h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Lentil and Bacon Soup - A79140521
Author: Elentari - U202814

I've never done a recipe entry before, be gentle!

I'd heard of lentil and bacon soup before, of course, but this is my own version which I made up to get rid of some old vegetables.

I wrote this as a draft post for my blog but was waiting to publish it until I make it again and can take a photograph, so it occured to me that I could make it an entry too.

Must try this, I have all the ingredients and was planning on making some soup. Thanks Elentari.

Websailor

Sounds yummy!

Deep breath! Deep Breath! Deep Breath!

No, it.

Two pints is just OVER 1 litre, not just UNDER!

What kind of Bacon? Streaky is very different, in both meat, and fat, content (both are important in flavour - fat more than you'd think!)

How's the onion chopped? Sliced / diced / chunked? (This will make a difference)

GARLIC ING PRESS?

Sometimes I hate cooking for a living. It makes me look like such a . I'm even copying Gordon Ramsey's ing language for 's sake!

Oh yes, I will be trying this at home, so it'd better be good, or there'll be rude words indeed at my place!

Hi Elentari,

The recipe seems fine in itself, but as there is already an article on soup in the Guide (A640063) this may be something to add to the conversations there or to add as part of an Update, rather than as a stand-alone Entry.
This may not be the majority opinion though so I'll happily stand by majority/Eds decision.

Now for the review of the actual content:

I tend to fry off my garlic and onions at the same time. Have you separated them for a specific reason?

In 4. you say to set a timer for 35 minutes. In my head, that means that I can toddle off and do something else for a bit. I would set the timer after adding all the ingredients (as it only takes a minute to add pre-prepared stuff). That way there's no confusion.

If you are concerned about losing water (points 6 and 8), you could always stipulate putting on a lid to the pot.

Lentil and bacon is one of my favourites and having no tomatoes also makes it a winner for me.

Yes - we only just passed a Lentil soup a few weeks ago. There should at least be a link.

A60769704

Lentil soup is generally a favourite in Germany. It is not necessarily cooked with bacon (as that doesn't really exist as such in Germany) but chopped up Frankfurters are added at the end.

If it's going to be pureed, why does it matter what shape the onions are chopped into?

The following virtues of the dish also deserve some extolling:

it is cheap
it is filling

Cooking will change the chemical composition of a food, as well as it's texture. The size of the pieces will affect how much the flavour changes, which is influenced by the shape it's cut into.

Sorry if my previous post upsets anyone, I was rather by the time I got in after work last night, and was having an irreverend moment, as the article's more interesting than the cooking I got up to.

Deadangel:

"Two pints is just OVER 1 litre, not just UNDER!"

Probably shouldn't have trusted a conversion website.

"What kind of Bacon? Streaky is very different, in both meat, and fat, content (both are important in flavour - fat more than you'd think!)"

Normal bacon. If I'd meant streaky, I would have said so, though I've now specified.

"How's the onion chopped? Sliced / diced / chunked? (This will make a difference)"

Sliced. Added.

"GARLIC bleep ING PRESS?"

Not sure what the problem with this is...

Vip

That is a fair point, but there are other stand-alone soup recipes so it has obviously been done before. I too will accept what the eds / Scouts think.

I've seperated the onion and garlic because in my experience, garlic cooks faster and can be overdone if you add it at the same time.

Re the timer - you are right, I've changed it. Ditto your point about the lid.

Trillian's Child

I saw the other entry while looking for links but didn't realise it was so recent! I have added a link.

I have also mentioned that this is filling and cheap; thanks.

If anyone does try the recipe, please let me know! It would be good to put a few researcher's comments in and refine anything I need to.

I refuse to try anything with bacon in it - how about adding a veggie version?

"GARLIC bleep ING PRESS?"

Not sure what the problem with this is..."

Just personal bigotry Elentari. I have a second job working as a cook. I'm not a fan of Garlic, but mushing it just feels wrong. Having said that, I'll probably leave it out when I try the recipe anyway. I'm a contrary bugger like that.

"I refuse to try anything with bacon in it - how about adding a veggie version?"

How about beef? Cows are Vegitarian(s)

A veggie version would just be lentil & veg soup though surely? Which is covered in the entry listed above.

I know you specifically mentioned using sweet potato in your recipe but a lot of people use normal potatoes and sweet potatoes indiscriminately in recipes so I would add a proviso that white potatoes shouldn't be used in the recipe, especially if you say that it can be kept in the fridge for several days. IMHO, white potatoes and ham based soups are not a pleasant experience even a day later!

The distinction in bacon is, although addressed above, fairly significant. In the UK, bacon mean back bacon, whereas in most other places in Europe, bacon means smoked streaky bacon. There is a huge difference in taste, texture and storage abilities between them.

I think the bacon is pretty important for flavour, to be honest, but I suppose a veggie could just leave it out. I'll see about mentioning something to that effect.

I've never tried it with normal potatoes - I imagine it would work but it probably wouldn't add any flavour!

I think this is fine as a standalone entry, it's sufficiently different to the others that can be linked to anyway.


BMT Scout

Oh, yes!

I may have to try this sometime this week coming, though I'll have to switch sweet potato for new potato as that is just what I have in

Garlic presses/crushers are an abomination, asides anythign else they're an entirely unnecessary piece of equipment to have in a kitchen, if you must* have the garlic crushed then the back of a knife handle does it fine in less time than it takes to hunt about for the garlic press which is naturally going to be dirty anyhow and you can chop garlic fine enough for anyone's taste in about thirty seconds with the cutting edge of the knife (which is useually I find better than crushing it anyhow).

You are right to say add the garlic later on, as if its cooked too much it tends to develop more of a bitter taste (not necessarily a bad thing if your making some spicey Indian dish, but probably not good for this unless that is what you want).

Would it be worth mentioning you can add other ingrediants too?: In a kind of useing up what you have.... with the bacon (I'd use back in this, but of course there are varitions on this, maple cured, sweetback, smoked, non-smoked, dry cured etc), Mushroms would probably go well (well I always find they go well with bacon in most dishes),

For a total vegatarian version I think you probably oughta be able to skip the bacon (but may require additional fat being added to repalce that which comes from the bacon), and replaceing it with mushrooms (crenolini would be best if you can find them, but small button mushrooms oughta work well, and most mushrooms cept some of the very bitter large flat ones would work well with lentils), and, to go with the mushrooms (in replacing the bacon), you could add some flaked almonds or other nuts to help give it some more flavour

I've a friend who's a bit of a left over from the 60's and 70's (we really don't know how to tell him Hendrix is dead....), he eats a lot of lentil soups, and If I remember correctly he nearly always adds some grated cheese into his for flavour (especially when doing vegetarian lentil soups)... I'd imagine then, for a vegetarian version, with the mushrooms, flaked almond, you could add something like a bit of strong grated chedder, or perhaps even better go for one of the smoked brovarian cheeses (which although they don't work well for things like cheese on toast, do* retain the smoked flavour when put 'into' a dish (done this for risottos and it gives a great flavour).

As to the article/entry itself, I think it ought be fine to stand up on its own as an entry rather than being added into that soup entry (which I vaguely recall having read at some point).

**mutters** Mmmm bacon.....

Walnuts are also nice in place of bacon.

I made some more a couple of days ago - had to use pancetta as we're out of bacon. Not sure if it's any good as I haven't tried it yet.

I have a couple of pictures which I will upload to the Photographers group at the weekend.

As far as a vegetarian version goes, I have no expierience with that and really if you make it veggie it's just lentil soup, which is a bit different.

Fair enough.

Mmm, walnuts