Chicken with Beluga Lentils and Swiss chard - Untested

A dish built in layers: browned chicken, lentils that take on that depth, and greens folded in at the end to soften and lift.

3 Tbsps. olive oil

1 chicken cut into 8 parts (skin on)

½ tsp salt, to taste

½ tsp chili flakes

1 cup leeks (cleaned and sliced (about 2 large leeks))

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp smoked paprika

1 cup beluga lentils

1 cup white wine 

14oz fire roasted tomatoes

2 cups chicken broth 

1 Tbsp hot sauce

½ tsp salt (to taste)

¼ tsp pepper

~250g Swiss chard, stem sliced thin, leaves chopped

1 Tbsp fresh thyme 

1. Heat the oil and the butter in a large lidded casserole. Season the chicken, then fry for about 5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove and set aside.
2. Pour off excess fat, but leave enough to carry flavour.
3. In that same pot, add the onion (this might be a better place for stems) and fry about 5 minutes, until soft. 
4. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then add the Swiss chard stems, sliced thinly, cooking just as the stems start to soften.
5. If the pot feels dry or the fond threatens to catch too hard, loosen it with a splash of wine or broth. Let it reduce slightly; this is where the sauce begins to form.
6. Add the lentils and stir them to coat, then add the tomato, paprika, and broth. The liquid should feel sufficient but not excessive — this is not a soup. Bring it to a gentle simmer.
7. Add the chicken legs and thighs first, nestled into the lentils. Simmer very gently for about 15 to 20 minutes. 
8. When the lentils are just starting to soften, add the breasts and cook for about another 15 minutes.
9. Check the amount of liquid, if it's too soupy, let it cook uncovered to reduce the liquid. If too dry, add a little broth.
10. Fold in the chard leaves and continue to cook slowly for another 2 to 3 minutes.
11. Last but not least, add the vinegar and stir through. 
12. It does well to leave it sit off the heat for a bit; the lentils will thicken slightly and the flavours round out. If it cools too much, just reheat.

Neapolitan-style Pasta with Lentils - Untested

https://memoriediangelina.com/2025/01/18/pasta-e-lenticchie/

These with tomato

https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Pasta-e-lenticchie.html

https://blog.giallozafferano.it/martanoskitchen/pasta-e-lenticchie-nere-della-tuscia/

Serves 4

250g (8 oz) French-style green lentils, soaked overnight

1 litre (4 cups) cold water

2–3 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp salt

1 medium onion, thinly sliced across the grain

2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed

2 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp salt

Splash of dry white wine

250g (8 oz) linguine, broken into 4–5 cm lengths, or ditali, tubetti, or similar

1 tsp salt per litre of pasta water

½ tsp red wine vinegar

Olive oil to finish

1. Put the lentils in a pot with the water, garlic, bay leaf, olive oil, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, partially covered. Cook 25–40 minutes if soaked, 45–65 if not. They're done when a lentil crushes completely between two fingers with no graininess. As they near the end, smash a quarter to a third of them against the side of the pot — this thickens the liquid into something that will cling to the pasta rather than pool beneath it. Keep the pot moist, topping up with hot water as needed.
2. Start the onions when the lentils are about halfway done. Cook them low and slow in the olive oil with the garlic, adding a tablespoon of water whenever the pan looks dry, until completely soft and translucent — about 20–30 minutes. Add the white wine and let it cook off, another 2–3 minutes. Season with salt. Add the onions to the lentils and stir through.
3. Cook the pasta in well-salted water until noticeably underdone — 2–3 minutes short of packet time. Reserve about 200ml (¾ cup) of pasta water before draining.
4. Add the drained pasta to the lentils along with the reserved pasta water. Stir well, taste for salt, cover the pot, and turn off the heat. Leave to rest for at least 1 hour — or make it in the morning for the evening. This rest is the technique, not optional.
5. To serve, stir in the red wine vinegar, add a small ladleful of water, and reheat gently until warm through. Adjust consistency with more water if needed. Finish each bowl with a thread of olive oil.

Notes

Lentils: Soaking shortens cooking by 20–30 minutes. Canadian French-style green lentils are interchangeable with du Puy for this dish. Beluga lentils work but need more effort to smash and a little more time; add 10–15 minutes to the cooking range.

Pasta: Broken linguine is traditional in the Neapolitan original. Broken spaghetti is fine. Ditali or tubetti need no breaking and are perhaps the most common alternative.

Seasoning: Three salting points accumulate — go conservatively each time and taste after combining.

Roasted Acorn Squash Cornbread - Untested

Other Sources:

https://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/roasted-squash-cornbread

https://anitaliandish.com/2023/02/03/winter-squash-skillet-cornbread/

Prep time: 15 min | Cook time: 35 min 

1 cup pureed roasted acorn squash (about 1 medium squash)

1 ½ cups cornmeal (preferably stone-ground)

1 cup milk (or water, for a more traditional, dairy-free approach)

2 large eggs

¼ cup melted butter or sunflower oil

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Optional sweetener: 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey 

1. Roast the Squash: Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut acorn squash in half, remove seeds, and roast face down on a baking sheet for 45 minutes or until tender. Scoop out 1 cup of flesh and mash it well or puree it. 
2. Prepare Oven/Pan: Lower oven temperature to 375°F. Grease a 9x9-inch baking dish or a cast-iron skillet. 
3. Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. 
4. Combine Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the mashed acorn squash, milk, eggs, maple syrup (if using), and melted butter/oil. 
5. Combine: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. 
6. Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Ooopsie Crackers - Testing

I sometimes make mistakes. This time I was making one of my Commons breads, and I forgot to add the yeast. I could tell because 24hrs later, still no bubbles. This is a potential save.

1 - This is really good! I need to even out my rolling, and a full recipe of the bread dough makes a lot!!! I made a half recipe but used the same amount of flour as for a full recipe, so there's that. The dough is still very sticky but putting down a lot of flour when rolling seems to work. I lightly brushed with olive oil and sprinkled on salt and it was good stuff!

Yeast-less dough base

120 (maybe 240?) g flour

30 g olive oil or melted butter

2–4 g salt (to taste)

1. Mix everything until cohesive. You want a firmer dough than the flatbread — not sticky.
2. Allow the dough to rest 20–30 minutes, which helps with rolling. 
3. Divide into 2–3 pieces and roll each piece very thin, as thin as possible (1–2 mm), almost translucent.
4. Prick all over with a fork.
5. Optional toppings: flaky salt, sesame seeds, cracked pepper, herbs
6. Bake 355°F for 12–18 minutes depending on thickness. Rotate tray halfway to ensure even baking.
7. Cool fully - be patient, they crisp up as they cool.

What to expect:

Snappy, lightly sour crackers with a deep, almost cultured flavour.

Tangy Skillet Flatbreads (naan-ish) - Test 1

1 - Still not fully satisfied. The warm bread was still too doughy (I think I need to make it even thinner) and it had a very floral taste. I'll see what it's like when it's cold.

2 - This worked so well! I halved the recipe, used 4g of instant yeast and a lot more flour. I also scooped out a little of the dough base and whisked it in a little water to loosen it up before adding the yeast to help it dissolve a bit before mixing it into the bread. It has that Naan texture! And I could totally imagine using it to make Aloo Naan, a favorite of ours. I did roll it out pretty thin, too, much more thin than the first batch. And it puffed a little like the flour tortillas do, but to a lesser degree.

Commons Bread recipe (your choice) WITHOUT the yeast and AFTER it has sat for 12-24 hours.

Add:

3–5 g instant yeast (¾–1¼ tsp) (optional but recommended)

60–100 160g all-purpose flour (for structure)

10–15 g oil or melted butter (optional, for softness)

OPTIONAL - herbs of your choice, fresh or dry

1. Sprinkle yeast over your dough, mix well.
2. Add 60 g flour first, mix, then add more only if still very loose.
3. You’re aiming for a soft, slightly tacky dough, not sticky batter.
4. Cover and rest 45–60 minutes. It won’t double — just a bit of puff is enough.
5. Turn onto a floured surface.
6. Divide into 8–10 pieces (~90–110 g each?).
7. To shape, gently flatten and roll thin (3–5 mm).
8. Don’t overwork — the dough will be a bit relaxed/fragile.
9. In a hot dry pan (cast iron ideal), cook 1–2 min per side until bubbles form, and brown spots appear.
10. To finish, brush with butter or oil and sprinkle with salt and or herbs

Cook’s Spread - Untested

Made using spent aromatics for things like braising (see Langue de porc braisée au vin rouge). Use as a pâté.

Your poached onion, carrot, celery (well-drained)

1–2 tbsp butter or bacon fat (or a mix)

1–2 tsp mustard or a splash of vinegar

Salt (careful if the braise was already seasoned)

Black pepper

Optional lift:

garlic (fresh or from the dish)

chopped parsley

a tiny splash of red wine

1. Drain well
2. Press out excess liquid—this matters or it’ll be watery.
3. Chop or mash
4. Rough chop for a coarse texture
5. Or mash for something closer to a spread
6. Warm gently with fat
7. Heat butter or bacon fat, add veg, cook 3–5 minutes
8. → this step brings back aroma and richness
9. Season + brighten
10. Add mustard or vinegar
11. Taste → adjust salt/pepper
12. Finish
13. Stir in herbs if using
14. Serve warm or room temp

What it becomes (texture spectrum)

Chunky → side dish / spoonable accompaniment

Smooth → spread / toast topping

Looser → almost a rustic sauce

Recipe Name Ideas (choose your vibe)

Old-world / French countryside feel

Potager Cook’s Paste

Peasant Mirepoix Spread

After-Pot Vegetable Pâté

Kitchen Hearth Relish

Second Pot Paste

Butcher’s table / nose-to-tail energy

Butcher’s Aromatic Mash

Tongue-Pot Relish

Charcutier’s Vegetable Paste

Stockpot Spread

Simple / modern / accessible

Savory Veg Spread

Rustic Veg Mash

Kitchen Scrap Spread (honest and kind of great)

Deep Flavour Veg Paste

Homemade Roots Divino Bianco - Untested

Homemade Roots Divino Bianco (NA Vermouth) A crisp, herbal non-alcoholic white vermouth inspired by ancient Greek herbal remedies — lemon, thyme, rosemary, and a gentle bitterness from wormwood.

Ingredients (makes ~600ml, ~12 servings of 50ml)

• 500ml dealcoholized white wine (dry, neutral — e.g. Leitz or Ariel)
• 100ml water
• 60g sugar
• 30ml fresh lemon juice
• 3 strips lemon zest (no pith)
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp dried wormwood (artemisia absinthium)
• ½ tsp dried gentian root
• ½ tsp dried oregano

---

Method

1. Make the simple syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar fully dissolves — you'll see the liquid go from slightly cloudy to completely clear (2–4 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool completely before using.

Note: Dissolving sugar in warm water rather than adding it cold ensures even distribution and prevents graininess in the finished vermouth. The syrup must be fully cooled before combining with the wine, or it will slightly cook off the more delicate aromatic compounds.

2. Infuse the botanicals. In a clean glass jar, combine the dealcoholized wine with the lemon zest, thyme, rosemary, wormwood, gentian, and oregano. Seal and leave to infuse at room temperature. Taste every 30 minutes. The infusion is ready when it is pleasantly herbal and lightly bitter — usually 1 to 2 hours. Stop as soon as it tastes right to you; do not push further.

Note: Wormwood (artemisia absinthium) and gentian root are both intensely bitter due to sesquiterpene lactones and iridoid glycosides respectively. These compounds extract quickly in liquid — far faster than, say, vanilla or citrus peel. This is why tasting every 30 minutes is the real instruction here, not the time range.

Note: The lemon zest releases limonene and other aromatic oils from its surface cells almost immediately. The white pith beneath contains naringin, which is harsh and astringent — this is why zest strips with no pith are specified.

3. Strain. Once the flavor is where you want it, pour the infusion through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a clean bottle or jar. Press the herbs gently to extract the last of the liquid, then discard the solids.

4. Finish and adjust. Stir in the cooled simple syrup and lemon juice. Taste carefully and adjust: more lemon juice if it needs brightness, a little more syrup if the bitterness is too sharp, a splash more wine if it feels too concentrated. The target balance is lightly sweet, gently sour, and pleasantly bitter — none of the three should dominate.

Note: The lemon juice serves two roles here: flavour (brightness, citrus lift) and chemistry. The citric acid lowers the pH slightly, which helps preserve the aromatic compounds and extends shelf life without any alcohol to act as a preservative.

5. Bottle and chill. Pour into a sealed bottle and refrigerate immediately. Ready to use straight away. Keeps for up to 2 weeks — after which the more delicate aromatics begin to fade.

---

LHSS Score

Category	Weight	Score	Weighted	Notes
Greens / Cruciferous / Bitters	25%	6 / 10	1.50	Wormwood, rosemary, and thyme are bitter and phytonutrient-rich, but this is a condiment — a 50ml serving delivers only trace amounts of plant material. Scored for the bitter botanical presence, not volume.
Alliums	15%	0 / 10	0.00	None.
Pulses + Fibre	20%	0 / 10	0.00	None. This is a flavouring agent, not a fibre source.
Fat Quality	15%	10 / 10	1.50	Zero fat of any kind.
Dairy Density	10%	10 / 10	1.00	No dairy.
Salt Load	5%	10 / 10	0.50	No added salt whatsoever.
Spice / Phytonutrients	10%	9 / 10	0.90	Thyme, rosemary, oregano, wormwood, gentian, lemon zest — a genuinely rich botanical profile. Wormwood and gentian in particular are among the most potent bitter digestive herbs used historically.
LHSS TOTAL	100%	5.40 / 10		Scored honestly as a condiment/aperitif, not a meal component. The score reflects what a 50ml serving actually delivers — trace botanicals, no fibre, no alliums, no pulses. Within its category (flavouring agent / drink base), it is excellent: zero fat, zero dairy, zero salt, and a strong phytonutrient profile.

LDL note: No meaningful LDL relevance in either direction at a 50ml serving size. The botanical profile — wormwood, gentian, rosemary, thyme — is anti-inflammatory and digestively supportive, which is a mild positive. The sugar content (roughly 5g per 50ml serving) is low and unremarkable. This is a good substitute for an alcoholic aperitif, which would carry far more metabolic cost.

Mogette Plate - Untested

A classic Vendée plate — mogettes in broth, perfumed with salt pork, with sharp greens and bread to soak it all up.

1 recipe Mogette de Vendée

60–80 g salt pork (lard salé / poitrine salée)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

Bitter greens for salad (arugula, frisee, etc), or braised greens

Vinaigrette or vinegar, to dress the greens

A modest slice of bread, to serve

1. Make the Mogette de Vendée recipe; keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, place the pork in a small pot and cover with cold water. 
3. Bring just to a boil - look for the moment when you see a full, rolling boil across the surface — vigorous bubbles breaking continuously, then immediately drain and rinse. 
4. Slice the blanched pork thickly — coins or short batons, about 1 to 1.5 cm. Add to the mogettes for the last 20–25 minutes of cooking, letting it gently perfume the broth without dissolving into fat.
5. Prepare the greens. Either dress a bitter green salad simply with vinaigrette, or lightly steam or braise chard, kale, or cabbage and finish with a splash of vinegar. Keep it sharp — this is the counterpoint to the rich, yielding beans.
6. Assemble and serve. Ladle the mogettes into a bowl with plenty of their light broth. Stir in the vinegar. Arrange the pork pieces alongside — not mixed through. Serve the greens on the side with a modest slice of bread for soaking up the broth.

With bread (as specified):

🟢 7.8 / 10 — Solidly within LHSS “green zone”

Without bread:

🟢 8.4 / 10 — Exceptionally liver-gentle

Brownie cocktail - Testing

1 - This is Ben's invention, first made in the drafty cold but beautiful Whalewych farmhouse.

1 and a half parts vodka

1 part crème de cacao

1/4 shot jagermeister

a few drops of coffee bitters

1. Dip the rim of a martini glass in sugar before pouring in the cocktail.

Sweet Celery Pie - Untested

https://www.24heures.ch/rcomment-cuisiner-le-celeri-pour-le-dessert-540471639949

Makes one 26 cm (10-inch) tart

1 kg (2.2 lbs) celery stalks

500 g (2½ cups) sugar + 50 g (¼ cup) extra

1 vanilla pod

200 g (1⅔ cups) plain flour

120 g (½ cup) whipping cream

1 egg yolk

30 g (¼ cup) ground almonds

1 pinch of salt

⅓ cup table cream

⅓ cup milk

1 large egg

1. Slice the celery into ½ cm (¼ inch) rounds.
2. Over medium heat, dissolve the 500 g of sugar in 500 ml (2 cups) of water with the scraped vanilla pod. Once the syrup is boiling, add the celery pieces and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Leave to rest in the syrup for 10 minutes, then drain into a bowl and set the syrup aside (it's lovely used in a fruit salad).
3. For the pastry: Mix the flour with the 50 g of sugar, a pinch of salt and the double cream. Work with your fingertips for about 10 minutes until the mixture reaches a sandy, crumbly texture. Add the ground almonds and mix, then add the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons of water. Bring together into a dough.
4. Roll out on a floured surface, line your tart tin, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
5. Prick the base with a fork and cover with baking weights (ceramic beans, chickpeas, or dried beans work well). Blind bake for 30 minutes at 210°C (410°F).
6. Leave to cool, then arrange the candied celery over the base.
7. Whisk together the egg, single cream, milk and 50 ml of the reserved celery syrup. Pour over the tart.
8. Bake for 20 minutes at 190°C (375°F).

Italian Carrot Cake (Torta di Carotta) - Untested

https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Torta-di-Carote.html

for a 22 cm mould

Carrots 300 g, grated

Flour 200 g

Almond flour 100 g

3 eggs (180 g)

Sugar 150 g

Sunflower seed oil 150 g

Orange juice (can use lemon juice) 80 g

Orange zest to taste (or vanilla extract)

Baking powder 16 g

1 pinch of fine salt

to decorate

Flaked almonds 50 g

Powdered sugar to taste

1. To prepare the carrot cake, first grate the orange zest and set it aside. Squeeze the juice and filter it. At this point, trim the carrots and peel them.
2. Break the eggs into a bowl, add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Work with an electric whisk until you get a light and frothy consistency.
3. When the eggs are well whipped, slowly pour in the seed oil and the orange juice. Then add the grated orange zest.
4. Still with the whisks in action, add the carrots. Mix until well incorporated. Now pour the flour and the sifted yeast into a bowl and almond flour. Mix the powders together with a spoon.
5. Turn the whisk on again and incorporate the powders a little at a time. Mix with the whisk at medium speed until you obtain a smooth mixture. Then transfer it into a 22 cm mould lined with baking paper.
6. Decorate the surface with almond flakes and bake in a preheated static oven at 180° for 55 minutes. Always test with a toothpick before removing from the oven. Let it cool completely, then unmold and decorate with powdered sugar. Your carrot cake is ready to serve!

You can store the carrot cake for 2-3 days under a glass bell jar.

Alternatively, you can freeze it whole or in portions.

Advise

Instead of orange juice, you can use lemon juice, plant-based milk, or semi-skimmed milk.

Langue braisée au vin rouge - Untested

Serves 6

Whole beef tongue 1420g

Lardons or diced smoked pork belly 180g

Onion, roughly chopped 225g

Carrot, roughly chopped 180g

Celery, roughly chopped 100g

Garlic cloves, lightly crushed 30g

Red wine (Burgundy, Côtes du Rhône, or similar) 750ml

Beef stock 500ml

Tomato paste 30g

Plain flour 25g

Butter 40g

Neutral oil (sunflower or grapeseed) 20g

Fresh thyme sprigs 10g

Bay leaves 4

Parsley stalks (reserve leaves for serving) 20g

Black peppercorns 10g

Coarse salt (for blanching water) 30g

Flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, to finish 15g

1. Blanch and peel the tongue by placing it in a large pot, cover generously with cold water, and add the coarse salt. Bring to a boil and blanch for 15 minutes — grey scum will rise; this is normal. Drain and rinse under cold running water. While still warm enough to handle, use a small sharp knife to peel away the tough outer skin — it should come off in large pieces. Trim any excess fat or gristle from the root end.
2. To marinate, place the peeled tongue in a deep bowl with the red wine, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, parsley stalks, and peppercorns. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight but no longer than 18 hours. When ready to braise, lift the tongue out and pat it dry. Strain the marinade and reserve both the liquid and the vegetables separately.
3. Preheated the oven to 150°C and heat a heavy lidded casserole or Dutch oven large enough to hold the tongue, in it. Render the lardons over medium heat until golden and their fat has run. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving 2 Tbsps. of fat in the pan.
4. Add the oil to the lardon fat and raise the heat to medium-high. Season the tongue with salt and brown it on all sides — about 3 minutes per side. You want good colour here; it builds the foundation of the sauce. Remove the tongue and set aside.
5. Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter to the pan. Add the reserved vegetables from the marinade  and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until softened and beginning to colour. Add the tomato paste and stir it in, cooking for 2 minutes until it deepens in colour. Scatter over the flour and stir to coat everything — cook for a further 2 minutes.
6. Pour in the reserved marinade liquid and bring to a vigorous simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the beef stock and return the lardons to the pot. Nestle the tongue back in — it should be roughly half-submerged. Tuck the thyme, bay leaves, and parsley stalks around it if you have fresh ones to spare. Bring everything to a gentle simmer.
7. Cover with the lid and transfer to the oven at 300°F. Braise for 3 to 3.5 hours, turning the tongue once at the halfway point. It is ready when a skewer meets no resistance at the thickest part and the meat has a slight wobble when you nudge the pot. If your tongue is on the larger side, allow up to 4 hours.
8. Lift the tongue out and wrap loosely in foil to rest for 20 minutes. Strain the braising liquid through a fine sieve into a saucepan, pressing the vegetables firmly to extract every drop. Discard the solids. Skim any fat from the surface, then bring the sauce to a brisk simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce for 10–15 minutes until it coats a spoon generously and has a deep, wine-dark colour. Taste carefully and adjust salt — the sauce concentrates significantly, so hold back until the end.
9. Slice the tongue across the grain into pieces about 12mm thick — the meat should be yielding and almost silky. Arrange on a warm platter or individual plates, spoon the sauce generously over and around, and scatter the chopped flat-leaf parsley over the top. Serve immediately with mashed potato, buttered egg noodles, or soft polenta, and something sharp alongside — cornichons, a good Dijon mustard, or pickled walnuts all work beautifully.

Notes

• On the wine. Use something you'd actually drink — nothing expensive, but nothing undrinkable. A young, fruity red works best. Avoid anything heavily oaked or very tannic, as it can turn bitter on reduction.
• Make ahead. This dish is genuinely better the next day. Cool the tongue in its sauce, refrigerate overnight, then skim the solidified fat from the surface, reheat gently, and slice. The meat firms up and slices more cleanly, and the sauce deepens overnight.
• On the sauce. The reduction in Step 8 is where the dish earns its keep — don't rush it. You want it thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and leave a clean line when you draw your finger through it.

Langue de porc braisée au vin rouge - Untested

A farmhouse Burgundy braise — pig's tongue slow-cooked in red wine

Pig's tongue 410 g

Coarse salt (brine) 18 g

Cold water (brine) 1000 g

1 onion (150 g) chopped

200 g Carrot, chopped 

100 g Celery, chopped 

3 bay leaves

25 peppercorns

12 whole cloves

Red wine 750 g (Pinot Noir, Gamay, or BC Okanagan red)

Garlic 12 g, smashed

6 sprigs thyme

3 bay leaves

Lardons / bacon 75 g

Unsalted butter 40 g

Plain flour 18 g

Stock 300 g

Another 12g smashed garlic

3 bay leaves

6 sprigs fresh thyme

Pearl onions or shallots 100 g

Mushrooms 125 g quartered

Flat-leaf parsley 8 g

Day 1 

1. To start the brine, dissolve the coarse salt in a liter of cold water in a bowl or container large enough to submerge the tongue. 
2. Cover and refrigerate for roughly 4 days. This extended brine will give the tongue a lightly cured, petit salé character that works beautifully in this dish.

Day 4 

1. To prepare for the first poach, remove the tongue from the brine and rinse well. 
2. Place in a pot and cover generously with cold water. 
3. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves and thyme sprigs. 
4. Bring to a boil, skim any grey foam thoroughly, then reduce to a gentle simmer. 
5. The tongue is done when a skewer meets no resistance at the thickest point. For small tongues this can take 1:30hrs and for larger ones up to double that.
6. Peel the skin off the tongues while they're hot (the skin bonds back to the meat as it cools).
1. Lift the tongue out of the poaching liquid (strain the liquid and save as broth, adjust seasoning to compensate for the salt in it). 
2. While still hot (use tongs and a cloth), peel off the thick outer skin starting from the tip — it should come away in large strips. 
3. Trim any gristly root bits. 
4. Work quickly.
7. Place the peeled tongue in a bowl with the red wine , the first round of garlic cloves, smashed, thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Cover and refrigerate overnight — at least 12hours but not exceed 24 hours or the wine acid will begin to degrade the surface texture.

Day 5

1. In a heavy casserole (cast iron is ideal), cook the lardons over low heat until the fat has rendered and the pieces are golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Leave the fat in the pan.
2. Remove tongue from the wine marinade and pat thoroughly dry — reserve the wine. 
3. In the lardon fat over medium-high heat, brown the tongue on all sides until deeply coloured. Don't rush this; 6–8 minutes total. 
4. Remove and set aside.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add the butter to the pot. When melted add remaining 12 grams of garlic cloves and cook 1 minute. 
6. Scatter over the flour and stir into the fat to make a rough roux. 
7. Cook 2 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty. 
8. Pour in the reserved wine from the marinade, scraping up all the browned bits. 
9. Add the pork or chicken stock. Tuck in remaining bay leaves, thyme sprigs, the browned lardons and the tongue. The liquid should come about halfway up the tongue.
10. Bring to a bare simmer, cover tightly and cook in a 300°F. 
11. Turn the tongue once halfway through. Start checking at the 75 minutes.

OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED

Cool overnight by removing from oven, allow to cool, then refrigerate tongue and sauce together overnight. The sauce will tighten, the fat will solidify and lift off cleanly, and the flavour will deepen considerably. This is the ideal approach — Thursday becomes a simple reheating job.

The Sauce

1. Glaze the pearl onions and mushrooms for about 10 minutes by melting a knob of butter (about 20g) in a wide pan over medium-high heat. 
2. Add the onions or small shallots, peeled with a pinch of sugar and cook, shaking the pan, until golden — about 10 minutes. Remove. 
3. In the same pan, turn up the heat, add another small knob of butter and sear the mushrooms until golden. Season. Set both aside.
4. If possible, remove as much fat as possible from the surface of the cold sauce (easier if refrigerated the day before). 
5. Transfer sauce to a wide saucepan and reduce over high heat until it coats a spoon — about 10 minutes.
6. Taste for salt. 
7. Add the glazed onions and mushrooms to warm through.

Final steps

1. While still cold, slice the tongue on a slight diagonal into 1cm thick pieces (easier to cut nicely when it's cold).
2. Lay slices in the sauce and warm gently over low heat with a lid on for a few minutes. Do not boil. 
3. Arrange on warm plates, spoon sauce, onions and mushrooms generously over the top, and scatter with the parsley. 
4. Serve with egg noodles, boiled potatoes, or crusty bread.

Notes

Thursday timeline: The braise happens Wednesday evening after the overnight wine marinade. Thursday is just glazing the onions and mushrooms (10 min), reducing the sauce (10 min), slicing the cold tongue and warming through (10 min). Dinner is essentially ready in 30 minutes.

The sauce volume: With a smaller piece of meat but full sauce quantities, you will have generous sauce — which is a good thing. Any leftover sauce freezes beautifully and is excellent with pasta, pork chops, or as a base for another braise.

Wine: A BC Okanagan Pinot Noir is a natural choice and would be very much in the spirit of using local ingredients throughout.

Mushrooms: If you have access to any wild mushrooms from the island, use them here — chanterelles or hedgehogs in particular would be exceptional.