Around My French Table (59 page)

Put the lentils in a strainer, pick through them, and discard any bits of stone that might have escaped the packers; rinse under cold running water.

Turn the lentils into a medium saucepan, cover them with cold water, bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes; drain the lentils in the strainer. Rinse the lentils again and rinse out the saucepan.

Press the clove into the onion and toss the onion, carrot, celery, and bay leaf into the pan. Pour in the broth, stir in the lentils, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a steady simmer and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the lentils are almost tender. As the lentils cook, skim off the dark foam that rises to the top. Season with salt and cook until they're tender, 5 to 10 minutes more.

While the lentils are cooking, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Place a strainer over a large measuring cup and drain the lentils, reserving the broth; set the pan aside. Pick out the vegetables and discard the clove and bay leaf; if you'd like to serve the carrots, celery, and onion with the lentils (I always do, although they are very soft), cut them into very small dice. Rinse out the saucepan.

Put the salmon on the foil-lined baking sheet, rub a little olive oil over the top, and season with salt and pepper. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and roast the salmon for about 12 minutes, or until it is firm on the outside and still pink and just the tiniest bit jiggly at the center (nick the thickest part with a slender knife to test). If the salmon is done before you've finished the lentils, cover it lightly with a foil tent and leave it on the counter to rest.

Meanwhile, put ¾ cup of the cooked lentils into a food processor (a mini processor is fine) or blender and add ½ cup of the reserved broth. Whir for a minute or so, until the lentils are reduced to a puree, then scrape the puree and the remaining cooked lentils back into the saucepan. Pour in another ½ cup broth, add the diced vegetables, if you kept them, and season with salt and pepper as needed.
(You can make the lentils to this point and keep them, covered, at room temperature for a few hours or in the refrigerator overnight.)

Return the saucepan to medium heat and cook, stirring, only until the lentils are warmed through again.

Divide the lentils among four warm shallow soup plates. Slice the salmon into 4 portions and place a piece in the center of each plate. Drizzle the salmon and lentils very lightly with olive oil, dust the top of the fish with parsley and/or chives, if you'd like, and serve immediately.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
This is a complete meal—and a very good one.

STORING
Any leftover salmon will be good at room temperature the next day. Should you have leftover lentils, keep them covered in the refrigerator, and reheat them gently in a saucepan on the stove or in a microwave oven; add some of the reserved broth, if you kept it, or water to the pan or bowl.

S
ALMON, SO RICH IN THE OILS
that are good for us, is an ideal candidate to cook
en papillote,
in foil packets, because those healthful oils are also helpful in cooking—they self-baste the fish while it's in its little pouch.

I often make this recipe for lunch or when we've got friends coming for dinner and I don't have much time to either shop or prep. The ingredients are always available—salmon is as easy to get in Paris as it is in Peoria, and grape tomatoes are sweet and at hand throughout the year. The time needed to get everything together is under thirty minutes (even if you take the optional step of pan-roasting the tomatoes), plus you can do everything ahead if you want to. The packets look like presents, and no one knows what's in them until they're opened.

Not surprisingly, this technique and combination of ingredients work well with other fish—try it with cod or sea bass (choose a nice thick cut, and the baking time will be the same). Also keep in mind that you can easily increase or decrease the number of servings (I sometimes make this for just myself). The only caveat is that you've got to leave space between the packets, so if you're going to make more than four papillotes, arrange the extras on another baking sheet.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Have a baking sheet at hand. Cut four 12-inch squares of foil (I like to use nonstick foil for this).

If you'd like to sear the tomatoes (it's not necessary but will intensify their flavor), warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat and cook the tomatoes, turning them as needed, just until their skins are wrinkled and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put 5 basil leaves in the center of each piece of foil. Sprinkle the basil with a little salt and white pepper, top with a piece of salmon (if the salmon has skin, lay it skin side down), drizzle a teaspoon or so of oil over each piece, and season the fish with salt and white pepper. Put the tomatoes on one side of the salmon and grate the lemon zest over everything. If you're using the spring onions or scallions, scatter them over the fish and tomatoes. Give the salmon a squirt of lemon juice, then cut 8 thin slices from the lemon and put 2 slices on top of each piece of fish. Finish with a basil leaf and a sprig of thyme or rosemary; moisten with olive oil.

Seal the packets, making sure they are airtight and that there's puff space between the fish and the top of its cocoon.
(The packets can be assembled up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerated; remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.)

Put the packets on the baking sheet, slide the setup into the oven, and bake for 10 minutes if you like your fish slightly jiggly in the center (great for salmon), or for 2 minutes longer if you want your fish more well done.

Serve the salmon immediately, either
en papillote
or spooned onto plates.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
You can put the packets on dinner plates and open them at the table or open them in the kitchen and arrange the ingredients on plates. If you plate the fish, you might want to finish each dish with a little minced fresh basil or some snipped fresh chives.

STORING
You can construct the packets up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerate them until 30 minutes before it's time to bake them. If the packets still feel cold when you're ready to slide them into the oven, add a minute to the baking time.

T
HE LATIN QUARTER BISTRO LE PRÉ VERRE
made a huge splash when it opened with a menu built around spices—not just a pinch of this and a dash of that, but bold ones that played the dramatic lead in every dish. While this would not be out of the ordinary for us Americans, who are used to incendiary foods from all parts of the world, it was news to the French, who normally keep their food tame, the better to appreciate the wine that goes with it. Happily, the team at Le Pré Verre found wines from France's own Southwest to match their dishes spice for spice, and they quickly won a cosmopolitan clientele and a following for what became their signature dish, spice-crusted tuna.

I don't know exactly what Le Pré Verre's tuna was patted down with—my guess is black, green, white, and pink peppercorns; coriander; fennel; cumin; ginger; and maybe some Szechuan pepper too—and the team wasn't telling, but over the years, I've come up with this recipe for my own pared-down, not nearly as hot version that's simple, quick to make, great tasting, and perfect with red wine.

If you have a mortar and pestle, put the cardamom, peppercorns, coriander, ginger, and a generous pinch of salt in the mortar and, using the pestle, pound the spices until they are coarsely broken. You don't want to pulverize them; part of the excitement of the dish is in the spices being discernible. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, crush the spices in a mini processor or blender, or finely chop the ginger and crush the other spices by wrapping them in a kitchen towel and bashing them with the bottom of a heavy skillet or the heel or back of a chef's knife.

Rub the tuna with a little olive oil. Sprinkle the crushed spices evenly over both sides of each piece of fish, then press the spices into the fish, patting just firmly enough so they stick.

Put a large skillet over high heat (a nonstick skillet works nicely) and pour in 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the tuna and cook for 2 minutes, then flip the fish over and cook for about 2 minutes more—a generous third of the center of the tuna should remain pink. Of course, if you like your tuna better cooked, go ahead and give each side a little more time in the pan.

Serve with just a drizzle of olive oil and lemon wedges for squeezing.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
I usually drizzle the tuna with olive oil and serve it with lemon wedges, but it's equally good with a spoonful of warmed crème fraîche, and it's very nice with any kind of vegetable or tropical fruit salsa or chutney. Serving the tuna with some guacamole (
[>]
) would be unorthodox but delicious nonetheless, especially in summer.

STORING
The tuna is very good at room temperature and, should you have leftovers, it's delicious sliced and served over a green salad.

U
SUALLY THE WORD
CONFIT
REFERS TO DUCK CONFIT,
a dish from France's Southwest in which duck legs are salted and then cooked in their own fat, a way to both preserve and flavor them. It's a very old technique, but it's trendy these days, especially in Paris bistros, where chefs are likely to confit fish as well as fowl solely for the purpose of flavoring it.

I've seen chefs confit cod and halibut, but the dish I like best is tuna confit: a thick slice of tuna spends the night in a bath of extra-virgin olive oil, herbs, spices, sun-dried tomatoes, salted lemons, and aromatic garlic and onions, then, in true confit fashion, is cooked slowly, so that in the end you can call its texture velvety without being accused of exaggeration. Surprisingly, even though the tuna is oven-poached in a cup of oil, it isn't oily. In fact, most of the oil you start with will be left over, and you'll be glad: it makes a great vinaigrette for a salad, especially one like salade Niçoise.

Speaking of things from the South of France, the confit is served with a Provençal black olive tapenade and a tomato salsa, which can be tossed together quickly a couple of hours before dinner. When you've got the tuna, tapenade, and tomatoes, you've got a complete meal that's casually elegant and equally good straight from the oven, at room temperature, or chilled.

BE PREPARED:
The tuna needs to marinate for at least 6 hours, or for as long as overnight, and then come to room temperature before it goes into the oven.