Cheesy Creamed Leeks

Cheesy Creamed Leeks with their mellow oniony flavor and rich cheddar cream sauce are wonderful as a main dish or side. 

If you are serving this as a main dish, all you need to complete the meal is a lightly dressed green salad with perhaps some crusty bread for sopping up the last creamy, cheesy drops. As a side, cheesy creamed leeks go well with fish or pan-fried chicken breasts. They would even make a great filling for a baked potato or topping for pasta. 

Truly versatile and so delicious, I believe that the leek is underrated as a vegetable, at least on the US side of the pond. It’s much appreciated in Great Britain though and it’s even a national emblem in Wales. If you ever watch Welsh rugby on television, you can’t miss all the fans sporting leek hats, which I find ever so amusing. The ones dressed as daffodils are equally as funny but that’s a story for another day. 

Cheesy Creamed Leeks

This recipe is adapted from one in the Waitrose & Partners Food magazine from March 2019. I used less wine but more cream and four times the cheese. I stand by all of those decisions. It will serve three as a main dish with other sides as suggested above or six as a side dish. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs or 700g whole leeks

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup or 80ml dry white wine

1/2 cup or 120ml whipping cream

3 1/2 oz or 100g mature cheddar, grated

2 teaspoons whole grain mustard

Method

Wash the leeks thoroughly, making sure to get any dirt out from between the layers. 

Cut off the root end and the hard part of the green bits and discard (or freeze them to use when you are making vegetable stock.) Thinly slice the tender green and white parts. 

Sauté the leeks in the butter in a large pan over a low heat, covered, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Once the leeks have softened, add the wine and turn up the heat. 

Cook until the wine has almost completely evaporated then pour in the whipping cream and add the mustard. Stir well. 

Cook for a couple minutes then add in 3/4 of the cheese and stir well to combine. 

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top of the dish. 

Put it under the broiler/grill on high for a few minutes, keeping a close eye on it, until it’s bubbling and golden brown in spots. 

Enjoy!

It’s the first Wednesday of the month so that means it’s time for our Foodie Extravaganza party. Today it’s National Whipping Cream Day so we are celebrating by sharing recipes with whipping cream. Check them out below. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha’s Recipe. 

• Cheesy Creamed Leeks from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Truffle Cakes with Cappuccino Whipped Cream from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Havarti, Egg & Dill Breakfast Quiche from Palatable Pastime
• Oven-Baked Au Gratin Potatoes in a Pie Dish from Faith, Hope, Love & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Pull Me Up Cake from Sneha’s Recipe
• Raspberry Parfait from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Vintage Icebox Cake from Pandemonium Noshery

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

Pin these Cheesy Creamed Leeks!

 .

 

Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette Steak Salad

This roasted tomato vinaigrette steak salad sees the vinaigrette do double duty, first as a marinade for the rump steak and then as dressing for the salad itself. 

One year, on a holiday to Florida, we were invited to a family member’s house for a barbecue. It had been a crazy day where things got behind schedule so I didn’t have time to prepare anything to take along to put on the grill. But I had a plan. 

Most marinades are essentially something acidic, like lemon juice or vinegar, with seasonings and some oil. Just like my favorite vinaigrettes. 

En route, we pulled over at a grocery store and I ran in to buy three things: a box of gallon Ziploc bags, some chicken pieces and a bottle of Italian dressing. My husband popped the trunk and helped me open the packages. 

All the chicken went into one of the gallon bags, along with the salad dressing. After one good shake and a little massaging, we slammed the trunk and were on our way again, chicken marinating in a cooler. By the time we had arrived and the grilling started, the chicken was perfect. 

A good vinaigrette is still one of my favorite ways to marinate meat. 

Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette Steak Salad

The marinade/vinaigrette ingredients make about 1 1/4 cups or 295ml so you’ll probably have some left over but it will keep nicely for several days in the refrigerator. Spoon it over sliced avocado or toss it with your favorite greens. 

Ingredients

For the marinade /vinaigrette: 

1 large ripe tomato, cut into six wedges (about 280g)

2 tablespoons bacon fat or olive oil

1/4 cup or 60ml red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 cup or 120ml extra-virgin olive oil

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:

12 oz or 340g rump steak

5 oz or 140g cherry-sized mozzarella balls (Ciliegine) 

5 oz or 140g grape tomatoes

Mixed salad greens

To make the marinade/vinaigrette, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. 

Toss the tomato wedges with the bacon fat or oil in a pan and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. 

Roast in the preheated oven until the tomatoes are slightly scorched and browned all over, about 15-20 minutes. 

In a blender, puree the tomato with the vinegar and honey. With the machine running, gradually add the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate in a clean jar until ready to use. 

To prepare and cook the rump steak, put the chilled steak in a Ziploc bag and pour in a 1/2 cup or 120ml of the roasted tomato marinade/vinaigrette, making sure to press the air out of the bag so the steak is covered. Leave to marinate for an hour or two in the refrigerator. This can even be done the day before. 

Cook the steak over a charcoal grill or in a grill pan to your desired doneness. This will vary depending on the thickness of your steak but shouldn’t take more than a few minutes on each side, if you still want some pink inside. 

Remove the rump steak from the heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing thinly.  

To assemble the salad, spread your washed and dried salad greens over a large plate. Scatter the grape tomatoes and mozzarella ciliegine over the greens. Add the sliced rump steak. 

Drizzle with the dressing. Or, if you think you might have leftovers the next day, serve the salad and let everyone drizzle on the vinaigrette on his or her own portion. 

This week our Sunday FunDay group is sharing salad recipes that can be a whole meal to start the New Year off right. Adding protein like beef or cheese or both, is a great way to make a simple salad into a meal that keeps you from feeling hungry again in half an hour. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Happy New Year to all!

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Asian Chicken Ginger Salad.
• Sneha's Recipe: Chicken Pasta Caesar Salad
• Palatable Pastime: Crispy Shell Chicken Taco Salad 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Italian Chopped Salad
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Oriental Chicken Salad 
• Food Lust People Love: Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette Steak Salad
• Our Good Life: Spinach Salad with Creamy Hard Boiled Egg and Homemade Garlic Croutons
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Veggie Pasta Salad

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette Steak Salad!

 .

Pecan Pie Muffins #MuffinMonday

These pecan pie muffins are crunchy outside and chewy inside, the absolute best of both worlds if you love pecan pie and muffins!

Waaaay back in January of 2015, I saved a pecan pie muffin recipe from the blog The Girl Who Ate Everything with great intentions of making it immediately. I mean, really, what kind of pecan pie lover would I be if I wouldn’t also want a muffin that tastes like pecan pie?

And yet, somehow, it’s taken me almost seven years to finally make these muffins. Seven long years when I could have been enjoying their sticky pie-filling-like insides and crunchy outsides. Which makes me really sad now that I’ve tasted them. They are pure delight. 

Pecan Pie Muffins

The original recipe made eight muffins in a regular muffin pan filled only 2/3 of the way full so that a knife could be run around the outside to get them out of the pan. If that seems like a palaver, use a silicone muffin pan instead. 

Ingredients

1 cup, packed, or 200g light brown sugar

1/2 cup or 63g all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups or 230g chopped pecans

2/3 cup or 75g butter, softened, plus extra for the pan

2 eggs, at room temperature

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 8 or 9 holes of a 12-cup muffin pan by greasing them generously with butter. Do not skimp on this step because these pecan pie muffins are super sticky. As I mentioned above, if you have silicone muffin cups or a silicone muffin pan, this would be a good time to employ them instead. 

As you can see from my photo below, I used a Wilton silicone heart muffin pan and I STILL buttered it, just in case! If you want one too, here’s an Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3myKzQx 

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour and salt.  Stir in the chopped pecans. 

In a separate larger bowl, whisk the softened butter and room temperature eggs together.  It’s going to look a little curdy, but don’t let that bother you.

Pour the butter/egg mixture into the dry ingredients and fold until just combined.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Again, if you are using a regular pan, I recommend you make 8 or even 9 muffins with this batter so that the muffins don’t bake up and over the sides of the pan. That way you can run a knife around the muffins to remove them. 

If you are using a silicone pan, put another metal pan beneath it for support. 

Bake full 6-cup muffins for 25 minutes or until the tops are crunchy and the edges are browned. If you’ve opted for smaller muffins, check them around 15-18 minutes.

Leave the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5-7 minutes, then either push them gently out of a silicone pan or, as previously mentioned, run a knife around the muffins in a metal pan and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Check out those pecan pie-like insides! I wish I could describe to you how good these are. Soooooo Good.

Enjoy!

It’s the last Muffin Monday of 2021 and we’ve got some lovely recipes for you today. Check them out below.

• Best Sourdough Morning Glory Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Cheddar and Chive Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Lemon Curd Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pecan Pie Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Snickerdoodle Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Vegan Coconut Gingerbread Muffins from Magical Ingredients

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page. 

Pin these Pecan Pie Muffins!

 .