Day 66: Poached eggs with bacon lentils

Before I get down to the main focus of tonight’s post, I must tell you about dinner last night at Il Forno in Duke Street, Liverpool. Voted by The Times as one of the top 10 best authentic Italian restaurants in the UK. Our table was booked for 7pm and we were only 5 minutes late. We were seen to our seats straightaway and we had a large rectangular table. The menu had one of the best selections of Italian dishes that I have ever seen. There was something for absolutely everyone. All nine of us were really looking forward to dinner and there was a great spread in terms of what each of us ordered.

For starters, we had garlic bread, bruschetta, squid or tomato soup. The garlic bread and bruschetta were standard enough. The tomato soup was absolutely delicious. Dear Sister No.1 had ordered this (and I had a taste) as did a few of the other girls and it looked like a meal itself. It was a massive bowl although I was glad I didn’t order it or, if I had, that would probably have done me without need for a main course. It was accompanied by lovely croutons and fresh basil. Dear Cousin had squid which consisted of battered squid with two types of dressing and a wee bit of salad.

For the main course, I had potato dumplings in a beautiful tomato sauce with mozzarella whilst the others had dishes such as pizza, chilli pasta, chicken with broccoli and onion, another chicken pasta dish, lasagne etc. The portion sizes were absolutely massive and half of what I got would have been more than enough for me. To be honest, I don’t think there was one of us who actually cleared the plate as the portions were really big. Nonetheless, we were all raving about the food.

Not everyone had dessert but, for those of us who did, we had a Nutella pizza (for me but it was shared round the table!), ice-cream, a knickerbocker glory and then the usual teas and coffees.

From start to finish the meal took 3 hours but the restaurant was extremely busy and as soon as one table cleared, more customers were seated. The clientele consisted of a really good mix of people – different ages, some couples, some families with young children, a hen party (yes, us!), people in eating on their own (they have a large long low-level counter for this too!). Everyone was dressed really well and the restaurant itself was extremely nice – the colours consisted of browns and whites and looked extremely clean and contemporary. The bill between us worked out at £23 which we thought was unbelievable value-for-money. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you’re going to Liverpool any time. But, for now, it’s back to the Challenge…

So, this time last week, I made Poached eggs with bacon lentils for breakfast. To start off, I poured olive oil into a saucepan and fried diced bacon until it was brown and crispy. I then added Puy lentils, a bay leaf and rosemary in the pan along with 500ml of water. They came up to the boil and then simmered for 15 minutes until the lentils were soft. There was still water left in the pan so I drained it and threw away the bay leaf and sprig of rosemary. I then added in olive oil and seasoned them.

While the lentils were cooking, I poached an egg (for the first time!) so what I did was boil a saucepan of water with a small bit of vinegar; then, I reduced the heat to low and added in an egg. I actually cracked the egg into a small bowl and slid it into the water for fear that I wouldn’t do it right. To serve up, I dished up the lentils, placed the poached egg on top and garnished with freshly chopped parsley.

The verdict…

Well, I’m sure you weren’t expecting a high score for this dish because of Dear Husband’s lack of love for lentils so he scored the breakfast 3 marks out of 10. He actually didn’t finish the dish so that in itself says a lot. Therefore, it most definitely has not made The List and I certainly won’t be in a hurry to make it again. If you don’t like lentils, you won’t like this recipe. Also, I’d say that a poached egg is probably very plain if, like Dear Husband, you really like fried eggs. Just as well then that I didn’t let Dear Husband starve as I then made him two fried eggs and few sausages with tea and toast. Now, there’s a breakfast which always goes down well no matter who’s eating it. Thankfully for Dear Husband, he can always look forward to a breakfast that any Sunday at all and the lentils can stay safely on the shelf!