Living and cooking in England is a true adventure. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the endless bounty that I was never exposed to while developing my gastronomic preferences as a child.
Let’s take the leek for instance. A most humble vegetable of which I consider to be a staple here in the UK. You see it on every menu, in all the markets and grocers and no cookbook would be printed without at least one recipe in which the leek has, at the minimum, the role of best supporting actor. I hope you enjoy the following tidbits and my interpretation of the recipe chef Gary Rhodes so graciously shared with a plethora of tellie watchers which included me!
Leeks (Allium porrum or A. ampeloprasum var. porrum), sometimes called "the gourmet's onion" are related to onions (A. cepa) and garlic (A. sativum), but have flat leaves instead of tubular and relatively little bulb development. They're easy to grow and delicious, with a taste all their own, very much like a mild onion. The thick leaf bases and slightly developed bulb look like a giant green onion, and are eaten as a cooked vegetable. Leeks are not as popular in the United States as they are in Europe, where they are known as "poor man's asparagus."
The leek was developed from a wild type, which is native to Western Asia and the Mediterranean countries. Wild leeks were used as food during the early Bronze Age, around 4000 B.C., and were probably domesticated around 2000 B.C. They were part of the diet of those who built the Egyptian pyramids, and Hippocrates, the father of medicine, prescribed the leek as a cure for nosebleeds. Leeks have been cultivated in Western Europe since the Middle Ages, and are particularly associated with Wales – dating back to 640 AD when Welsh soldiers wore pieces of leek in their helmets to distinguish themselves from their Saxon foes in battle. The Welsh traditionally wear a leek on St. David's Day (March 1) to commemorate King Cadawallader's victory over the Saxons that year. Leeks were brought to North America with early settlers from Europe.
Today leeks are grown as an excellent substitute for onions and for its own unique mild onion flavor in soups and other dishes. The recipe:
2 cups sliced mushrooms of choice2 cups finely sliced leeks
200ml heavy cream
6 eggs
75 g shredded gruyere cheese
Olive oil
Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and preheat a baking tray as well. You will also need 6 ramekins for this recipe that have been very lightly greased or buttered. Saute the mushrooms and leeks in 2 Tbsp oil until juices have mostly evaporated and the veggies are slightly past the wilted stage but not mushy, season, then set aside.
Using ½ of the cream, pour a layer into each ramekin. Top with 1-2 generous spoonfuls (depending on your spoon size) of mushroom/leek mixture. Add the cheese and then crack an egg and place on top of cheese. Sprinkle with salt to season and now pour over the remaining cream. Place ramekins in the preheated tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until the bottom layer of cream starts to bubble around the edges. If the egg yolk is too runny for your liking, bake an extra few minutes until set.
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