leeks Archives - The Midnight Baker

Leek And Stilton Quiche

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 00:00:24 +0000

Not your usual quiche. This one has the great savory flavors of leeks and Stilton cheese. Leek and Stilton quiche is the perfect dinner for a Valentine’s Day date night.

Quiche With Leek And Stilton

Quiche was all the rage back in the 70s. Everyone seemed to be eating it as well as making jokes about it. Eventually it stopped being super popular but it never really went away.

One reason it may have ceased to be so popular is that it is definitely not a diet dish. It’s very rich and calorie packed. However, there’s really no other way to do it.

It is a dish to be enjoyed albeit on an occasional basis. Because of it’s richness a smaller portion does satisfy. Rather than the standard swiss cheese, bacon, spinach combo, this leek and stilton quiche gets it’s marvelous flavor from those two ingredients.

Stilton Cheese: A British Favorite

Second to cheddar, there is no cheese more British than Stilton.

It’s a blue mold cheese much like bleu cheese. In fact, if you cannot find Stilton in your store–and it’ll be in the gourmet cheese section–you can definitely substitute bleu cheese or Gorgonzola cheese. The flavors of those cheeses are all similar. I find that it’s not so much the flavor that varies as it is the texture. Stilton is a lot creamier than Gorgonzola or bleu cheese. So for an eating cheese, I prefer Stilton to the others. However, in this leek and Stilton quiche, it makes little difference which one you use and you don’t use much.

Perfect Pastry

The crust for this quiche is pretty simple and it’s prepared in the food processor. As an aside, the pastry can be made with bread flour (also known as strong flour in UK). I used all-purpose (plain flour in UK) simply because I had no bread flour and it came out fine, so use what you want.

In order to get a perfect looking crust, you can follow the video in my Caramel Crumb Peach Pie. In fact, you might want to switch entirely to a deep tart pan for making all your pies. I have so now every slice is perfect.

The Recipe

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Leek and Stilton Quiche

An updated British staple that uses their famous Stilton cheese.

Prep Time30

Cook Time40

Course: Brunch, Main, Main Course, vegetarian dishes

Cuisine: British

Keyword: leek and stilton quiche recipe, quiche, savory pies, valentine's day dinner

Servings: 8

Calories: 561kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Pastry:

8 oz flour
4½ oz butter
1 egg
1 tbs water

Filling:

1 tbs olive oil
2 leeks thinly sliced
2 sticks celery thinly sliced
4 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
5½ oz Stilton cheese coarsely grated
2 tbs chopped parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
Place the flour and butter into a food processor and pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water and pulse until it just begins to ball up.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface and transfer to a 11-in/28cm deep quiche pan. Press up along the rim them prick with a fork. Chill for 15 minutes.
Line the pastry with parchments and pie weights (I use dry beans) and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and paper and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until just cooked and pale golden. Remove crust from the oven. Reduce oven temp to 350F/180C.
To make filling: heat the oil in a large skillet then add the leeks and celery and saute over high heat for a few minutes.
Lover the heat, cover and simmner for 25 minutes or until veggies are tender. Remove cover and increase heat to high to evaporate any accumulated liquid.
Beat the eggs and cream together in a medium bowl. Whisk in the salt and pepper.
Spread the cooked leeks and celery evenly on the bottom of the crust. Top with the cheese and parsley. Pour the custard over the top.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and just set on top. Let the quiche stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

Gorgonzola or bleu cheese may be substituted if you cannot find Stilton.

Nutrition

The post Leek And Stilton Quiche appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Potato & Leeks Casserole

Judith Hannemann — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 23:00:22 +0000

This side dish casserole is loaded with creamy mashed potatoes and savory leeks. Make extra for the leftovers!

Leeks Are For More Than Soup

I bet the first thing anyone thinks about when this vegetable is mentioned is soup. In fact, several years ago, I made a very tasty cream soup when I bought a couple of leeks on impulse. That entry is from the early days of my site, so the photos are pretty awful, however, the soup is delicious.

Other than roasting them on the grill, I couldn’t think of what else I could do with them. You guessed it, I bought some more on impulse because I just love the way they look!

The idea for this casserole side dish comes from what British people do with leftover potatoes and cabbage. They make a dish called “Bubble & Squeak” with those ingredients. It’s very tasty too. I don’t really know the origin of the name, but I imagine it’s based on old Cockney rhyming slang. I never thought to ask my mother, who grew up in the UK exactly what it meant.

Anyway, I substituted the cabbage with sauteed leeks and the taste was just unbelievable. I kept stealing spoonfuls of the sauteed leeks because they tasted so wonderful. That’s the flavor base in this, but they are so awfully good, they’d make a side dish just by themselves.

Prepping Leeks

Leeks are sandy and require thorough cleaning before you use them. It’s not complicated and rather than put it into words, here’s a link to a great video:

Cleaning and Preparing

Potato & Leek Casserole Makes Great Leftovers

Any time my mom had leftover plain mashed potatoes, what she’d do was add some onion, make patties and fry them. They were delicious!

Well, you can do that with these too! The “onions” are already in it so all you have to do is just make the patties. They are great for snacks or even a light meatless meal if you have enough leftovers.

The Recipe

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Potato & Leeks Casserole

This side dish casserole is loaded with creamy mashed potatoes and savory leeks. Make extra for the leftovers!

Prep Time25

Cook Time40

Total Time1 5

Course: side dishes, vegetarian dishes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: leeks, potato casserole, side dishes, vegetarian

Servings: 6 -8

Calories: 267kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 lbs russet potatoes
3/4 cups warm milk
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp butter
2 leeks
3 slices crisp-cooked bacon diced
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

CRUNCHY TOPPING

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp melted butter

Instructions

Prepare leeks by slicing and cleaning them, as per link in the post. Lightly spray a 1.5-2 quart baking dish. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Heat the olive oil and add the leeks. Cook until leeks are translucent, about 5 minutes; set aside.
Cook potatoes until tender; drain.
Add the 1 tbs butter and mash until smooth. Add the milk in small amounts until potatoes are creamy, yet hold their body. You may not use all the milk.
Mix the Panko crumbs with the melted butter.
Fold the cooked leeks Parmesan cheese and bacon into the potatoes. Turn into prepared pan and top with the buttered Panko crumbs.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until heated through and crumbs are golden brown.

Nutrition

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Barley Risotto with Leeks and Mushrooms

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 05:01:00 +0000

Barley Risotto with Leeks and Mushrooms

Here’s a meal so delicious that you’d never guess it was healthy, let alone vegetarian as well.

As with any risotto, the dish requires almost constant stirring and adding the liquids in stages, but it’s not at all hard to do, and it’s a relatively short process.

The risotto can easily be converted to a total vegan meal by eliminating the grated cheese and the small amount of butter. I’d suggest an equal substitution of olive oil (or definitely truffle oil) for the butter. And toasted almonds would be a great addition here too.

If you are unsure of how to prep leeks, refer to the video in this post.

Barley Risotto with Leeks and Mushrooms

1 cup pearl barley
2 leeks, sliced and rinsed of sand
2 1/2 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 large garlic cloves, minced
3 cups vegetable stock (I used Knorr concentrated)
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add barley and stir until lightly toasted; about 5 minutes.

Add prepared leeks (see the video in the link above), garlic and 1 1/2 cups of the sliced mushrooms. Stir and cook until mushrooms are heated through.

Add 1/2 cup of the vegetable stock, stirring until the liquid is absorbed. Repeat until all the stock is used. Add remaining mushrooms and cook for 5 min.

Add the butter and grated cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 3-4 main dish servings.

The post Barley Risotto with Leeks and Mushrooms appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Cream of Leek & Potato Soup

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 08 May 2012 23:06:00 +0000

Perfect meal for a rainy and chilly day, and we do get these here in upstate New York until Memorial Day. This was dinner tonight for me.

Prepping Leeks

Take 3 leeks and prepare as follows–my steps follow the video~

Place sliced leeks in a bowl of cold water. Swish and rinse~

Lift leeks from water and drain in a colander. It’s important that you lift the leeks out of the water and not just drain. If you watch the video, it explains that the dirt and sand has settled at the bottom of the bowl. I also do an additional rinse for good measure after the leeks are in the colander. Drain very well~

Scrub 6 medium-sized Russet potatoes well and pat dry. This might be a good time to use that mandoline slicer that’s in the back of the cabinet, since the potatoes require thin slicing. You can also use a food processor with the slicing blade. Of course the good old chef’s knife and hand slicing work well too~

Now, chop 1 medium to large onion~

Melt butter in large Dutch oven~

Add the drained leeks and chopped onion. Saute over low heat until wilted and translucent. This is also called sweating~

Now, slice your potatoes. This is how they should look, no matter what your method was~

The sweated leek/onion mixture. This is what it will look like when done~

Add the potatoes and chicken stock~

I cheated and used this. It tastes like home made stock. However, you can use College Inn or Swanson if you prefer~

Bring mixture to a boil, cover and reduce heat and cook for approximately 10 minutes, or until potatoes are soft enough to mash. Mash mixture–I used a conventional potato masher because I like a very chunky soup. You can also use an immersion blender for this step. The amount of processing depends on how chunky you like the soup~

Add cream and blend thoroughly. You might want to check for seasoning at this point and add more salt & pepper if necessary. Heat through~

Ready to serve. I topped this with crumbled bacon and parsley and served with French bread. Enjoy!

The Recipe

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Cream of Leek & Potato Soup

A perfect meal for a rainy and chilly day

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: soups

Cuisine: American

Keyword: leeks, potato soup

Servings: 6 -8

Calories: 441kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

3 large leeks sliced
1 medium to large onion
3 tbsp butter
3 1/2 cups chicken stock vegetable stock may be subbed
6 medium Russet potatoes
1 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Follow pictures in post for step-by-step instructions
Soup can be made vegetarian by omitting chicken stock and substituting vegetable stock. For a vegan soup, substitute vegetable stock, omit cream and saute in coconut oil instead of butter.

Nutrition

The post Cream of Leek & Potato Soup appeared first on The Midnight Baker.