Lentil Croquettes with Yogurt Sauce

I knew all about the pastries and breads made at Tartine Bakery and have read and baked from the books by Elisabeth Pruett and Chad Robertson. But, I didn’t know what kinds of culinary creations were happening at the restaurant Bar Tartine with co-chefs Nicolaus Balla and Cortney Burns. I received a review copy of the new book, Bar Tartine, and learned about their approach to crafting every part of a dish in-house. They source the ingredients to dry and grind their own powders like yogurt powder, kale powder, smoked onion powder, and citrus peel powder. They make their own cheeses like goat cheese and a cheese similar to feta as well as buttermilk and kefir. They sprout seeds and beans and soak nuts to make their nutrients more easily absorbed and grow their own microgreens. Instructions for making all of these things are in the book along with recipes for infused oils and vinegars, pickles, syrups, and stocks. All of these edible building blocks are layered into their dishes resulting in complex, fresh flavor combinations. The inspiration comes from various traditions like Hungarian, Japanese, and Scandinavian food. I keep looking back at the salads like the Wedge Salad with Buttermilk, Barley, and Sprouts; the Kale Salad with Rye Bread, Seeds, and Yogurt; and the Cauliflower Salad with Yogurt and Chickpeas. The Shared Plates chapter includes things like Buckwheat Dumplings with Paprikas Sauce, Brussels Sprouts with Dried Tuna and Tonnato Sauce, and Sunchoke Custard with Sunflower Greens. When I saw the Lentil Croquettes, I had to try them even though I wasn’t sure I’d be able to create every ingredient myself as they do at the restaurant. Of course, you can pick and choose what elements you’d like to make and what you’d prefer to purchase. I did sprout the lentils and make kombu dashi, but I bought pre-made yogurt and onion powder. 

It takes a few days to sprout lentils, so you need plan ahead. First, the lentils were soaked overnight, and then drained in a strainer, rinsed, and left sitting in the strainer over a bowl covered loosely with a towel. They were rinsed three times per day until the little sprouted tails appeared. You can refrigerate them whenever they develop the length of sprouted tails you prefer, and they can remain the refrigerator before being used for about a week. I made extra and stored the rest in the freezer. Next, I moved on to the kombu dashi which was a simple process of soaking kombu in water to soften before simmering it for about an hour. It can be cooled and stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days. For all of the ingredients, there are options, and I chose the simpler route for the remaining items. Rather than making kefir cream, I used yogurt. A watercress sauce was to be lightly stirred into the yogurt, but watercress isn’t common here. I used some locally-grown arugula instead. The blender pitcher was chilled in the freezer, and then arugula, some of the kombu dashi, toasted and crushed coriander and caraway seeds, and salt were pureed. This was set aside and mixed into the yogurt just before serving. To start the croquettes, green onions were charred on the stovetop. I used a grill pan and pressed them with a cast iron skillet on top. They were grilled until charred in places and left to cool. In the food processor, the lentil sprouts, the charred green onions, crumbled rye bread, some ricotta since I didn’t make farmer’s cheese, garlic, a chopped serrano, store-bought onion powder, toasted caraway seeds, paprika (also store-bought and not homemade), salt, and more dashi were pulsed until the mixture formed a paste. Little balls were formed from the lentil paste and fried until crisp. I served the croquettes with the arugula sauce just barely stirred into the yogurt and a few sprigs of baby mustard greens. 

It seems like this dish could fit squarely into the hippy food category, but I promise it tastes like so much more than cardboard. The croquettes are full of savory flavor with fresh chile, garlic, and the charred onions. And, running them through the yogurt sauce on the way to taking a bite added fresh, tangy pepperiness. This is a book that will get you thinking about new and different flavor combinations and ways to add pops of seasoning to all sorts of dishes. 

Lentil Croquettes with Watercress and Kefir 
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission from Bar Tartine. 

This is a dish of addictive contrasts: crisp, warm, and spicy against cool, acidic, and refreshing. Inspired by dahi vada, a fried lentil dumpling served with spiced yogurt – and one of our favorite Indian snacks – flavorwise these croquettes skew more toward Budapest than Bombay. Of course, the spice trade that passed through India brought many of the spices that characterize Hungarian food, such as caraway and paprika. We like to think that this dish reflects that journey – an Indian dumpling from the banks of the Danube. 

Makes 12 croquettes 

KEFIR SAUCE 
1 cup/240 ml kefir cream or drained yogurt 
1 1/2 tsp fermented honey, or honey 
1 tsp kosher salt 

WATERCRESS SAUCE 
1/2 bunch watercress, large stems removed 
1/2 cup/120 ml kombu dashi 
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground 
1 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and ground 
1/2 tsp kosher salt 

LENTIL CROQUETTES 
1/2 bunch green onions, white and tender green parts 
1 cup/160 g lentil sprouts 
4 oz/115 g Danish-style rye or pumpernickel bread, crumbled 
2 oz/56 g well-drained farmer’s cheese or well-drained ricotta 
3 garlic cloves 
1 serrano chile, stemmed and chopped 
1 tbsp sweet onion powder 
1 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and ground 
1 tsp sweet paprika 
1 tsp kosher salt 
1/4 cup/60 ml kombu dashi 
Rice bran oil for deep-frying 
Sour cherry syrup for garnish
Lentil sprouts for garnish 
Watercress leaves for garnish 
Cilantro leaves for garnish 

TO MAKE THE KEFIR SAUCE: In a small bowl, combine the kefir cream, honey, and salt and mix well. The sauce can be made up to 1 day in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

TO MAKE THE WATERCRESS SAUCE: Chill a blender beaker in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. In the cold blender, combine the watercress, dashi, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, and salt and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and let stand at room temperature while you prepare the croquettes. This sauce tastes best if eaten the day it is made. 

TO MAKE THE LENTIL CROQUETTES: Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium- high heat until a drop of water flicked on the surface sizzles gently on contact. Add the green onions to the hot skillet and press down on them with a weight or heavy pan. Cook until the onions begin to char, about 3 minutes. Turn the onions over, press down on them with the weight, and cook until charred on the second side, about 3 minutes. Continue until all sides are evenly charred but not completely black. Let cool to room temperature. 

In a food processor, combine the lentil sprouts, bread, charred green onions, farmer’s cheese, garlic, chile, onion powder, caraway seeds, paprika, salt, and dashi and process until a smooth paste forms. Using your hands, gently shape the mixture into 2-in/5-cm balls and put them on a large plate or sheet pan. The croquettes can be shaped a day in advance, covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerated overnight; bring to room temperature before frying. 

Pour the rice bran oil to a depth of 2 in/5 cm in a cast-iron or other heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat to 350°F/180°C. Line a sheet pan with paper towels and set a wire rack on the pan. Add the croquettes to the hot oil a few at a time and fry until browned and crisp, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or a skimmer, transfer them to the prepared rack to drain. Repeat with the remaining croquettes. 

To serve, add the watercress sauce to the kefir sauce and stir gently to mix the sauces slightly without incorporating them fully. The mixture should be a swirl of green and white. Transfer the croquettes to a serving platter and spoon the kefir-watercress sauce on top to cover the croquettes. Top with sour cherry syrup and garnish with the lentil sprouts, watercress, and cilantro. 

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Watermelon Curry on Black Lentil Cakes

Prior to making this, I’d only had watermelon curry once before. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to observe as Chef Todd Duplechan showed me how to prepare a dish of poached shrimp with watermelon curry. I remember his version was spicy and barely sweet, layered with complex flavors, and it paired perfectly with the shrimp poached in flavored oil. When I found this simpler dish of vegetarian black lentil cakes with the striking, bright, red watermelon curry in New Vegetarian Kitchen, I had to try it while local watermelons are available. The curry is built on a base of ginger and garlic that’s cooked along with cumin, fenugreek, and chiles. Pureed watermelon is used in addition to some small watermelon chunks for a mix of textures. It thickens as it cooks, and the savory spices balance the sweet fruit. The black lentil cakes bring plenty of flavor to the dish as well. They’re a mix of cooked and mashed lentils with sauteed onion and garlic seasoned with cumin seeds, garam masala, coriander, and ground dried chiles. After shaping the cakes and tasting for seasoning, I knew they were going to be good. Likewise, while tasting the watermelon curry as it simmered, it was very good as well. But, when they came together, the crispy, browned lentil cakes topped with the watermelon curry were better than good and even better than I expected. 

You can approach this dish in two parts. The black lentil cakes can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator until you’re ready to brown them just before serving. The black lentils were cooked until tender which was about 40 minutes. They were then drained and transferred to a large mixing bowl in which they were mashed with a potato masher. Finely chopped onion was sauteed in a large skillet for a few minutes before garlic was added followed by cumin seeds, garam masala, ground coriander, and I added some cayenne powder. The onion and spice mixture was added to the mashed lentils along with some flour and salt and pepper. The recipe in the book suggests rather large bean cakes, but I divided the mixture into smaller portions. Each bean cake was coated with more flour, placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and the sheet pan was refrigerated until it was time to cook. For the curry, fresh ginger and garlic were pureed in a food processor to form a paste. The paste was cooked in a skillet with vegetable oil for about a minute before cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds were added. Finely chopped fresh red chile was added next. Starting with a five pound watermelon, half of it was pureed, and the other half was chopped into small chunks. The pureed watermelon was added to the ginger and garlic mixture, brought to a boil, and allowed to simmer and reduce for about ten minutes. It thickens surprisingly well. As the sauce reduced, the lentil cakes were cooked in oil in a skillet for about three minutes per side until browned and crisp. Just before serving, lime juice and the watermelon chunks were added to the curry, and it was spooned over the cooked lentil cakes. 

As I mentioned, the result here is more than the sum of its parts. The cakes are crispy on the surface and tender in the middle while the sauce is a combination of smooth puree and chunkiness. Fruity sweetness, spicy earthiness, and some subtle fenugreek bitterness work together delightfully. Grab a watermelon before the season ends and try it in a savory dish like this.

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Lentils with Tomatoes and Gorgonzola

The other day, I mentioned the box of San Marzano tomatoes I brought home. Most of them ended up peeled, chopped, and bagged for the freezer. But, a few of them were set aside for oven roasting, and is there a sweeter, more lovely tomato flavor than what you get from slow roasting? Store-bought, sun-dried tomatoes are intensely tomato-flavored and that's perfectly nice too, but with oven roasting, you can stop the process at any point to retain a little moisture for a semi-dried effect. The result is a cross between the chewy, completely dried variety and juicy, fresh tomatoes. This dish is from Plenty which has become my go-to source for dishes with great flavor and no meat. In the book, Castelluccio lentils are suggested, and the new bulk section at our Whole Foods offers a plethora of dried bean varieties but no Castelluccios. Instead, I found black, beluga lentils which are a cute, little size and nice, dark color and worked just as well for this. Another good option would be Puy lentils.

Slow roasting tomatoes in a 250 degree F oven will take an hour and a half to two hours depending on the size of the tomatoes and the moisture content. The tomatoes were cut in half, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and sprinkled with thyme leaves and salt. Just keep checking in on them after about an hour and fifteen minutes until they've reached the semi-dried state you prefer. I roasted the tomatoes a couple of days in advance and stored them in a container in the refrigerator with the oil and vinegar scraped into the container with them. When I was ready to complete the dish, red onion was thinly sliced and left in a bowl with red wine vinegar and salt while everything else was prepped. The black beluga lentils were cooked in plain water for about fifteen to twenty minutes until just tender. They were drained and added to the red onion slices. Olive oil, minced garlic, and black pepper were added, and that was left until the lentils were cool. The original recipe calls for chervil, chives, and dill, but I used garlic chives from my garden and flat-leaf parsley. The chopped herbs were added to the cooled lentils and everything was tossed to combine. The roasted tomatoes along with chunks of Gorgonzola were added to the lentils as the dish was plated, and I served it on a bed of arugula leaves.

With the bite of Gorgonzola and the fabulousness I've already mentioned of oven-roasted tomatoes, this is no shy, vegetarian dish. Simple, earthy lentils carried both well, and the herbs added fresh flavors. My only regret here is that I didn't buy several more pounds of San Marzanos and another freezer for storing them.

Mushroom and Lentil Pot Pies with Gouda Biscuit Topping

With a gouda cheese-filled, cornmeal biscuit topping and an earthy mushroom and lentil filling, I couldn’t pass up this pot pie. These were in the November issue of Bon Appetit, and there’s something irresistible about individual pot pies. You get to break into the crust, watch the steam escape, and then dig into your own little bowl of comfort food. I liked that these came with just a top crust which stayed nicely crisp while sealing off the bowls. And, the biscuit dough couldn’t have been easier to make. With the cornmeal in it, it was very easily handled, and it was simply divided into four pieces that were patted into rounds to cover the filling. The vegetarian filling here was hearty and full-flavored with the use of dried mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, potatoes, and lentils. The varied textures and rich and satisfying flavors made this recipe one for the permanent file.

Although there a few steps to putting these together, those steps can be done a little at a time. For instance, you could cook the lentils two days in advance, then you could finish preparing the filling the next day, store it in the refrigerator already portioned into bowls, and top it with the biscuit dough the day after that. Once you have cooked lentils, you move on to re-hydrating dried porcini, and you should measure the water that’s used to re-hydrate them because it’s added to the filling mixture later. To start the filling, fresh, sliced mushrooms were sauteed in olive oil with carrots, sage, and thyme. Garlic was added followed by flour. After a roux was formed with the flour, the porcini soaking liquid was stirred into the mixture. The soaked and chopped porcini were added with potato chunks, some soy sauce, and a little tomato paste. All of that simmered until the potatoes were tender. The filling was divided among four oven-proof bowls. As I mentioned, the biscuit topping was very easy to make. Flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt were combined, and butter was worked into the mixture. Buttermilk brought the dough together, and then I added some shredded aged gouda into the dough. The dough was cut into four pieces, and each piece was simply patted into a circle to fit into each bowl. Last, the remaining shredded cheese was sprinkled on top of each pot pie. They baked for about 30 minutes.

Mushrooms and lentils may not be pretty food, but the flavor with dried porcini and the boosts from soy sauce and tomato paste made up for the homely look. And, the flakey biscuit layer rich with aged gouda was a delicious cloak for the filling. In fact, that top biscuit layer got me thinking that pot pies should make occasional summer appearances because a filling of sweet corn and zucchini would be great under it too.

Braised Root Vegetables with du Puy Lentils and Red Wine Sauce

"This dish is for when you want to fuss a bit" is how Deborah Madison begins her intro to the recipe. True. It’s also for when you want incredible, lingering aromas in your kitchen and a richly flavored sauce. I would also say this is a mind-changing meal for anyone who thinks vegetables are boring. I read Local Flavors last summer and made use of some local bounty with a few recipes from the book. I also tucked this recipe into the back of my mind for when winter arrived. The stew is made with parsnips, carrots, mushrooms, and herbs, and it’s served with lentils and potato puree. I just happened to have some du Puy lentils sent to me by my favorite Parisian cowgirl and a little package of dried porcini from our nearby Italian market, and the time had come for a slow-braised meal. So, yes, there was some fussing and use of several pots and pans and lots of chopping, but it was all very simple and very worth it.

You begin with the sauce which contained a lot of the same ingredients as the braised vegetables. You can use the trimmings from the mushrooms and parsnips which will be braised in the next step. Those trimmings were combined with onion, carrot, celery, garlic, thyme, a bay leaf, and some rosemary and were cooked in a large pot until the vegetables browned. Meanwhile, dried porcini were rehydrated in warm water. After the vegetables browned, tomato paste, flour, red wine, and the porcini and the soaking liquid were added. That was left to simmer for 45 minutes, it was then strained and further simmered to reduce a bit, some soy sauce was added, and butter was whisked into the sauce. See, that was easy, but just a little fussy, right? When you smell the sauce simmering, though, and I have to pause on that memory for a moment, you won’t mind. Next, it was on to the braised vegetables. Carrots, shallots, and parsnips were browned in a wide skillet. Mushrooms, a bay leaf, thyme, and minced rosemary were added. Some of the sauce was poured over the vegetables, and they were simmered for 25 minutes. At the same time, the lentils were cooked in water and drained, and then butter and some sauce were added. One more step would have been preparing potato or rutabaga and potato puree, but I got lucky here. I had some leftover mashed potatoes in the freezer which made quick work of that part of the dish. Certainly, this could be prepared over the course of a couple of days. You could prep all the vegetables and start with the sauce one day, and then wait to braise the stew vegetables and cook the lentils the next day.

The potato puree was mounded in a wide, shallow bowl. Some lentils were placed next to it, and the vegetables nestled all around in the red wine sauce. I would argue this dish was the boeuf bourguignon of the vegetarian world. The sauce’s flavors were layered and complex. The braised vegetables and lentils were steeped in those flavors, and the potato puree rounded out this ideal, winter comfort food. Next time I decide I want to 'fuss a bit,' I’ll at least double the quantity of sauce so I can stock my freezer for a lazy day.

Minestra di Orzo e Lenticchie

This is one more dish from last month’s La Cucina Italiana, and then I promise to move on and cook other things. Orzo in the title is Italian for barley rather than the name for rice-shaped pasta. Barley must be the new lemon because I've been using it so much in one month. Lenticchie are lentils, which I love year round, but they are especially perfect in this wintry soup. I didn’t find the castelluccio or colfiorito lentils recommended in the recipe, so I used the basic brown lentils, the origins of which I don’t know, from the bulk section at Central Market.

Onion, carrot, and celery were sautéed in a large skillet before the barley, lentils, and white wine were added. That combination cooked until the wine was reduced to almost nothing, and then vegetable broth was added and allowed to simmer. Scooped into bowls and anointed with olive oil, it was served with a few chopped celery leaves on top. Sitting down to a meal of soup sounds less than hearty, but this particular soup will surprise you. It retains some broth, but the barley absorbs quite a lot of the liquid. So, even though it’s not creamy or blended, it feels like a thick soup. One small bowl was enough for me to feel full and happy. It’s a simple meal, but the chewy barley and tender lentils in the hot flavorful broth are unbelievably filling and satisfying.