Tag: leeks

Ham and leeks in a cheese sauce

This is a good quick supper, easy and tasty. I scored some cheap ham at the co-op this afternoon. Top tip – if you want to eat cheaply and feel good about stopping food waste, Sunday afternoons at the co-op is peak bargain time.

After we ate this, we reflected that we could have snuck in a layer or two of lasagne as well.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3-4 leeks
  • approx 4 slices of cooked ham, chopped
  • 40g butter
  • 40g flour
  • salt and pepper
  • 150ml of cooking liquid from the leeks
  • 300ml milk
  • nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp prepared mustard
  • 100g grated cheese
  • breadcrumbs

METHOD

  • Prepare the leeks, cut them into 1 cm slices and cook in boiling water for around 7 minutes.
  • Drain the leeks and reserve the cooking liquid.
  • Put the leeks into the bottom of a gratin dish, and cover with a layer of ham.
  • Fry the flour in the butter, for around a minute, and then add the liquid to make a smooth sauce, and simmer for a couple of minutes.
  • Add half the cheese, along with the mustard and a grating of nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the cheese is all melted into the sauce
  • Pour the sauce over the ham and leeks, then top with the rest of the cheese and then the breadcrumbs
  • Cook for 10 minutes under a moderately hot grill, until the topping is nicely browned.

Wild goose breast with wine and leeks

Courtesy of a greylag goose culler, we had goose in the freezer.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 goose breasts cut into 3cm chunks
  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 cup of good red wine
  • 2 leeks
  • 1 pint of marigold stock
  • 1 small celeriac, diced
  • 1 bayleaf
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp flour

METHOD:

  • Set the oven to 150C
  • Heat the olive oil in a skillet or frying pan, and fry off the onions, leeks and garlic until they are nearly browning, and soft. Transfer to a casserole dish.
  • Fry off the goose in the same oil and transfer to a casserole dish.
  • Stir the flour into the remaining oil, heat through, and then slowly add the wine and the stock to make a sauce, and then add to the casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Add the celeriac and bayleaf, and mix together. Put the covered casserole dish in the oven and cook until tender. Goose is variable in toughness, so check at intervals to see how it is going – could be an hour or two.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable, such as kale tops.
You could add fried mushrooms to this. Or truffle oil. Very good.