La Bonne Soupe, Chez-moi

One of my favorite restaurants in New York is La Bonne Soupe, located on W 55th Street between 5th and 6th. It's the kind of casual, French restaurant I wish we had more of in Baltimore. The food is delicious, inexpensive, and comforting.

I'll never forget my first meal there at 17, sitting with my high school French teacher and her chic Parisian friend, conversing in French, and eating a bowl of the best lentil soup I have ever tasted. It was one of those amazing experiences you could only have if you went to the kind of school I went to, where--at the time, anyway-- they were more than happy to let you design your own course, even if you were the only student in the class. So, for me, it was French Opera, a curriculum I designed after I had completed every level of French the school offered, but still wanted to learn more. So, each week, I read French libretti and their accompanying novels and then wrote analytical essays about each one. It seems like a fantasy, but that was the "dear old school" I knew and loved.

Many years later, I still go to La Bonne Soupe whenever I have the chance and this year for Christmas, my dad surprised me with a cookbook I didn't even know existed: "The La Bonne Soupe Cookbook." And for the first soup, I had to go with the lentil.

Even without the chain-smoking waitresses and the checkered tablecloths, it's just as I remember.

Soupe aux Lentilles de La Bonne Soupe, Chez-moi

3 slices uncured, applewood smoked bacon

1 tbsp olive oil

2 celery ribs, chopped

2 carrots, diced

4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1 medium onion, diced

1 quart low-sodium beef broth (homemade, if you are so inclined)

1 quart low-sodium chicken broth (ditto-- I'm not, by the way.)

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp herbes de provences

6 sprigs of parsley

1 lb puy or pardina lentils

In a dutch oven over medium heat, sauté bacon over medium heat until fat is rendered and bacon is beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add onions, garlic, carrots, and celery with one tbsp olive oil and sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in chicken and beef broth, as well as the herbs, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and add the lentils. Cook approximately 40 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

Remove three cups of soup to a bowl and puree with an immersion blender until smooth.

Stir pureed mixture back into the soup and serve immediately or refrigerate and serve later.