• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Photographs by Sara Remington

* * *

Beluga Lentils with Marinated Beets and Parsley Sauce

Beluga lentils, the smallest of the lentil family, are shiny black pearls with a remarkable resemblance to beluga caviar. They are stunning when combined with brightly colored beets and a green parsley sauce. We came up with this dish for our yearly Fishermen’s Feast, where we cook a series of courses for a large number of guests. Once the lentils and the beets are ready, this dish can be put together in seconds. Try serving it as an accompaniment to roasted fish.

* * *

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE MARINATED BEETS:

20 assorted baby beets

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

FOR THE LENTILS:

1 cup dried beluga lentils

2 tablespoons rice bran oil or canola oil

½ small yellow onion, chopped

½ carrot, chopped

1 small celery stalk, chopped

3 garlic cloves, sliced

4 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1 small serrano chile

2 thyme sprigs

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE PARSLEY SAUCE:

Kosher salt

1 cup (lightly packed) flat-leaf parsley leaves

Freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Wash the beets, making sure not to puncture their skin. Arrange the beets in a single layer in a roasting pan, season them with salt and pepper, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and about ½ cup water. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast the beets until they are fork-tender, 35 to 45 minutes depending on their size. When they’re done, carefully remove them from the roasting pan while they’re still warm and use a kitchen towel to rub the skin off the beets. (Choose a towel you don’t care about, though, since it’ll get stained.) Cut the beets in half, put them in a bowl, and toss them with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and the vinegar. Let them marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Put the beluga lentils in a strainer and rinse them under cold running water. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and drizzle the oil into it. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more, until the garlic is tender. Add the chicken stock, lentils, bay leaf, serrano chile, and thyme sprigs. Cook uncovered, until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Discard the serrano chile, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf. Season the lentils with salt and pepper to taste. Keep them warm over very low heat until ready to serve.

Now you’re ready to make the parsley sauce: Fill a medium bowl halfway with water, and put about a dozen ice cubes in it. Set it aside.

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons salt, and blanch the parsley in the boiling water for 10 to 20 seconds, until it turns bright green. Immediately strain the parsley through a colander, and place the colander in the ice water to cool for a minute (the ice water will stop the blanching process and help the parsley retain its color). Drain, and squeeze the parsley dry with a kitchen towel. Combine the parsley and ½ cup water in a blender, and purée until the sauce has the consistency of pesto. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

When ready to serve, spoon the warm beluga lentils onto a platter, arrange the marinated beets on top, and drizzle the parsley sauce over them.

Photographs by Kodiak Greenwood

* * *

Mont Blanc

When Steven Jaeger and Alice Post built the Bakery’s building back in the 1930s, they named it Loma Vista—“mountain view”—honoring the view of Mount Manuel from the restaurant’s front patio. We’re lucky enough to be able to see it from our front yard at home, too, and we never get tired of watching the sun set on the mountain, or the fog drape its slopes. In the winter, its peak sometimes even gets snow.

When Michelle rediscovered a dessert called Mont Blanc, named after the famous Swiss mountain, she decided to reproduce it to celebrate all the mountains