Julia Child and French Lentil Soup

"I saw a notice on the Embassy billboard.  Hat-making lessons."
"You like hats."
"I do, I do like hats."
later...
"Are you still making hats?"
"Oh no, I abandoned it."


Julia Child was trying to find something to do in Paris while her husband Paul worked at the Embassy.  She tried hat-making lessons and found they were not for her.  She was just not good at making hats.  The next thing she tried was cooking school and that is where she blossomed.  She did still wear hats.

In the movie "Julie and Julia", the little hat studio she works in reminds me of home.  Same with the French kitchens.  And I especially love the scene where she is in the kitchenware shop just flinging copper pots into her basket.

Since Julia once tried my profession, I wanted to feature French lentil soup and try her recipe.  Lentil and bean soups are favorites of mine.  Full of protein, 2/3 as much as equal amounts of beef or chicken, and a lot of necessary vitamins and minerals.  Lentil soup goes back to Biblical times.

French Lentil Soup

serves 4-6 people

3 tbs. olive oil
1 baby fennel bulb, sliced thin
1 small leek, chopped
2 carrots,chopped
3 tbs. rice flour
6 cups vegetable, chicken or beef stock
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups green French lentils
1 bunch baby turnips, quartered
1 tsp. salt

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven.  Sauté the fennel, leek and carrots until softened, about 10 minutes.  Sprinkle in the rice flour, stir and add 1 cup of the stock.  Cook until the flour is dissolved.  Add the rest of the stock, the bay leaf, lentils and the turnips.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 1-1 1/4 hours, stirring every 20 minutes.  When the lentils are tender, turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf and puree with an immersion blender.  Add the salt and taste for seasoning.  Add a little more stock if it seems a too thick.

Garnish

1 tbs. butter
1 carrot, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 1/4" slice of cooked ham, diced
herb butter, 3 tbs. softened butter mixed with finely chopped parsley and fresh thyme leaves


Sauté the carrot, zucchini and ham in the butter until caramelized.  Use them to garnish the lentil soup along with a tsp. of the herb butter.

Here's to Julia, just food, no hat-making, and to me, a little of both...


To see the latest collection of Zazu & Violets' hats, please visit our on-line Etsy shop.