So Long, Farewell

Well, I though this day would never come, but the Lentil soup at Guilia has been taken off the menu.
I've been too upset until now to even mention it, now I'm plain angry.
All part of the grieving process, so I'm told.
Anyhoo, please regard my post about the soup made earlier this year as a tribute now.

baked mushrooms from the middle-east

Last night I threw some stuff together and it came out really well.
I remembered a dish Kat Egan used to make that was like a baked potato casserole almost braised in tomato paste and olive-oil... this is inspired by that very dish, only spicier with whole mushrooms instead of spuds, practically no prep...
Oh yeah!

1/2 kilo button mushrooms (whole)
3 medium tomatoes, diced
spanish onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
4 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp sweet paprika
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp mustard
zest of 1 lemon
salt n pepa

I threw all of these into a casserole dish (no lid) and baked in a hot oven for 30mins.
after that time I put a heaped tbsp of nuttlex stirred through and baked for another 10 minutes.
it was rich and delicious.

I served with a variation on trad. lebanese rice and lentils where I cooked the rice with the lentils, fried onion and a tbsp of paprika in the rice cooker, it worked really well!
Of course there was a green salad as well.