• Lyonnaise lentil salad
• French pastry

Lyonnaise lentil salad

Ingredients

250g Puy lentils
1 onion studded with cloves

Preparation

Rinse the lentils well and then place them in a pan with 2lr of cold water.

Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Now drain them and return them to the pan with the clove studded onion and the bouquet garni.

Cover them with boiling water and leave them to gently simmer for 45 minutes without stirring them.

While the lentils are cooking, place the potatoes and Lyon sausage in hot water and simmer on a gentle heat.

Prepare the vinegar dressing

Strain the lentils and mix them with the vinegar dressing

Remove the cooked potatoes and sausage and then slice the potatoes, seasoning them while they are still warm. Next cut the sausage in rounds.

On each plate, arrange several spoonfuls of lentils then share the potatoes and sausage amongst each serving.

Finally sprinkle with chopped chives and serve either warm (its best this way) or cold.

Wine

Brown Brothers Tarrango

Du Bôjo!! Well, yes … in Lyon. You'll have difficulties in having anything else than the local Beaujolais. But we'll side track and suggest a Brown Brothers Tarrango from Australia. Tarrango is — and here's some information to keep in mind to show off next time at your favourite wine bar — a cross between Touriga & Sultanina, created in 1965 in Merbein, Australia, by A. J. Antcliff. Light, low tannins, fruity flavours, to be drunk slightly chilled.

Ingredients for six people (plain 'financiers')

200g of 'Tant-pour-tant' (100g sugar & 100g ground almonds mixed)
55g sugar
35g flour
125g egg whites
90g butter

Preparation

Weigh and prepare all the ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Soften the butter over a gentle heat.

Mix the sugar, flour and 'tant-pour-tant'.

Mix in the egg whites with a whisk.

Gently add butter taking care that the dough does not start to separate.

Divide the mixture into lightly greased tins.

Bake until golden (check the consistency with the back of a knife — it should spring gently to the touch).

Variations

• Dried fruit financiers (hazelnuts, pistachios and other mixed nuts).

Replace 50g of the ground almonds with dried fruit

• Citrus financiers (lemon, orange, lime …)

Grate the equivalent of the zest of one fruit and add this to the mixture just before baking

• Tea financiers

Allow the tea to infuse (1 dsp) in the warmed butter for several minutes, sieve and then continue the original recipe

• Chocolate financiers

Melt 50g of chocolate in the butter and continue the original recipe

Wine

De Bortoli Black Noble

A dessert wine is really the 'final touch' that one can give to a 'real' dinner party. In this case, I suppose the financiers will be served with the coffee. We've got a wonderful 'fortified' (wine with alcohol added such as port) to complement both the financiers and the coffee. Black Noble: rich caramel, dried fruit, raisins and mocha flavours. Just a small liquor glass (like my grandma had) of this wonderful wine will suffice!

These recipes are supplied by Mmmmh! For more recipes and
information on their cooking classes, visit www.mmmmh.be.

The wine tips are supplied by Mig's World Wines, located at Chaussée de Charleroi in Brussels, ph: 02 534 7703 or www.migsworldwines.be.

June 2006

[Copyright Expatica 2006]

Subject: food recipes, wine tips, leisure