Braised Leeks

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted new recipes. Never fear, I have been cooking away, and stockpiling food pictures and recipes, so there should be a number of good things coming your way soon.

Here is an excellent new recipe for braised leeks from Smitten Kitchen. It's supposed to be served as a side with her breaded chicken thighs, but I've made it twice now without the chicken, and it's great on its own. (In case you were wondering, braising is a cooking technique that involves searing or cooking at high heat to brown something, then cooking it for a longer time in the oven with liquid). It may not look like much, but the flavors are amazing and the leeks become soft and tender.

The recipe calls for chicken stock, but that could be easily replaced with veggie stock. Though I will say that the recipe was amazing when I used homemade chicken stock, and merely good with the carton one.

The recipe below reheats well, and can easily be cut in half since 6 leeks makes a lot of food.

Braised Leeks

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 6-8


Ingredients
6 large leeks
About 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup peeled and sliced shallots
1 tablespoon thyme leaves or powdered thyme
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock or water
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Equipment

Stove

Pot holders

Oven

Knife and cutting board

Measuring cup and spoons

Tongs

Large saucepan

Relatively tall-sided baking dish that can go in the oven

Towel or paper towel

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Trim the roots off the leeks, but leave as much of the bottom bulb as you can. Remove any brown or nasty looking outer leaves. Trim the tops of the leeks to remove the tips and any dried-out green parts. Rinse the outside of the leeks and shake dry.

3. Cut the leeks in half lengthwise, and then in half widthwise. Rinse again, peeling the layers apart slightly to get out deeply embedded dirt (but try not to pull the leeks entirely apart - you still want them in their nested quarters for frying).

4. Place the leeks, cut side down, on a towel and pat dry completely. Turn the leeks over so their cut sides are facing up, and season with 2 teaspoons salt and a few grindings of black pepper.

5. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil, and wait 1 minute. Place the leeks in the pan, cut side down, as many as you can layer to cover the whole bottom of the pan without overlapping. You will probably need to saute them in batches (it took me 4 batches with a pretty large pan). Add more olive oil to the pan as needed, for each batch. Sear them 4 to 5 minutes, until they are golden brown. Season the backs of the leeks with salt and pepper, and turn them over to cook another 3 to 4 minutes (until brown on the other side). When cooked, transfer them to a large baking dish.

6. Pour 1/4 cup olive oil into the pan and heat over medium heat. Add the shallots, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Cook about 5 minutes, until the shallots are just beginning to color.

7. Add the white wine and reduce by half (cook until half the liquid has evaporated). Add 1.5 cups stock, and bring to a boil over high heat.

8. Pour the liquid over the leeks in the baking dish. The stock should not quite cover them; add more stock if necessary.

9. Cook in the oven 30 minutes, until the leeks are tender when pierced. Serve hot with the liquid.

Fresh Fruit Tart

This fresh fruit tart recipe produces a beautiful and delicious tart (as long as you cut the fruit nicely), and is perfect for a party because you can make everything the day ahead (or even two) and just assemble right before serving. I failed to get any pictures of the ones I made for glee club because they were devoured too quickly, but this picture is from the one Taylor and I made the weekend before to test the recipe out (see why you don't use blackberry jam for the glaze).

I mostly followed the recipe from Joy of Baking, and found it works well with a mixture of fruit (mango, strawberry, blackberry, pineapple, etc.), or as an all-berry tart (your choice of strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry). This recipe has quite a few steps and separate pieces, but it's very much worth making.

Fresh Fruit Tart

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

Sweet Pastry Crust:
     1 1/2 cups all purpose flour + more for dusting
     1/8 teaspoon salt
     1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature + more for coating pan
     1/4 cup granulated white sugar
     1 large egg

Pastry Cream:
     1 1/4 cups whole milk
     1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
     3 large egg yolks
     1/4 cup granulated white sugar
     2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
     2 tablespoons cornstarch
     1 1/2 tablespoons Malibu (optional)

Apricot Glaze: (optional - I used it, but I'm not sure it's necessary, especially if you're assembling close to the time you eat)
     1/2 cup apricot jam
     1 tablespoon water

Topping:
     3 cups fruit, washed and cut into nice-looking, small pieces

Equipment

Measuring cup and spoons

Hand mixer

Large mixing bowl

Plastic wrap

9 inch tart pan with removable bottom (a pie plate might be able to be used in a pinch)

Freezer

Oven and oven mitts

Fork

Medium heat-proof bowl

Whisk

Saucepan

Stove

Wooden spoon or silicone spatula

Knife and cutting board

Optional if using glaze: small saucepan/heatproof bowl, strainer, pastry brush

Instructions

Sweet Pastry Crust:

1. Place the butter in a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until softened with hand mixer. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat just until incorporated.

2. Add the flour and salt all at once and mix at medium-low speed just until it comes together and forms a ball.

3. Turn dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a ball. Flatten into a disk and fold plastic wrap around it to cover. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or just until firm (or place in freezer for about 10-15 minutes.)

4. Lightly butter and flour, or spray with a non-stick vegetable/flour cooking spray, the tart pan.

5. Remove pastry from freezer and unwrap. Use your hands to flatten pastry dough into large circle, approximately the size of the tart pan. Place dough in pan and press into bottom and up sides of pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in center of oven.

7. Remove plastic wrap from tart shell and lightly prick bottom of pastry crust with the tines of a fork (this will prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes). Bake crust for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake the crust for about 15-20 minutes or until dry and lightly golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before filling. Can be covered and stored for a few days.

Pastry Cream:

1. In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks together. (Don't let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.)

2. Add the flour and cornstarch to the egg mixture, whisking mixing until you get a smooth paste.

3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla just to boiling (just until milk starts to foam up.)

4. Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture (Slowly is really important here), whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) 

5. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat whisking constantly. The mixture will slowly thicken, and then will suddenly thicken a lot. Keep cooking until this point, where it thickens significantly to just beyond a pudding-like consistency. [Make sure to be watching carefully because it will quickly go from too thin to the right consistency to too thick.]

6. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur (if using). Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool to room temperature. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Beat or whisk before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.

Apricot Glaze:

Heat the apricot jam and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until liquid (melted). (Can also heat in the microwave.) Remove from heat and strain the jam through a fine strainer to remove any fruit lumps.

To Assemble Tart:

1. To remove the tart from the fluted sides of the pan, place your hand under the pan, touching only the removable bottom not the sides. Gently push the tart straight up, away from the sides. The fluted tart ring will fall away and slide down your arm. If you want to remove the bottom of the pan, run a knife or thin metal spatula between the crust and metal bottom, then slide the tart onto your platter.

2. If using the glaze, spread a thin layer of apricot glaze over the bottom and sides of the baked tart shell to prevent the crust from getting soggy. Let the glaze dry (about 20 minutes).

3. Spread the pastry cream onto the bottom of the tart shell. Place fruit randomly on top of cream or in concentric overlapping circles, starting at the outside edge.

4. After arranging the fruit, rewarm the glaze, if using, and gently brush a light coat on the fruit. If not serving immediately, refrigerate but bring to room temperature before serving.

This fruit tart is best eaten the same day as it is assembled. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.