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Lentil Timbales
1 1/2 cups milk 1/2 cup very dry lentil puree 2 eggs, beaten 3/4 teaspoon salt If the puree is not very dry, 1 1/4 cups milk and three-fourths cup puree may be used.
Beat the ingredients well together, pour into oiled timbale cups, and bake in a pan of water till "set." Allow the timbales to cool a little, then remove from the molds, and serve with walnut gravy.
A baked savory custard, thickened with lentil puree rather than flour, set in a water bath and turned out for serving. The original assumes you already have lentil puree on hand from a soup made earlier in the week.
- The hinge: gentle heatThe recipe gives no temperature, only "bake in a pan of water till 'set.'" A custard baked hot is liable to curdle and weep, so a moderate 300-325F oven with the cups in a pan of hot water reaching halfway up is the safe reading; pull them when the centers are just barely firm to a light touch.
- Timbale cupsSmall straight-sided molds of roughly 4 to 5 fluid ounces. Ramekins, custard cups, or a muffin tin all work; the mixture comes to about 2 1/2 cups, so it fills four or five of them. Oil them well and, if you want clean unmolding, line the bottoms with a disc of parchment.
- Baking timeNo time is given because it depends on the cup. Expect 30 to 40 minutes for 4-ounce molds; larger molds run to an hour. Test the middle one, not the ones at the edge of the pan.
- "Very dry" pureeThis matters more than any other measurement here. Cook lentils soft, sieve or blend them, then dry the puree over low heat, stirring, until it holds its shape on a spoon and no water separates out. A loose puree gives a custard that will not set, which is why the recipe offers the second ratio.
- Two eggs to two cups liquidTwo eggs to 1 1/2 cups milk (plus 1/2 cup stiff puree) -- Lean in egg by modern custard proportions, with the dried puree carrying some of the body. It will be soft and delicate; let the timbales rest 10 minutes, run a thin knife around the edge, and turn them out onto warmed plates rather than lifting them.
- Walnut gravyA period vegetarian brown sauce: browned butter or oil and flour, stock or milk, and ground or finely chopped walnuts, seasoned and simmered until thick. Any nut-thickened brown sauce or a mushroom gravy serves the same purpose.
- SeasoningSalt is the only flavoring listed. A grating of nutmeg, black pepper, or a little grated onion cooked into the puree brings the dish forward considerably without changing its structure.
- Yield and servingFour or five small timbales, enough for two or three as a main course with gravy and a vegetable, or four or five as a first course.