It should be noted that the Leek Pie featured here was not the intended dinner for December 31st and January 1st. I had planned to do Vanilla Mashed Rutabagas for New Years Eve and Day to accompany the omnipresent smoked fish and pickled herring that we consume in industrial quantities at this time of year.
However.
A 24-hour bug swept through Beetle HQ the weekend before the 31st. Dairy products were removed from set menus. Chamomile tea was drunk by the bucketload. I drove to New Hampshire at 5.30 am on Saturday morning to the one open gas station in a 20 mile radius to buy Pepto Bismol. Leek pie fell by the wayside in favour of plain pasta and rice cakes, and rather than being mashed with cream and vanilla beans, the Rutabagas were steamed, dumped in a bowl, and eaten incredibly slowly. A lot of Danish police procedurals were watched. It was not the most active nor the most culinarily daring of weekends.
However.
By the time the 31st rolled around we were back on our feet. Leek Pie became a thing again. So here you have it.
LEEK PIE
or
NOT BREAD PUDDING, NOT GRATIN, BUT A MIX OF THE TWO I'M CALLING PIE
I looked up Leeks in Wikipedia to see if there was some kind of cultural or dietary significance attached, to perhaps give the serving of them for New Years an unintentional meaning I could then pass off as deliberate. Sadly, apart from being a good source of Manganese and Vitamin K, and being prominent in St. David's Day celebrations (yay Wales!), the Leek doesn't really have anything going for it at the moment. But it is delicious, and it goes very nicely with goat cheese and fish. And that's good enough for me.
LEEK PIE
INGREDIENTS
- 3 decent sized leeks, washed, green bit discarded, chopped into 1/2 inch wedges
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- Olive oil
- 3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese (or another cheese you'd rather use, I won't judge)
- Salt and Pepper
- Fresh dill
Heat the oil in a small casserole dish or skillet (I used one with a higher lip because I had just scrubbed the stovetop and didn't want to get it all dirty again. Add the leeks and onion and some salt and pepper and cook about 10 minutes until they are soft and brown but not crispy.
These can actually be made beforehand, I did this the night before, and then assembled and baked finally right before serving.
When you're ready, put half the leeks in the bottom of a buttered pie dish and spread them out evenly. Top with half the goat cheese, salt, pepper, and dill.
Repeat.
Depending on the circumference of your dish, this can be a thick pie or a thin one. I used my new pie plate because it's pretty and I love it, and with only three leeks and an onion it yielded a fairly thin pie, but according to Mum the thickness or thinness in no way impacts the taste. Good to know.
Once you've assembled the entire thing, bake in the oven at 400 for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are crispy and crackly and the cheese is beginning to bubble and brown.
I did this New Year's Eve day at around 3pm, picked Mum up from work, then reheated it in the oven for about 10 minutes before we had dinner. It looked very festive and Mum said a) thanks for waiting until I wasn't sick anymore and b) can you make this again soon.
BEETLE NOTES
This checks off the following boxes of "New Year's Eve Dinner"
1. Isn't insanely complicated, labour intensive, or time consuming
2. Can be made without agonising over timing or reheating issues, where you end up standing in the kitchen waving a dishtowel around and screaming "IF WE DON'T EAT IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES THEN I MIGHT AS WELL JUST SERVE CEREAL."
3. It goes beautifully with smoked and pickled fish.
3a. I realise the above point might not be applicable to everyone here. That's ok. More for me.
4. Is clean and fresh and light tasting and says "New Year Yay!" rather than "Christmas Food Coma!"
The goat cheese was because I wanted something sweet and creamy to balance out the leek sharpness. Goat cheese melts really well and doesn't becoming stringy and messy, so it's good to bake because it just gets gooier and gooier rather than burny and inedible. But it's still a pretty thick cheese, so it holds up when sandwiched between layers of leeks and doesn't just evaporate like, I feel, something like Parmesan would do. ALSO it's not salty. Which is key here. It's mellow and rich and sort of wraps up the leeks in a big goat cheesey hug and wishes it happy new year.
Small beetle aside to sob quietly into my keyboard and whisper "I miss you, goat cheese. I miss you."
I write this, incidentally, from the library, from the depths of my ForeverLazy, the morning after a hell of a lot of snow fell in Massachusetts and New England. But we are plowed! The New York Times has been delivered! I have a cat on the arm of my chair! The aunt and uncle are coming tonight! All is well.
I did assemble and fridge what looks like a delicious Gingerbread Trifle this morning (thank you, burnt Pfeffernusse!) so fingers crossed that a chilled bowl of Pfeffernusse, Vanilla Custard, Pfeffernusse, Vanilla Custard, Ginger Preserve, Whipped Cream, and Pfeffernusse in that exact order will be a success.
But if it's not, hey, I tried. And, FIRST BIG TIP OF 2014, YOU GUYS, LISTEN UP when you realise your fridge contains approximately 7 million eggs, the best thing to do is make custard. Custard is like a black hole for eggs. You BLINK and they're gone.
First dinner party of 2014 coming soon, but for the time being, HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR READER and here's to a year of yummy food, not burning myself, and (fingers super crossed) becoming gainfully employed yet again!
And now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to put on my snowpants and shovel the front walk. If I'm not back in 10 days, call for reinforcements.
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