Lentils ( and chicken)

Wherein Mr. Ullman uses up some chicken parts and notes the lentil

I love lentils.  They are a tasty bean, cook in twenty minutes and don't keep you from polite company.  So let's go there. 

I had a couple of boneless chicken thighs and part of a breast around the house that needed to be used before to much longer. I put the chicken into the oven and baked it at 350 for about twenty minutes on a side. While that was cooking I checked my lauder to make sure I had everything else I wanted to use and discovered I did have most of it. I would have to wing a bit but that is the fun of cooking.

First things first-- the parsnip. I had read a recipe a few days ago about deep frying parsnip. I took a parsnip, thinly slicked it and fried it in my number 8 cast iron skillet. I fried them in olive oil until the edges got brown and then reduced the heat to low. I added a fair amount of diced leeks and carrot greens to the parsnips and let everything slow cook while I prepared some some lentils.

When the the chicken was done I added some clam juice into the stuff in the skillet and proceed to pull apart the chicken (ouch, ouch and ouch-- I'll let it cool a bit next time). As I pulled the chicken I added it to the skillet and upped the heat to medium low. Once the chicken was pulled I added about half a can of pretty good condensed cream of mushroom soup, about a fifth of a cup of brine from a jar of pickled artichoke hearts and a couple of spoonfuls of horseradish sauce. Added the lentils (which were about three quarters of the way done), some all spice and a couple of shakes of oregano and stirred . I covered good old number 8 with its lid and let the concoction reduce for about twenty minutes.

The recipe is a keeper but needs a slight bit of work in the Daniel Ullman test kitchen. There was a good sweet taste that needs to be pulled out. What jumps out to me is that corn season is starting. I might add some sweet corn kernels or, more likely, dice up some post eaten cobs and put them into the mix while it is reducing. Maybe some almonds?