Alsatian meal

The original recipe from La Cuisine was quite boring.  We started by brining a 1 1/2 pound pork shoulder, then boiling it for 5 minutes.  (It seems odd to boil it, instead of browning, but I followed the recipe.)  Then boil 1/2 green lentils for 20 minutes.  Drain.  In saucepan, combine pork, lentils, 1 peeled and halved carrot, one onion stuck with one clove, 1 crushed garlic clove and dried parsley, thyme and a bay leaf.  Cook for 1 1/2 hours, seasoning with salt and pepper halfway through.  There really was very little flavor to the lentils.  So for the lentils we took about a tbsp bacon fat and sauteed chopped carrots, celery, onion, garlic and zucchini.  Cook until soft.  Add lentils back to pot.  Puree.  Add a little butter to taste.  Season with salt and pepper.  For the pork, we put it in the oven at 350 with some white wine in the bottom and cooked for 45 minutes.  This gave the pork some texture.  For the creamy leeks (from the joy of cooking) melt 2 1/2 tbsp butter.  Add 4 cups sliced leeks.  Cook 2-3 minutes.  Add 1 cup chicken stock and one sprig of thyme.  Cover and simmer about 5 minutes.  Turn heat to med high.  Add 1/4 cup white wine.    Boil until liquid reduced by half, about 10 minutes.  Add 2 tbsp heavy cream and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.  Serve with chopped parsley.  Serve pork with baguette and grainy mustard.  We forgot the bottle of alsatian white wine at the restaurant, so we served it with the German beer in the picture.  As you can see, Sanford is very excited about this combination.  This was one of our favorite combinations!