In The Bag: For the month of March

For the month of March, the “bag” ingredients were Leeks, Eggs, and Cheese. Obvious recipes were omelets, souffles, frittatas, and of course the recipe by Apple Crumbles:  Coddled Eggs with Leek sauce and Cheese.

If you are not familiar with this event it is hosted monthly by ‘A Slice of Cherry Pie‘ and ‘Real Epicurean’.  Bloggers are given three ingredients which they are to use in a recipe.  One or all ingredients are used and other ingredients may be added.

The Leek:  The only negative feature of a leek is that it requires a good cleaning. The lighter portions of the leek are the parts we use for cooking. The tough green ends are discarded.  

Leek has a mild onion-like taste, although less bitter than scallion. The taste might be described as a mix of mild onion and cucumber. It has a fresh smell similar to scallion. In its raw state, the vegetable is crunchy and firm.

Leek is typically chopped into slices 5-10mm thick. The slices have a tendency to fall apart, due to the layered structure of the leek. There are different ways of preparing the vegetable:

• Boiled, which turns it soft and mild in taste.
• Fried, which leaves it more crunchy and preserves the taste.
• Raw, which can be used in salads, doing especially well when they are the prime ingredient.

Coddled Egg with Leek Sauce and Cheese – serving 4

A coddled egg should offer a soft center and in french, “oeuf mollet”, “mollet” means soft.  The option for this menu was to cook the eggs slightly longer for a more solid yolk.  1.  I do not enjoy the yolk of an egg and wanted to extract it easily from the white and 2. Ted prefers his left over eggs to have a firm center. 

SAUCE:  The sauce is delicious.  It may be used with other dishes, such as the King Clip Fillets (not unlike Grouper) which we will have tonight.

• 1 very large leek (about 2 cups), tough green ends cut off, sliced in half, cleaned, and sliced.
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 TBS SmartBalance (or butter), separate  ( 1 TBS for sauteing and 1 for the sauce)
• 1 TBS Goat Cheese

Wash the leek slices and dry. Heat 1 TBS SB or butter in saute pan over medium high heat and saute leek slices about 5 minutes with a pinch of salt.  Add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar to the leeks, stir around. Add 1 1/2 cups of hot water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until tender.  Transfer leeks to a food processor, retaining about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.  Add the 1 TBS SmartBalance (or butter), and the 1 TBS goat cheese plus 1/2 cup water and puree until smooth.  Serve immediately as the sauce will separate.

EGGS:

• 8 eggs (4 for boiling and 4 for use in Coddling Cups)
• 4 Coddling cups (you may poach the eggs as an alternative)
• 4 tsp SmartBalance (or butter)
• salt and pepper and parsley

For the boiled eggs, boil to desired doneness, soft or hard.  For the coddlers, bring 1 1/2 ” to 2″ of water to a healthy simmer.  You want the water 1/2 way up the side of the cup. Spray the coddler cups with non stick spray. Mop up any pooled spray at the bottom and drop 1/2 tsp SmartBalance or butter in bottom of cup.  Salt and pepper in side of cup, add the egg. Top the egg with 1/2 tsp SB or butter, salt, pepper and parsley.  Screw on the coddler cover and put into the simmering water. Cover and simmer about 8 minutes. 

ASSEMBLY:

• 4 English Muffins, toasted
• 2 – 3  ounces Smoked Gouda Cheese, shaved or grated
• 2 – 3 ounces  Baby Swiss Cheese, shaved or grated

Warm your plates.  Pour 1/4 cup of the warm leek sauce in the center of each plate, forming a circle. Center the English muffin and top with eggs which you have removed from coddler cup with a spoon or split in half for the boiled egg.  On each plate, sprinkle a mixture of the cheese and finish with parsley.