Chef Doru's Blog

Special dinner tonight, for a very special guest, which unfortunately couldn’t make it. FIrst iranian recipe in my repertoire and I decided to choose a soup.

Ingredients:

2 onions chopped fine
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp turmeric
1/2 cup yellow split peas
2 quarts water
8 oz lean ground beef
1/2 cup long-grain white rice
3 Tbsp each: chopped parsley, cilantro and chives
1 Tbsp butter
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp plain yogurt
Juice of 1 lemon
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper, to taste
Chopped fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Directions:

Chop one of the onions. Heat the oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy stock pot. Add the chopped onion, and sauté over medium heat until lightly browned. Add the turmeric, split peas, and 2 quarts of water, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the split peas from sticking.

Grate the other onion into a bowl (use the medium holes of a box grater). Add the ground beef, and a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper. Use your hands to combine the mixture, then form it into small meatballs the size of walnuts. Gently add the meatballs to the soup, and simmer for 10 minutes, turning the meatballs as you stir from time to time.

Add the rice, parsley, cilantro and chives. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender. Mix in the yogurt and lemon juice, and stir to combine.

In a small frying pan, melt the butter over low heat, and sauté the garlic for 30-45 seconds, making sure it does not burn. Stir in the mint just to coat it with the warm garlic, then pour the contents of the frying pan into the soup pot. Taste, adjust with salt and black pepper as needed, and serve hot.

http://www.soupchick.com/2011/06/recipe-for-iranian-split-pea-rice-and-herb-soup-with-meatballs.html

Dhal (feedthepiglet.wordpress.com)
Split-pea and parmesan soup (saffronandhoney.com)
Estonian recipes: yellow split pea soup with smoked pork (hernesupp suitsulihaga) (nami-nami.blogspot.com)
Spicy Dahl – Yellow Split Pea Soup (antiguanvegan.wordpress.com)
Crock Pot Split Pea Soup (weightlossmystory.wordpress.com)
Leftover Easter Ham Recipe #3: Ham Stock & Veggie Medley Soup (dietdrop.wordpress.com)
Healthy Chiquita Banana Split Pea Soup Recipe (chiquitabananas.com)
Split Pea Soup (frugalhausfrau.wordpress.com)
Matar Dall (Yellow Split Pea Dhal) (foodgloriousfoodmyblog.wordpress.com)
Vegetarian Split Pea Soup (pbenjay.wordpress.com)

A little bit disappointed of this recipe – too much vinegar and whipping cream should be replaced with half&half. Overall, the sauce was nice but I strongly recommend using other white fish instead of cod. First time I’m eating cod and it’s too rubbery even if was moist and perfectly cooked.

Tarragon Wine Reduction:

1/2 cup dry white wine, such as a Chardonnay
1/4 cup white balsamic (white wine vinegar)
1 small shallot, chopped fine
2-3 sprigs fresh tarragon

Heat a small saucepan to medium-high and combine wine, balsamic, shallot and tarragon. Reduce the liquid 8 to 10 minutes stirring the shallot and tarragon a bit. Liquid will be reduced to about a 1/4 cup.
Strain the mixture by pushing the liquid out from the shallot and tarragon through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. Discard shallot and tarragon. Set aside the wine reduction for the cream sauce.

Wine Cream Sauce:

1 plus 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup tarragon wine reduction

Heat a large skillet medium-high and add heavy cream plus the tarragon wine reduction. Reduce the cream 8 to 10 minutes.

Baked Cod

1 pound wild cod or other white fish
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground garlic
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon coriander

Preheat oven to 350° F
Remove any excess water from fish by rolling it in a towel. Cover cod with all the spices.
Place cod in a baking dish. Bake 10-15 minutes if thawed or 20-30 minutes if frozen.
Remove cod from dish (leave any excess water in the dish and discard).

Pour the cream sauce over fish and serve with plain basmati rice.