Friday, May 17, 2013

FFwD: Lentil, Lemon and Tuna Salad

This week, the French Fridays with Dorie group is participating in Food Revolution Day, devised by Jamie Oliver to bring people together in the kitchen to share their knowledge and skills and stand up for good, home-cooked food. The Doristas were tasked with cooking any recipe in Around My French Table - an old favorite, a recipe they missed when the group covered it, or something they really wanted to make but the group hasn't gotten to yet - and sharing the dish with somebody.

That's what we were supposed to do. I failed on pretty much every level of this task, though I fully support the message and purpose of Food Revolution Day.

My intentions were pure at the beginning. A friend was coming over with her daughter earlier this week. I figured I could make Lentil, Lemon and Tuna Salad, a recipe I missed during my move to Italy. Frankly, the list of ingredients--canned tuna (chunk, no less! Ew!), preserved lemons, olive tapenade, grainy mustard--alarmed me, so it hadn't taken much to convince me to skip it the first time around. However, in my memory, most of the other Doristas liked it, so I figured I'd give it a shot. However, I ran out of time and didn't get a chance to make this for my friend. Thank God.

I knew, just looking at the ingredients, that Matt would want nothing to do with this recipe. One of his colleagues from Norfolk is in town for the week, so he said he was going to try to take him out tonight. Perfect. I could make the salad for myself and not hear any complaints. I'm aware that deliberately making this for 1 person defeats the purpose of the Food Revolution Day. Sorry.

I don't have de Puy lentils, but I figured red lentils would work. Wrong. They turned to mush in 15 minutes. My bad. I forged ahead with the recipe, even though I was sure that individual grains of lentil were the texture Dorie was going for. I mixed the tapenade, mustard, olive oil, and vinegar together and tasted it. It tasted weird. I added it to the lentils, hoping that it would all work in the end. I chopped up my preserved lemon, which is a product that both fascinates and somewhat horrifies me, and added it, with scallions, to the glop. I flaked in a can of solid tuna. I can't do chunk. It skeeves me out.

I mixed it all together, took a bite, and gagged. It's not often that I have to spit out a bite of food. This one had me running for the trash can. I mean, just look at it:
Ew, right? The flavors simply did not work together for me. It's supposed to sit and meld for a few hours, but I can't really bring myself to take another bite.

So, I missed on the sharing food with friends front, I missed on the preparation of good food front, and I missed on the home-cooking front, as we'll probably end up going for pizza tonight. Or eating eggs. Apologies, all around.

14 comments:

  1. Oh, sorry about your dish. Sometimes NOT sharing is being a good friend! :) I don't remember blogging about this - maybe I did. But I remember not liking it. I am now addicted to those green lentils - but not this combination. Oh, and you are so right. Chunk tuna - ick!
    Sometimes you just have to go with Plan B!

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  2. Ei, I agree that Jamie Oliver´s brainchild the Food Revolution Day is such a wonderful cause but I was briefly thinking of going to an Italian restaurant with the kids because today is a holiday and almost all friends are out of town and it was a bit hard to get anyone motivated to get involved "in the celebrations"...be that as it may, sorry, that the salad that you prepared did not quite taste all that good but it might have been just the kinds of lentils, who knows, or the combination of ingredients - but there are so many other wonderful recipes in that book...
    Have a nice weekend!

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  3. Bummer about the recipe... I think I used albacore... You gave it a shot and that's what matters. You did your part for the revolution.

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  4. Oh that's too bad! It may be Food Revolution Day, but there's always got to be room for escaping the occasional food failure. And you can always chalk the pizza up to another virtue - experiencing the food culture of the place you're in.

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  5. Hey Ei, sometimes you win and sometimes you go for pizza! Sorry this was not a winner for you…but kudos for giving it a try! I agree with Diane, you did your part for the revolution!

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  6. I think sharing our failures and dislikes is more revolutionary than sitting out when those things happen. Lessons learned!

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  7. I'm sorry that this didn't work out for you. I haven't made this yet but reading from the ingredients list, it does seem like quite a "unique" recipe. And doesn't sound very French to me. But good on you for giving this a go.

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  8. So sorry this didn't work for you. Sometimes you just have to go with your intuition. Despite all your issues with the recipe, I admire your for trying it anyway. That's part of the process, I guess. Hope the pizza was delicious!

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  9. Thanks for keeping it real. I think these type of posts can be even more inspiring when we see that even the folks who love cooking have to juggle family events, ingredients that skeeve them out and sometimes the recipe that simply makes you running for the trash can. The kicker is that we know this is the exception and happily come right back next Friday to another adventure. And yes, I am SO glad you didn't make this for your friend :)

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  10. More bloggers need to share their failures. Its refreshing actually and it shows that things don't always work out and makes the entire body of food blogging less intimidating to others who don't necessarily have the skills. I'm glad you did this. Also glad you remembered something you actively passed on. Some recipes just don't take well to some substitutions and this is one of them. Too much mush makes mush! Can I have your jar of unused preserved lemons? :)

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  11. Sometimes you win, sometimes - not so much :-(
    Sorry this was not a winner, but at least you had the wherewithall to figure it out ahead of time - there have been a few dishes that I knew better than to try to and share :-)

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  12. I just knew when I started reading this Post, Ei, that it was going to be a continual downhill ride for you this week. I think this is what Food Revolution Day is all about also --- sometimes you just can't make it work in the kitchen. Sometimes I feel as if I am the only Dorista who has fails (Did you SEE my cod? That was a Yuck.). FYI - The Majadra is really good. Kathy says her grandmother used to make it every Friday. We've now made it twice and I recommend it. Be sure and do the fried onions. Let me know. I have made the spinach, date and almond salad four times. Thank you. Thank you for suggesting it. Next week, asparagus soup. It should be a winner.

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  13. Oh no! I almost made this one then realised I was missing some crucial ingredients. Maybe I was saved by the bell.

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  14. BAHAHAHA!! My hubby and I each eate about ONE bite (maybe) and choked it down before we vowed to toss it out, then my two year old insisted on a bite and happily sat there and ate quite a bit of it, nearly the whole bowl! And while we gagged, watching her eat it, it's an excellent source of protein that she usually doesnt eat so we let her have at it!

    At least you tried, right? :)

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