River Cottage

1/ Put all the ingredients for the lentils into a pan (lentils, clove, onion, salt, garlic and�bouquet garnet), cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer until tender, for about 20 minutes. Drain and cover�to keep warm.

2/ For the sauce, melt 25g of�butter in a pan and the carrot, celery and onion.

3/ Fry the carrot, celery and onion�over a high heat for 5 minutes until the vegetables are well softened, split and set aside in a ramekin size amount of this vegetable mixture and keep warm.

4/ Add the red wine to the vegetables that are left in the pan and bring to the boil. Boil until the sauce has reduced to 1/2 the amount, then add the stock, sugar, ground cloves, spices and season with salt, reduce further for a few minutes. Strain the reduced sauce into a clean pan, crush the vegetables to get the flavour out. Mix the remaining 12g butter with the flour to make�a smooth paste (beurre manie).

5/ Bring the red wine sauce to the boil an d whisk in some of the paste, a little at a time until all gone. Simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Remove the bouquet garnet. Cover and keep warm.

6/ Pre-heat the grill to high. Brush the cod with a little melted butter and season with sea�salt and black pepper. Grill the cod for 5 minutes each side.

7/ To serve, spoon the lentils onto 2 warm plates and place the cod on top. Spoon the sauce�around the�the edge�of the plate, sprinkle with chopped chives and the vegetables you set aside in the ramekin.