lidia's lentils

Apparently it's traditional to have lentils and cotechino as a New Year's Eve meal in Italia.  We feasted with friends last night with nary a lentil in sight . . . lots of seafood (ThankYou, ThankYou, ThankYou) prepared by talented Neapolitan women, but not one trace of legumes or pork sausage. I brought a pecan pie to the table; it's just strange enough to prevent criticism of its quality. Feed them uniquely American foods and you'll never go wrong. Trust me.

Alas, lentils bring good fortune in the form of money -- who doesn't need a bit more cold hard cash to make it through the new year?  Whether it's to pay off your mortgage or student loans or to purchase your farm house in Tuscany or Umbria, or, better yet, Provence, a bit of cash would likely come in handy to most of us. So, today I made lentils. There's no harm in trying, right? After all, lentils are good for you.

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A generous and gracious friend introduced me to Lidia with her latest cookbook as a Christmas gift:  Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy.  I love it when friends share good "stuff" that I've never heard of before, like this woman Lidia. She's hot.

Her recipe for lentils with rice was perfect.  I used a rice, a canaroli, grown in a nearby community.  Nice. We'll make it again. We'll serve it to guests. We'll bring it to the party next New Year's Eve, even though it's not uniquely American. It's that good.

Thanks, Lidia. I think we'll be working our way through your book.

Thanks friends for the great cookbook. Wanna come over for some lentils? They bring good fortune. . . or is that only on New Year's?  

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So many cookbooks, so little time.  Did you receive a new one this holiday season?  Do you have a favorite you'd like to share?  As I type Richard is thumbing through this one with great plans.