Back to Basics

“Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish, game or any other dish? Who would not give all else for two pennyworth only of beautiful soup?”
Lewis Carroll (1832-1998)

“To cook is to lay hands on the body of the world.”
John Thorne


My adventures in the kitchen this past week are a riches to rags story.

Juan returned home on Monday from a weekend dive trip to Santa Rosa Island, one of the two northern-most Channel Islands. Unfortunately, he returned with barely half a limit of California Spiny Lobster, Panulirus interruptus.

I quickly decided it didn’t matter when he opened the ice chest to reveal a 6 ½ pound behemoth. It dwarfed the two smaller lobsters next to it.

It was Valentine’s Day and we’d been planning to cook some lobster for dinner, figuring he’d come home with at least one. The two small crustaceans would be more than enough for a meal, Juan insisted, adding that we should freeze the monster and serve him up at a dinner party. A debate ensued over which lobster to cook while Juan struggled to hold the squirming beast for a photo.

Killing one’s own food doesn’t happen much for suburban dwellers like me. I tend to catch and release when fly fishing and the closest I’d come lately to personally delivering a death sentence was plunging some Dungeness crabs into boiling water.

This guy definitely gave me pause. It was hard not to feel a bit of a pang knowing he’d escaped commercial traps for so many years. If we were going to eat him, it didn’t seem right to relegate him to the deep freeze. We needed to enjoy him fresh out of the sea.

I won the argument with that bit of reasoning and with that, the huge creature snapped its tail, arched its back and flew out of Juan’s hands onto the driveway with a loud smack. We quickly ushered him, only slightly subdued, into the kitchen.

We boiled him for a few minutes, split him open and rubbed the meat with olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, then broiled both halves under the broiler until just barely done.

The tails were plated up with simple accompaniments: pinto beans, brown rice, grilled flour tortillas and limes. I was reminded of afternoons in Puerto Nuevo, Baja California, back when the restaurants there served real lobster. Tuesday night we had leftover lobster in an aromatic tomato sauce tossed with pasta.

Wednesday night we had lobster tacos, piled high with cilantro and avocado.

By Thursday night was I was wishing I’d lost the argument and we’d cooked the smaller lobster.

Friday night, I arrived home from work to find a box from Amazon on the doorstep. It turned out to be gift from my sister; Melissa Clark’s new cookbook In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite. I’ve long been a fan of Clark’s New York Times column and had given the book to my sister for Christmas, knowing she too is an admirer of her straightforward, unfussy recipes and inspiring narrative. Now my sister was returning the favor and after a week’s worth of lobster over-indulgence, her timing was perfect.

I opted for the restorative power of a great pot of soup and was happy to find, early Saturday morning, that I had all the ingredients on hand for this one. It was just what the doctor ordered: unpretentious, bright, meatless (except for the stock) and soothing. And, while it’s clearly good for you, it’s also very, very good.

Red Lentil Soup With Lemon

Very slightly adapted from Melissa Clark’s In The Kitchen With A Good Appetite

Time: 45 minutes
3 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling
2 large onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red Aleppo pepper (or a pinch of ancho chile powder)
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth (I used homemade turkey stock)
2 cups red lentils
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
Juice of 1 lemon, more to taste
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint. Can substitute fresh cilantro or parsley.
1. In a large pot, heat oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes.
2. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for 2 minutes longer.
3. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary.
4. Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.
5. Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and mint. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with Aleppo pepper if desired.
Yield: 6 servings.