Recipe for family meals :

This recipe was sent to me by Shirley Cline.

Shirley was a great inspiration to me when I first started working on the idea of creating a recipe and cooking web site. Not only did she encourage me but she also supplied a great many recipes and other pieces which are featured throughout the site. Her great achievement was to teach me to cook risottos over the internet!

Although I never had the chance to meet Shirley, or even talk to her, I regarded her as a good friend. It was with great sadness that I learnt that she passed away in Autumn 2004 and that there would be no more emails. I think she will be sadly missed by a lot of people like me to whom she gave such pleasure with the sharing or her recipes. The pleasure my children have had from her recipe for Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar and Mint - not to mention the fights for seconds - has been a joy to behold.

Goodbye Shirley. You will always be remembered. I learnt a great deal from you.

"This recipe is from Jacques Pepin's Encore with Claudine. This soup is delicious. I've made it a couple of times".

Ingredients

1 lb. lentils, washed and drained
1/2 cup (4 oz.) pearl barley
4 quarts light chicken stock
2 hot Italian sausages (about 5 oz. total), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 Tblsp. herbes de provence
1 Tblsp. salt
1 leek (8 oz.) cut into 1/2 inch pieces and washed (about 3 cups)
1 large onion (8 oz.) peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 2 cups)
2 carrots (6 oz.) peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 3/4 cups)
5 large cloves garlic peeled, crushed, and coarsely chopped (2 Tblsp.)
1/2 tsp. hot sauce or to your own taste (optional)
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

• Place all of the ingredients except the hot sauce and cheese in a large kettle, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low, cover and cook gently for 1 1/2 hours.

• Emulsify the cooked soup with a handheld immersion blender for 8 - 10 seconds to make the mixture somewhat creamy. Or, place 2 cups of the soup in the bowl of a food processor, and process for 20 seconds. Combine the purée with the remaining soup.

• Add he hot sauce to the soup. Serve in bowls, garnished, if desired, with the grated Swiss cheese.

Note:

This soup tends to thicken as it cools. When reheating leftover soup, thin it, if necessary, by adding a little water.

Shirley Cline