Puy-hey!

Another slow-cooker meal tonight, but not so much of the same old, same old stew/casserole/something in sauce ilk.  In fact, this can even be dressed up a bit and served for quite a fancy meal.  I adore plain old lentils and use them often in cooking to bulk out stews and provide a different texture to meat sauces.  The children wee both weaned on them and they are an essential part of my cawl.  Lentilles de Puy, however are a different matter and deserve a starring role in whatever meal you make with them.  This recipe does make rather more savoury lentils than you really need to go with the fish, but as they are trulyt fabulous for lunch the next day with some goat's cheese or salty feta crumbled over, this is, emphatically, not a problem.  The lentils tend to come boxed in 500g quantities and, in any case, 'little-bits-in-packets' hanging around the cupboards is a pet hate of mine!

It does need you to attend to it very briefly, to pop the fish in, about an hour before you want to eat but, if you prefer to eat the moment you get in, you could put some pork or chicken steaks on top of the lentils in the morning instead.  I don't think that slow-cookers manage onions particularly well, so always prefer to start this off myself if I can.  I cooked the onion last night and left it, covered, in the kitchen so that it was ready for this morning. If I have any of my slow-cooked onions in the freezer, I defrost it overnight and use that instead, just mincing the garlic and chopping the parsley straight into the cooker.

Slow-Cooker Salmon with Puy Lentils

30g butter
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
fresh parsley, chopped
500g puy lentils
500ml vegetable stock
50ml dry vermouth (or white wine)
1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water
3 or 4 salmon fillets

Melt the butter and soften the onion with the garlic.  Stir in the parsley.  You can do this the night before (and see above), or do it in the morning if you have time and prefer to.  Put the onion et al into the slow-cooker, then tip in the lentils, the stock, the vermouth and the slaked cornflour.  Cook on LOW for as long as you need to (i.e. all day).  An hour or so before you want to eat, pour in an extra 100ml of boiling water and lay the salmon fillets, skin-side-up, on top of the lentils.  Continue to cook on LOW until the film is opaque and hot throughout (check with the tip of a knife).

Divine.  I think this is a fabulous way to cook fish, and the lentils provide both the vegetables and the carbs, so ther's very little to think about; no potatoes, no bread, no salad.  Some lemon to squeeze over, both the fish and the lentils, is good, and I always like a blob of natural yoghurt with salmon...

Cath xx