The larger lentil

Following the light lentil soup reported at reference 1, today we had something a little more substantial.

Start with three and a half pints of water. Add eight ounces of red lentils and the inward parts of a stick of celery, sliced crosswise. Bring to the boil and simmer for about an hour, then take off the heat. This being around 0730.

By 0900, the temperature had dropped to around 60C.

By 1200, it had dropped to around 30C. Turn on the heat again and bring back to the boil, or rather to the simmer.

Peel half a dozen medium potatoes and cut into chunks of about a cubic inch. Add to the soup.

Take half a dozen carrots, top, tail and slice crosswise.

Take four onions, slice into segments. Start cooking them, in oil, in the sauté pan, around 1245. Chop half a dozen rashers of Sainsbury hand-trimmed smoked streaky into half inch lengths and add that, taking care to spread it out, given its tendency to clump. Stir occasionally.

Add the carrots to the soup around 1250.

At 1300, transfer the onions and bacon into the soup, stir and serve with brown bread. We probably did about two thirds in our first campaign.

PS 1: a wet soup, nothing like as thick as we used to make it. One advantage being that a wet soup is much less likely to stick or burn. And, as it happens on this occasion, just a few dead flies. For a previous report, see reference 2.

PS 2 : the next day: the remaining third was rejuvenated with a middle size leek, a nest of soft noodles and a little water. Down in one.

Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/light-lentil.html.

Reference 2: http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=bug+alert+flies.