12 Days of Christmas Dish#11: Creamed Leeks

Green beans, rapini, asparagus, Brussels sprouts – I’ve done them all. My holiday menu has to include one green vegetable, and I always struggle to make it interesting. Then I discovered this creamed leek recipe from the Gourmet November 2006 magazine, and oh man is it ever good. The leeks are steamed under a parchment paper and turn out soft and buttery. I used matzah crumbs instead of breadcrumbs on top so that the topping stays crispy providing a nice contrast with the creamy leeks. The best part is – you can make this dish well ahead of time and pop it in right at the end. This one is a keeper.

The Recipe:

Put a spin on creamed onions this holiday by using an ingredient from the same family instead. Not only do these leeks bake into something extraordinary, they get you out of the time-consuming task of peeling all those tiny pearl onions.

Yield: Makes 4 servings (you probably need to double this recipe)
Active Time: 35 min
Total Time: 1 hr

3 1/2 lb leeks, root ends trimmed
2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (from a country loaf, crusts discarded) or use MATZAH!
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/8 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream

Special equipment: 1 1/2-qt gratin or other shallow baking dish (10 by 8 inches)

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.

Cut each leek into an 8-inch length, measuring from root end, and halve lengthwise, then cut crosswise into roughly 1 1/2-inch pieces. (You should have about 8 cups.) Wash leek pieces in a large bowl of cold water, agitating them, then lift out and transfer to another bowl. Repeat with clean water, then drain leeks well.

Cook breadcrumbs with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in 3 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp and pale golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Cut out a round from parchment or wax paper to fit just inside a 12-inch heavy skillet.

Cook leeks with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, leeks covered directly with parchment, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 12 minutes.

Discard parchment and transfer leeks with a slotted spoon to gratin dish. Pour cream slowly over leeks, then scatter bread crumbs on top. Bake until cream is bubbling and slightly thickened and crumbs are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Cooks’ notes:
•Bread crumbs can be cooked 1 day ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature. Scatter breadcrumbs over leeks just before baking.
•Leeks can be cooked and assembled in dish with cream (but not sprinkled with crumbs and baked) 1 day ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, covered.

These leeks are legend (wait for it) DARY!

12 Days of Christmas Dish#5: Easy Eggnog

I’ve never made my own eggnog, the festive cartons at the grocery store are always way too tempting.  But this year I decided it was time…homemade eggnog time.  I found this recipe in the LCBO Food & Drink Holiday 2000 magazine.  Fast and easy, rich and creamy, this is one strong ‘nogg that will delight all who decide to indulge.  Next Christmas I would throw in some cinnamon sticks to kick up the spice a bit, and also splash of vanilla extract would help balance out the alcohol.

The Recipe:

Because the eggs are cooked in this delicious, time-saving recipe, there is no fear of salmonella.  You can substitute ice milk for ice cream.  Make a day ahead, if desired and mix together again just before serving.  If eggnog ice cream is available, add the milk and liquor to it and skip the other ingredients.

3 large eggs
2 tbsp (25ml) sugar
½ cup (125ml) brandy
½ cup (125ml) rum
2 cups (500ml) vanilla ice cream, softened
2 cups (500ml) milk
Ground nutmeg

1.    Place a bowl over a pot of water, making sure the water does not touch the base of the bowl.  Bring to simmer.  Add eggs and sugar and beat over the heat until light and fluffy.  Whisk in brandy and rum, continuing to whisk until mixture has tripled in volume.

2.    Remove from heat, cool, then beat in ice cream and milk.  Pour into serving pitcher and chill until needed.  Serve each glass dusted with nutmeg.

Makes about 8 x 6oz (175ml) servings

Lets get real.  Double the recipe and start toasting to the New Year!

12 Days of Christmas Dish#4: Sticky Toffee and Chocolate Pudding

This is Gordon Ramsay’s recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding from his Cooking For Friends cookbook.  He brings up this dish a lot on his TV shows, and since I love him, I decided to try this dish for Christmas instead of a plum pudding.  The dessert turned out despite the fact that I had the wrong kind of dish (I used a sponge cake baking dish), I replaced a lot of ingredients and was working without a food scale.  I’ve converted his measurements, but ideally a food scale should be used.  The pudding was nice and light with just a hint of chocolate, though wasn’t quite sticky enough because I was unable to serve right away.  All in all – still a hit.

The Recipe:
I can’t resist a good sticky toffee pudding.  For me, this is the perfect ending to a meal on a cold, wintry day.  It pays to use medjool dates here, as their toffee-like flavour adds depth to the pudding.

Serves 6
Pudding:
200g (1 cup) medjool dates, pitted and chopped (I used plain old cheap dates)
175g (3/4 cup) dark muscovado sugar ((I used brown sugar)
250ml (1 cup) water
100g (1/2 cup) lightly salted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cooled espresso or strong coffee (I used strong coffee!)
3 large eggs
150g (1 ¼)plain flour
50g cocoa pwder
1 tsp bicarbonate (baking) of soda
1 tsp baking powder
pouring cream, to serve

Toffee sauce:
100g (1/2 cup) dark muscovado sugar
75 g (1/3 cup) lightly salted butter
250ml (1 cup) double cream

Preheat the oven to 190 C/Gas 5.  Butter, line and butter again 8 175ml-200ml pudding basins.  (Or use a 1-litre basin to make one large pudding.)

Put the dates, sugar and water in a saucepan and simmer gently for 10 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the dates are soft.

Leave to cool, then blend in a food processor until smooth.  Add the butter, vanilla, espresso and eggs and whiz again until well blended.

Scrape the mixture into a large mixing bowl.  In 2 batches, sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder over the bowl and fold in the wet mixture.

Divide among the prepared basins and bake for 20-25 minutes (or 50-60 minutes if using a large basin).  The puddings are ready when a skewer emerges fairly clean when inserted in the centre.

Put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and simmer, stirring frequently, until the butter and sugar have dissolved and the sauce is smooth.  It should only take 2-3 minutes.  Keep warm and give it a stir every once in a while to prevent a skin from forming on top.

When the puddings are just cool enough to handle, but still warm, run a small knife along the sides, then invert on to individual serving bowls.  Peel off the baking parchment.  Pour a generous drizzle of warm toffee sauce over the puddings and serve immediately, with a jug of pouring cream to hand around.

On a cold winter night, curl up with this pudding and watch a Kitchen Nightmares marathon – fuck the calories!

12 Days of Christmas – Dish#3: Rum-Raisin Shortbread

I like to bake cookies for everyone at Christmastime and am always looking for interesting shortbread recipes.  I found this recipe in the LCBO Food and Drink magazine a couple of years ago and finally got around to making it this year.  This is a flavourful shortbread, light and buttery with a rum and coconut finish.  I replaced the currants with raisins, but found that the raisins were too big, making the dough hard to cut.  The final result isn’t a perfect cookie shape, but still just as yummy.  Also note – for best results the currants or raisins should bath in the rum overnight, though I only marinated for a couple of hours.

The Recipe:

Makes about 4 ½ dozen

These cookies are studded with dried currants, which are tiny raisins made from Zante grapes.  The currants must be soaked overnight, so you’ll need to plan your craving a day in advance.  [oops…must have skipped over that part!]

½ cup dark rum
1 cup dried currants
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon coarse salt

1.    Combine rum and currants; cover, and let stand at room temperature overnight.  Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons rum.

2.    Beat butter, sugar, and orange zest with a mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add vanilla and reserved rum, and beat until combined.  Reduce speed to low.  Add flour, coconut, and salt, and beat for 3 minutes.  Stir in currants by hand.

3.    Form dough into 2 logs, each about 1 ½ inches in diameter; wrap in parchment, and refrigerate 1 hours (or up to 3 days).

4.    Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Remove parchment.  Slice logs into ¼ -inch-thick rounds, and space about 1 inch apart on baking sheet lined with parchment.  Bake until pale golden, about 20 minutes.  Let cool.  Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

You’ll probably need more than one batch of these babies…they will disappear fast!!

12 Days of Christmas – Dish#2: Tourtiere

For me, tourtiere is an essential dish at Christmas time.  A nice break from turkey, this is the ultimate winter comfort food, with the spicy aroma filling your home with hungry Christmas spirit.  The recipe I used is by Cinda Chavich in The Guy Can’t Cook and is also in the companion The Girl Can’t Cook book.  Both have an excellent variety of easy, tasty recipes for every occasion, and I would highly recommend to anybody who likes to cook.

This recipe can be a little time consuming if you decide to make the crust from scratch, but is well worth the wait.  I used an amazing crust recipe that my friend passed along from a pastry course at George Brown College.  Also the original recipe made three pies, but I have adjusted for two (one for my family, and one for my boyfriend who never seems to tire of ground meat).

Bon Appetit!

The Recipe: NB – any changes to the original recipe are in italics

This is a Christmas Eve tradition in The Guy’s house – serve pieces of this meaty pork and beef pie with sweet gherkins, pickled beets, or chutney to balance the richness.  Don’t give in to your fear of making pie crust, the recipe works!  The pies can be filled and frozen unbaked – just thaw in the refrigerator before you’re ready to bake.

Filling

• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup minced celery and celery leaves
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/3 tsp dried savory
• 1/3 tsp ground sage
• pinch ground cloves
• pinch cinnamon
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 cups hot, boiled potatoes, mashed
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• pastry for two double-crust pies
• 1 egg yolk, beaten with 2 Tbsp milk

In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat.  Saute the chopped onion, garlic, and celery for 5 minutes or until softened. Crumble the ground pork and beef into the pan and stir until the meat is no longer pink.  Drain any excess fat from the pan before adding the savory, sage, cloves, cinnamon, salt, pepper and water.  Cover the pan, lower the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Stir in the mashed potatoes and parsley.  Set aside to cool.

Tourtiere

 

Make the pastry, following the instructions on the box of shortening or lard.  Chill the pastry for 1 hour before rolling.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  On a floured surface, roll the pastry into four thin rounds and line two 9-inch (23 cm) pie plates.  Fill each pie chell with 1/2 of the cooled meat mixture and top with the remaining pastry, sealing and fluting the edges with your fingers to form a ruffled border.  Cut small steam vents in the tops of the pies using the tip of a sharp knife.  Brush the pies with the egg yolk glaze, and bake for 30-40 minutes (ed. note – I found 35 minutes perfect), until golden brown. Cool for 20 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.  Makes two 9-inch (23-cm) meat pies.

 

Then serve yourself a giant piece of meat pie with some ketchup on the side, pop in the Sweeney Todd movie, and call it a night!

12 Days of Christmas – Dish#1: Christmas Pasta

As if I don’t have enough to do during the holidays, I’ve now decided to blog twelve of my favourite Christmas recipes.  I become inspired with these grand ideas, and yet, I can see myself by dish twelve, behind in my blogs, staying up all night determined to get it done…and still loving every minute of it.

This first dish has been a favourite of mine for a couple of years.  Rachael Ray’s Christmas Pasta from her 365 No Repeats cookbook is a tasty, hearty way to start loosening your belt buckle for the holiday season.  With pancetta and ground veal giving the sauce a rich flavour along with spicy and sweet sausage for that extra meaty kick and some ground sirloin to boot – this is an easy, colourful dish that is a festive way to feed a hungry family.  As a Threadless Tee once read: “Meat Is Murder, Tasty Tasty Murder.”

Recipe: NB – any changes to the original recipe are in italics

Serve with tomato, basil and mozzarella sald (the colours of the season and the Italian flag).

Ingredients:

• Salt
• 1 pound rigatoni
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (sorry Rachel, I’m NOT calling it EVOO)
• 1/4 pound pancetta, chopped
• 1/4 pound bulk hot Italian sausage (links split open, casing removed)
• 1/4 pound sweet Italian sausage (links split open, casing removed)
• 1/2 pound ground sirloin
• 1/2 pound ground veal
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• coarse black pepper
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 cup beef stock or broth
• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes or plain tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley finely chopped
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese or cheddar cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it.  Add the pasta and cook to al dente, with a bite to it.

While the water and pasta work, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Add the pancetta to one half of the pan, the sausage, both hot and sweet, to the other.  Break up the sausage into bits and brown while the pancetta renders, then combine and cook together another minute or so.

Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon.  Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, then the beef and veal.  Brown and crumble the meat into tiny bits and season with allspice, salt and pepper.  Add the carrots, onions, and garlic and cook another 5 to 6 minutes to soften the vegetables.

Then add the sausage and pancetta back into the pan, draining away some of the fat.  Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up all the good bits with a wooden spoon.  Stir in the stock, then the tomatoes.  Check the seasoning.  Simmer over low heat until ready to serve, at least 10 minutes.  Stir in half the parsley to finish.

Drain the pasta and add back to the hot pot.  Ladle a few spoonfuls of the sauce over the pasta and add a couple of handfuls of cheese to the pot.  Stir to coat the pasta evenly.  Transfer to a large serving dish or individual bowls and top with the remaining sauce and parsley.  Pass plenty of extra cheese at the table.

Then put on your fat pants and enjoy!!