A weekend at my friend Elaine's in Newfoundland, is the equivalent of a hot bowl of soup or a warm scarf on a blustery day. This is why I made my way to central Newfoundland at the end of November, an unusual time of year for a getaway in the North Atlantic.
Pea soup fog prevented the airplane from landing in St. John's. Instead, we landed at the Deer Lake airport, about two and a half hours by car to Elaine & Dermot's house. The threat of having to fly back to Halifax helped me make up my mind. I walked down the steps and across the tarmac, leaving my luggage in the belly of the plane. I could either rent a car and keep it for the weekend or I could try to grab a ride with someone going my way. There were two friendly looking men walking purposefully away from the rental car area and I managed to get a ride with them. The ride seemed to fly by and before I knew it, we were pulling up in front of Elaine's house.
The house, a traditional Newfoundland saltbox, looked like a Christmas card. I'm sure the "fellas" that gave me a ride were wishing their journey was ending on Elaine's doorstep. Elaine welcomed me in, the champagne was opened and we sat down for baked pita triangles with a blue cheese dip. For dinner, we had pan-fried Newfoundland cod, baked fries, a tartar sauce that contained sun-dried tomatoes, and a chopped vegetable salad.
For Friday, Elaine had arranged that her good friend and business partner, Joanne, join us for baking Christmas cookies and preparing an Indian dinner together. When Joanne arrived, we started with lunch - a baked shrimp dish with lemon butter and rosemary, a loaf of scallion potato bread, and a bottle of Prosecco. For the cookies, Elaine made Cafe Au Lait Rugelach; Joanne made Chocolate Caramel Nut Bars with Weurther's candies; and I made Lemon Thumbprints with raspberry jam and orange marmalade (see picture above). Dermot and Joanne's husband, Craig, joined us for cocktails and then we sat down to a lovely dinner. This Curried Lentil soup was the starter, enhanced with the mango chutney butter. It was delicious! Then we had a chicken curry, basmati rice, a vegetable stew with lime, and a homemade mango chutney. The Christmas cookies made a fine dessert.
Saturday was spent looking through cookbooks (Elaine's collection is impressive) and thinking of other recipes that we could make. An Irish Whiskey fudge turned out beautifully. Our dinner that night - a tender roast chicken, baked for 3 hours in a 300 degree oven, served with mashed potatoes and pencil-thin asparagus. Let me assure you, everything we ate over the course of the weekend was delicious. But it's more than just great cooking - it is the thoughtfulness and care that Elaine puts into everything that she cooks. I believe it was Oprah that said, "Love is in the details." She was right. Thank you Elaine & Dermot.
Curried Lentil Soup
3 T. butter
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
2 T. fresh ginger, finely grated
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely diced
2 bay leaves
1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
4 cans lentils
8-10 c. chicken stock
2 lemons
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
Salt & Freshly ground pepper to taste
1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large stock pot. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, jalapeno pepper, and bay leaves. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the curry powder and cook 2 minutes more.
2. Add the lentils and 8 cups of chicken stock to the pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Halve the lemons, squeeze the juice, and add both the juice and the remaining lemon rinds to the soup. Continue to simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes. If the soup seems to be too thick, thin with additional chicken stock.
3. Remove the bay leaves and lemon rinds from the soup. Season with salt and pepper. Puree half the soup in a food processor or blender, and return it to the pot, stirring to combine. Add the cilantro and keep the soup warm over low heat.
Chutney Butter
1/2 c. butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. mango chutney
1. In a food processor, blend the butter and chutney together until smooth. Ladle the hot soup into bowls and top with a generous dollop of chutney butter. Serve immediately.
