Esau's Soup

I found this recipe for Esau's Red Red Soup in the Penzeys Spice catalog.  It was submitted by a lady named Dane Kuttler. The title of the recipe was what caught my eye.  This summer, the church sermons have been on the New Testament. 

If you aren't familiar with the story, here is my non biblical scholar's recap: There were these twins, Esau and Jacob.  Esau was born first and Jacob was never really happy with that.  So Esau comes in from a hard day's work in the fields and sees Jacob with this red lentil stew.  Of course Esau wants some and begs and begs his brother to give him some.  So Jacob says, "Ok but you've gotta give me your birthright in exchange."  Esau is so hungry that he does!  Ca-raaazeee.  That must've been one helluva bowl of stew.

I told Blockette that I found this recipe for Esau's Soup.  Well she was pretty excited about the whole thing.  I guess she thought it was the exact same recipe that Jacob made.  After a good chuckle, I said it wasn't the exact recipe, but something that was probably similar.  Luckily, her enthusiasm didn't diminish.

The soup itself was pretty tasty, not anything I'd sell my future for though!

After we sat down to eat, Blockette turned to me and said, between mouthfulls, "This looks like cat pukie."

I stopped and stared at her.

"Doesn't it look like cat pukie momma?"

I sighed and said, "Yes. You are right. It is sort of the same color. But doesn't it taste good?"

"Well, yes..."

"Ok then, let's not talk about what it looks like."

Esau's Red (not cat puke) Soup
1 onion Chopped
2 T olive oil
2 celery stalks chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 head garlic, minced
2 small potatoes, diced
1 c red lentils
4 c stock (the recipe says veggie, but I only had turkey stock on hand)
2 bay leaves
2 lemons, halved (I didn't have lemons so I just used lemon juice in a bottle)
1/2 t cumin
cayenne pepper to taste
salt to taste
parsley to garnish

Heat stock pot over med heat. Add oil and onions and cook until translucent. Add half the garlic, veggies and potatoes. Cook for a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add lentils and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 30 min, or until potatoes and lentils tender. Add bay leaves, remaining garlic and lemons. Cook for 10 min. Remove bay leaves and lemons, squeezing juices out with tongs. Blend with blender or immersion blender to get desired texture. We went for a slightly chunky texture. Add cumin, cayenne and salt. Top with parsley.

Some additional notes:  I made a double recipe of this because I wanted leftovers.  After we the first serving I thought the soup was a little boring.  I had a leftover brat and a pecan wood smoked grilled chicken breast.  I diced both of them up and tossed them into the soup.  I also added a few handfuls of frozen corn and green beans.  Then I shook in a bit of Turkish Seasoning from Penzeys Spices. This soup was transformed into a nice hearty stew that was 10 times better than the original.  AND with all those add-ins, the stew barely resembled cat puke.  Double winning!