Mercimek Corbasi

All went well yesterday until we reached JFK. Due to inclement weather, flights were delayed and cancelled. My flight from JFK to Norfolk was delayed two hours as was Jim Hauf's to St. Louis, but, what a relief to finally board the aircraft! After 30 minutes on the runway I overheard another passenger grumble, "Are we planning to taxi all the way to Norfolk?"

Actually, I walked through the door of our house at 3 o'clock in the morning. In Istanbul it ws already 10 o'clock in the morning. I decided to stay up, unpack my luggage, and do laundry. As soon as Tony left for work, I went to the grocery store. The abbreviated version of this story is that I purchased the ingredients for soup and prepared mercimek corbasi for dinner. Nothing hits the spot like good Turkish soup. I'll include the recipe that I used (to which I added additional mint and paprika) from TURKISH COOKING (ISBN 978-975-7199-76-2) :

MERCIMEK CORBASI (red lentil soup)

1 large chopped onion (red)
2 carrots
1 large potato
1 glass red lentils (1 cup)
6 glasses vegetable broth (6 cups)
1 T butter
1/4 glass of cream (1/4 cup whipping cream)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 T butter
1/2 T dried mint
1/2 tsp paprika
2 T melted butter

Place onion, carrots, and potato in pressure cooker for about 10 minutes to soften. Add lentils, broth, seasoning, and mint. Cook over low heat stirring from time to time. (Remove from burner.) Add cream and blend with food processor. Season to taste (additional mint and paprika). Return to pan and simmer for a few minutes. Garnish and serve.