CSA Week 2: Taking a Leek

We were champion vegemunchers this week, getting through most of our stash, part of which I credit to a more satisfactory selection of CSA items.  More carrots, but of a different color, and everything else was different from Week 1.  (I had worried about celery fatigue.)  Along with the carrots we got fennel, spigariello, tumbleweeds (!), teeny radishes, a couple more winter squashes, and leeks.

It has taken me a long time to come around to liking leeks.  I did my college Junior Year Abroad in England, in Bristol, which right across the river from Wales.   At the time, I was vegetarian, and in Wills Hall where I lived, there was but a single vegetarian option each night - nine times out of ten involving leeks, white beans, or some combination of the two.  I grew very quickly to hate leeks, and have been unable to tolerate them ever since.

But a couple weeks ago Jamie Oliver did a pasta with caramelized leeks and pancetta that looked kind of awesome, and I made it, and it kind of was!  I'd broken the leek curse!  Then last week I got the weekly marketing e-mail from America's Test Kitchen where they try to lure you with some free recipes and tool tips (a.k.a. the poor man's Cook's Illustrated), and they had a recipe for salmon pot pie that looked mighty good - involving leeks.  So last week I was pretty happy that leeks were part of our haul.  I haven't yet gotten around to the pot pie (would involve going to store to buy puff pastry), but I did use a leek Monday night to great effect. 

First course was a savory custard full of leeks, carrots and agretti that went over like gangbusters.  Seconds were had.  Then we had grass-fed steak with parsnip/apple puree and green peas.  (Parsnips are mainly sweet, but can be quite sharp on their own, so to tone them down I boiled/steamed two chopped parsnips in a very little water, adding a chopped golden delicious apple in the last five minutes, then threw them all in the blender with two teaspoons of butter.  Creamy and sweet - I loved them.)

Also this week we put our booty to use in stir fried radish greens, fennel soup, radishes as munchable lunchables, pumpkin-coconut soup, tumbleweeds with chicken maple sausages for breakfast, lots of sauteed dark leafy greens, carrot custard, and (the big cheat) - vegetable stock with the green leek tops and carrot tops and what have you.

Here's my big discovery of the week: an unbelievably easy recipe for a custard you can complete in less than 45 minutes that's a great way of getting rid of unwanted vegetables but which makes it seem like you actually planned it out.

The farm newsletter included a recipe for a sweet carrot custard.  I made that (it was yummy), and I modified it the other night to make a savory one.  I mean, basically it was quiche.  But either one serves as a super easy way to use up any old vegetables you've got lying around the house.

Foolproof Sweet or Savory Vegetable Custard

For sweet:

• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 cup grated carrots (or probably anything else sweet, like parsnips or zucchini or pureed pumpkin)
• 1 cup bread crumbs (I toasted 2 slices of bread on low a couple times till they were dry then ran them through the mini prep processor. )
• grated nutmeg
• some vanilla

For savory:

• About a cup or two of mixed vegetables - grated or chopped small
• maybe some grated cheese?
• seasoning to taste (I used salt and red pepper flakes)

For both:

• 2 cups milk
• 3 eggs

How to:

Turn on the oven to 350, put a kettle of water on to boil.  Set some adorable little ramekins, around six of the teeny 4 oz. ones, fewer if bigger, in a big oven pan with sides - i.e. a roasting or cake type pan, not a cookie sheet.   (For containers, I used those glass ones with lids so I could just seal them up for lunches.)

For the sweet: do your grating; whisk everything together.  (Note: the original recipe demanded 2 cups of scalded milk, but I forgot and just used cold milk and they turned out fine.)

For the savory: I don't know if precooking is reallynecessary, but I used 1 piece of bacon chopped small and a little olive oil, and sauteed a finely sliced leek, a handful of chopped tumbleweeds, and a grated carrot until they were bright in color. Pour the milk in to cool the veggies, season, and whisk in the egg.  Whisk in half a cup of grated cheese if you like.

Ladle your mixtures into your little dishes, pour the boiling kettle around the dishes, and transfer to your oven and bake for 30ish minutes. 

Voila, a first course for supper, a dessert, an easy breakfast, or a simple snack or lunch for work.  Great way to clean out the fridge.

Speaking of unwanted vegetables, Amy made the awesome suggestion last week to donate my extra escarole (the neighbors didn't want it either) to a rabbit rescue organization.  First I inquired with a friend who I knew had two bunnies, only to learn that his bunnies had both gone to the great Mr. MacGregor's Garden in the sky, but he also knew about and referred me to the House Rabbit Society (which led me to start really wanting a bunny - look at these faces...and these!), and also mentioned that there are a couple of donkeys who live in Menlo Park who might appreciate fresh produce.  Hee haw.

Comments

[Amy]

Hooray for the buns (and donkeys)! Also, I made a leek recipe a while back that I thought was pretty decent. http://www.deitchley.com/blog/2008/01/14/552/