Cheddar Leek Muffins

After last week's trip to the farmer's market in Brixton, I still had two leeks leftover from the risotto we made. And, since I'm off to Rome this coming week to visit my family, I was looking for a way to include them into the party food. A quick search led me to this recipe on the netmums website. I was a little worried that because this is designed for kids the salt level might be a bit too low (and it was.. but only a little!) so in the future I might add a bit more before baking. Other than that, this was a great recipe since it was easy, quick and made a pretty good amount of muffins for our party. Another benefit was that I already had everything in my cupboards so there was no need to rush out to the shops - exactly what I need from a party food recipe!

Muffins along with some cookies and veggies

Recipe via www.netmums.com

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 15-20 min

Makes: 24 muffins

Ingredients: 

2 leeks, white part only chopped
30 g butter
450g self raising flour (or the same amount of plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder)
2 tsp mustard powder
200g cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs
300ml milk
100ml olive oil
2 tsp salt

Method: 

Saute the chopped leeks in the butter over a medium heat until they have softened. Set aside. Meanwhile, sift the flour and mustard powder together in a bowl. In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and olive oil before slowly adding to the flour mixture. Add in the cheese, leeks, and salt and mix thoroughly to incorporate all the ingredients. Line two muffin trays with paper liners and fill them 3/4 of their capacity. Bake for 15-20 min, until a skewer placed in the center of a muffin comes out cleanly. Enjoy! 

Leek and Lemon Risotto

On Easter morning, Sam and I wandered over to the Brixton Farmer's Market on the hunt for tasty ingredients for a hopefully spring-like dinner. We thought a risotto would be the perfect mix of spring veggies and filling warmth since "spring" has been mostly freezing so far. The green grocer's stand had some great leeks so we grabbed a few and decided to top our risotto with sausages since they were on sale with three six sausage packages for ten pounds. We went for the honey mustard, italian seasoning and hop flavors. Since we had the honey mustard ones for lunch, those ended up on our risotto later that night.

Some of the ingredients 

Chopped leeks

Rice being added to the leeks 

This is a great recipe from Ina Garden, the Barefoot Contessa. She uses mascapone cheese in her recipe which proved a little too hard to find in our corner shops so we went with herb cream cheese and it was delicious. I'd never added a cheese other than parmesan to risotto before and have to say it definitely improved the creaminess. I generally avoid risotto since it seems like such a pain to have to stay by it, stirring, for half an hour but actually this dish comes together so quickly that I didn't even notice the time. We had to use a wok for our pot since this makes a lot of risotto but it worked out surprisingly well so this is definitely a customizable recipe in all regards. As far as the ingredients, Ina's recipe included asparagus and peas but we skipped them since there weren't any available at the market. You could easily add mushrooms or other veggies that you have on hand. The lemon gives a bit of a kick but it was such a nice fresh flavor that this dish has helped to cement it in my favorites list. 

Finished product

Dished up with some leftover sausage 

Recipe inspired by www.foodnetwork.com

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp butter
3 cups leeks, chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2/3 cup white wine
4-5 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp lemon zest
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Method:

In a smaller pot, heat 4-5 cups of chicken stock to simmering. Keep warm for the risotto.

In a separate large pot, add the butter and olive oil and allow to melt. Meanwhile, wash and chop the leeks. When the butter has melted, add the leeks to the pot and cook until softened. When soft, add the rice and stir to ensure all the grains of rice are coated in the oil and butter before adding the white wine. Stir until the wine has been absorbed. Now, adding one ladle at a time and allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next, slowly begin to incorporate the chicken stock into the risotto. As you get to the end of the chicken stock, it will take longer for each ladleful to be absorbed, which is a sign that it is getting close to being ready. Give it a taste to ensure the rice is getting close to al dente without moving into mushiness. When the rice is almost ready, add the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese with the lemon juice and then add to the risotto, followed by the parmesan cheese. Make sure everything is well mixed and the rice is finished before serving. Top with more parmesan cheese (and sausages if you'd like!) and enjoy!

Leek, Mushroom and Cheddar Quiche

In an attempt to get recipes on here before the holiday that they might be appropriate for passes, I decided to give this Easter-y quiche a try for a girls' night in recently. My lovely friend Anna was back from Washington D.C. for a quick visit so Laure and I wanted to have her over for some tasty food and chatting. This quiche was perfect because it wasn't too heavy and went nicely with a leafy salad on the side.

Pastry ready for it's first spin in the oven

Foil protection ready for baking beans

Leeks and mushrooms

Cheese, glorious cheese!

Obviously there are lots of quiche recipes out there and they range from super complicated to super easy. This one is definitely in the latter category, especially if you use store bought pastry. Yes, I know, "real" cooks make their own pastry but frankly I don't have the time usually and store bought varieties are excellent. So, no homemade pastry for me! I will definitely try making some at a later date but things are just too chaotic right now to bother. Anyway, a lot of recipes call for double cream so if you feel more comfortable using that, go for it! I wanted to try and cut a few calories where I could so single cream worked out fine. Also, feel free to use whatever cheese you have on hand. Gruyere, swiss or even blue cheese would all be tasty. Finally, if you don't have baking beans, don't worry! I didn't either so I just bought some dried red kidney beans and popped those in instead.

Finished! With a slightly burnt crust... oops.

Girls' night in!

Tasty food, terrible picture... 

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 package of ready made shortcrust pastry
1-2 tbsp butter
4 leeks, white parts sliced
1 package of chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 large eggs
300ml single cream
Salt
Pepper
200g mature cheddar, grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C / 392 F.

Roll out the pastry and place in your baking dish, removing the extras from around the sides. Press the pastry lightly into the nooks of the dish and then place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. While the pastry chills, melt the butter in a large saucepan and sautee the leeks until the start to soften, about five minutes over medium-low heat. Add the mushroom slices and continue to cook until they have also softened and the liquid in the pan has mostly evaporated. Once the leeks and mushrooms are ready, take off the heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

At this point, remove the pastry from the fridge and prick with a fork all over the base. Line with foil and add baking beans. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. To prepare the rest of the filling, slowly whisk the two eggs into the cream and add in most of the cheese. Next, slowly add the cooled leeks and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Pour into the pre-baked pastry and top with the remaining grated cheese. Return the baking dish to the oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is no longer liquid. Enjoy!