to keep them covered. Stir often to prevent sticking. When the lentils are tender, get out your hand blender (or cool them a bit and use the regular one) and puree until nice and smooth. Drain the wild rice, and add to the pureed lentils and lemons. Add the yogurt or sour cream, stir to blend and add salt to taste. Garnish each bowl with a dollop of extra yogurt or sour cream if you wish, and chopped chives or parsley.



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*** I also have a lime tree, a pomegranate tree, a fig tree, three banana trees, a pot of lemongrass and a pot of galanga root. And fifty saffron crocuses, some of which bloomed this year. And a rosemary shrub. And a big pot of lemon thyme, which isn't hardy here. And a bay laurel tree. And an olive tree. And a tea plant. And a tea jasmine bush. I still want a condo mango and a kumquat. And a Key Lime or a Limequat.

I need a bigger greenroom. And more self-control, I'm afraid.

Recipe: Baked Beans and Elk Short Ribs - Dark Days Challenge

Finally, here is a full recipe, pictures and all!

BAKED NAVY BEANS WITH ELK SHORT RIBS
Serves 4-5.

2.5-3 lbs short ribs - elk, buffalo or beef should all work fine
1 Tbsp. cooking oil
4 cups soaked Navy beans (approx 2 cups dry, soaked over night if possible)
2 small or 1 large onion, diced
3 -4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2-4 pieces of sliced bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 Tbsp. deli mustard
1/3 cup honey, brown sugar or molasses
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup fruit preserves, jam, puree or marmalade
2 cups tomato juice, or approx. 1 cup thick tomato sauce and 1 cup water
3 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. salt

You'll need a large, heavy skillet or pot to brown the ribs in. You'll also need a large crockpot for slow cooking or a large covered casserole for baking this dish in the oven.

Here are the main ingredients...starting clockwise from "high noon" we have a half-pint jar of Sunshine Marmalade, a quart jar of home-canned tomato juice, two small onions and a small head of garlic, a tub with some home-cured bacon made from local pork belly, a 2.5 lb package of elk short ribs, and a four-cup measuring cup with soaked navy beans.



First, rinse the short ribs, pat them dry, and brown them in 1 Tbsp. oil in a large, heavy skillet. Get them good and brown and even a little crispy around the edges. This adds flavor and also helps cook out a bit of the extra grease. Don't worry, there's still plenty of flavor left. And don't forget that you're going to add some chopped bacon to the dish as well, so a little less grease here is a good thing.



To keep yourself occupied while the ribs are browning, you can start dicing up the onion, garlic and bacon. Don't worry too much about dicing the garlic super fine - chunky is good enough - you just don't want to spoon up some beans and get a whole clove of garlic in that one bite. Well, maybe you do. But, I really don't - I'd rather spread all that yummy garlic around a bit.



Pour the soaked beans into the bottom of the pot. Sure, they'll float around after you add all the liquids, but I like starting them off in a neat pile in the bottom of the crockpot anyway.



Toss the diced onions, garlic and bacon in on top of the beans. Mmmmmm! In case you were wondering, so far everything in the pot is local. It's already starting to smell good - and we don't have everything in it yet!



Measure out the mustard, and put that in, too. This is some home-made mustard I put together a week or so ago. It's yellow mustard flour and some whole brown mustard seeds, with some vinegar, water and a bit of salt. You can use whatever mustard you like best, or whatever you have in your fridge. I bought the makings from Penzey's, so this isn't really local. Maybe that will change some day - I know mustard should grow well here.



Measure out the honey, and put that in. You could add more honey if you like, but I didn't want the beans to be overly sweet. Just a tiny bit of sweet with the savory onion and the tangy tomato is what I'm after here.



See! Local honey! Believe it or not, I got it at Sam's. What you can't see in this picture is that the honey was so thick I had to literally squeeeeeeze it out of the jug like toothpaste. It had been sitting in our storage room. I guess it is a little cool in there right now.



Pour 1/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce in over it all. You could probably use soy sauce if you don't have any Worcestershire, but I think you'll be missing some of the flavor. Nope, Worcestershire isn't local. But it's good stuff!



Pour or spoon 8 ounces of your favorite fruit jam, marmalade or puree into the pot. I'm using something I call Sunshine Marmalade. It's an apricot jam that's been pepped up with some citrus zest and finely diced fresh ginger. We like it much better than plain apricot jam, which often seems to taste a bit bland to me. This was made from some really lovely home-grown apricots our next door neighbors gave us last year.



By now the ribs should be good and browned on both sides (you did remember to flip them every few minutes, didn't you?) Drain the browned ribs a bit, and plop them right on top of all the other stuff you just put in the crock. Sprinkle the salt in now.



Pour the tomato juice and water over everything, and plug the crockpot in and cook for 10-12 hours on low, or put it all into a large covered dish in the oven at 300-325 degrees for about 4-5 hours. You want it to cook nice and slow so the beans can soak up all that good flavor floating around and the ribs can become falling-off-the-bone tender. Keep an eye on the liquid levels so the beans don't dry out.



Here's the final product! The rib meat was falling off the bones, and the beans came out savory and just a little sweet. I added a bit of Tabasco Chipotle sauce towards the end - just a few shakes - and I think it made the beans a lot more flavorful. I think one change I'll make next time is to marinade the elk ribs overnight - they were good and tender and tasty, but not quite as flavorful as I'd like. I think a nice garlicky wine marinade, with perhaps a bit of mustard added, would be just the ticket.