Tuesday, September 13, 2011

New to me recipe and other things.........

I bought leeks at the market last week, so decided to try this recipe:

French Leek and Ham Shepherd's Pie.



Ingredients



2 1/4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter
1 pinch ground nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds leeks, sliced
2 medium tomatoes - peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 pounds cooked ham, thinly sliced
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)


Directions


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil a 2 quart casserole dish.


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop. Stir in the cream, butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and mash until smooth.


Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion until translucent. Stir in the leek and cook another minute until the leek is soft, but not brown. Mix in the peeled tomatoes, lower the heat, and simmer five minutes, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes have lost some of their shape. Stir in the ham and season with salt and pepper.


Spread half of the mashed potatoes on the bottom of the casserole dish. Pour in the ham and leek sauce and cover with the remaining mashed potatoes. Brush the surface of the mashed potatoes with the beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.


Of course I didn't have everything on hand, so made mine a little differently.  I only had a little bit of ham, so added half a pound of mushrooms that needed using up.  I didn't add the tomatoes, which was fine.  I had some french onion dip in the fridge so I put that in the potatoes for added flavour.


 
This is a very versatile recipe, where you could add or remove ingredients easily and was very, very tasty.  Should also add, I know my leeks weren't French, they were grown in Ontario!!!
 
If we go to the market this week, I am going to buy more leeks to pop into the freezer.  You wash and dry them and cut them up as you like and then freeze.  Great for soup or casseroles.  I read you can also freeze diced up butternut squash, so will do that as well.
 
Got crazy weather here, had the a/c on, on Monday as it was that warm?  Then it's going to be freezing cold by the end of the week?  We'll all be as sick as dogs if it carries on like this.
 
For those of you in Canada, DO NOT MISS this week's Coronation Street episodes !!!  It's going to be good.....

11 comments:

Stella Jones said...

That leek pie looks delicious and I love leeks. I do something similar with onions, which also goes down well, but haven't tried with leeks. Must try that one.

Joolz said...

We must be swapping weather! We've had it cold but going into next week it's going to get to 31C! A heatwave!

The pie looks quite yummy and I get what you mean by swapping things in it. I love mashed potato anytime and with French Onion dip - yum!

Jane and Chris said...

Good things gro, o, ow....in Ontar...i..o!!
Jane x

Boyett-Brinkley said...

That looks really good. I am going to re-read how to freeze several things and get busy stocking my freezer as well. I used to do that but then I got out of the habit and I think it is time to start again!

Mrs Bent said...

mmm that looks so good x

Niki said...

Ok I will watch them, are they on at 6:30 every eve?
Canning again all day today, girls on the way over, tomato and apple sauce I hope!
The Sleepover was wonderful and exhausting :) They are such good company...and so absolutely adorable.

The recipe looks good, I might give it a try.

Karine said...

My gosh, that pie looks delicious!

Scrappy quilter said...

Our weather is up and down too. It's going to be cool today, however by Thurs. up to +29C again. I don't mind the heat at this time of the year. Hugs

Cindy@NorthofWiarton said...

First off, Gill, love your new blog picture with the corn field, and will also be posting your "new to me recipe" on Facebook on Cindy's Recipe Exchange, as I do have leeks growing and will try it out myself ! Have a 'great' day !

Rose said...

That sounds really good...I need to try something like this sometime....

EG CameraGirl said...

I LOVE leeks! Cream of leek soup is yummy. :)

{{{SIGH}}}

Tuesday was a mixed bag type of day. Had the appliance repair guy come again to install another circuit board in the fridge.  When hubby got...