Shakshuka

It has been several years now that I have wanted to poach eggs the North African way. Onions and hot peppers are sauteed, tomatoes are added, the sauce simmered for a while, then eggs are cracked into 'hell' as Batali refers to this method. Having a surplus of home-made enchilada sauce and an abundant leek harvest, I realised I could substitute those for tomatoes, hot peppers, and onions.

A meal in a skillet is so appealing

Leeks were sowed last June in pots, and in the following September when their thickness approached the size of a pencil they were transplanted into the ground. Developing roots, they overwintered without developing much green growth since the amount of daylight was significantly diminishing. By February, they showed signs of life.

When transplanted, the young leeks were buried in soil up to the first leaves to develop a blanched bulb.

Since leeks are biennial, meaning they flower and set seed the second year, some flower stalks already have made an appearance. All their energy will go now into producing the next generation. As our leeks will not get any larger, it's time to harvest.

Serves two. Ingredients are in bold. Canned enchilada sauce can be used, but it's simple to make your own. Stir one tablespoon of flour into one tablespoon of warmed oil in a pot on the stove. Add one tablespoon or less/more per preference of chili spice. Stir for a minute or two till toasty and fragrant. Pour in 237 ml (one American cup/8 fluid oz/16 T) of broth which can be either veggie or meat; I used a combo of chicken and beef. Stir in five tablespoons of tomato paste. Cover and simmer for ten minutes. Salt to taste. Thinly slice a large, trimmed, well-washed (split one side almost to the root end, place under running water while splaying out the leaves) leek. Chop and saute in a tablespoon or so of butter (which I used) or olive oil for about ten minutes until softened.

Stir in the enchilada sauce. Let simmer for about five minutes.

Plop several teaspoons of crème fraîche (after topping our enchiladas, there was a bit left over) onto the shakshuka. Lace it through the sauce with the spoon. 

Crack four eggs into the skillet.

Cover and let simmer for ten minutes for medium doneness, less or more per preference. Gently touching the yolk with the flat of a wooden spoon will give some indication of its state: quivering, it's mostly liquid, if jiggly then more like jelly, if non-responsive, the yolks are cooked through and through.

Crusty Italian/French or pliable pitta bread would be wonderful for sopping up the sauce. Chiffonade of basil or parsley sprigs make an attractive garnish as green is a colour complement for red. My variation is probably somewhat richer than the usual what with the butter and crème fraîche, but my, was it good.

I love eggs. And I adore this preparation! Easy, delicious, and all in one pan.

À la prochaine!

RELATED LINKS

Serious Eats' approach to Shakshuka which suggests olives, artichoke hearts, and feta as possible additions among others while providing much culinary/historical information/vids. Article penned by the genial chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt.

Braised Leek, Bacon & Parmesan Calzone

The flexibility of culinary methods and ingredients across recipes has always interested me.  For example, I made dough for pizza.  What else could I use it for?  Calzone, that's what!

As a kid growing up in New York City, I found calzone intimidating.  That yeasty, swollen envelope could encompass a whole world, and if I opened up one, well, then that world would end.  One day, my curiosity got the better of me, and I ate one.  Lo and behold, its world became a happy part of me!  I am a staunch advocate for finger food -- it's fun, it's convenient, less stuff to wash up, and you get to lick your fingers!

Ingredients
(makes 4 calzone, several breadsticks)

• Leeks, thoroughly washed, white & light green, tender parts, sliced, 417 grams/4 1/4 cups*
• Butter, sweet, 30 grams/2 T (if salted butter is used, you may need less additional salt)
• Bacon, 8 slices
• Red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp
• Parmesan, fresh grated, 8 T
• Pizza Dough, preferably home-made or already prepared (enough for four, seven-inch pies or the equivalent)
• Olive oil, for glazing
• Salt, 1/4 tsp

*American measure, that is, 8 oz cups 

Why leeks you may ask?  The leeks I planted last spring will start to go to seed as they are biennials. When gone to seed, veggies often turn bitter so I harvested the remaining leeks.

Fry or broil the bacon.  Blot off the excess fat and when cool, crumble into small pieces. Gather the rest of the ingredients.

Melt the butter in a skillet, add the sliced leeks, red pepper flakes, and about 1/4 tsp of salt and simmer, while covered, for about 15 minutes until tender.  If necessary, add a tiny bit of water to keep them from browning.  You want the leeks to be succulent. 

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.  Place the leeks in a strainer positioned over a bowl and using a spoon press out as much liquid as possible.

Mix the bacon pieces into the strained leeks.

Divide into four portions and reserve.

Roll out roughly an approximately six-inch circle of dough about 1/8th inch thick on a floured surface.

Using a plate approximately 6 inches wide as a template, cut out a neat circle.

Spread evenly one portion of the filling on one half of the dough circle, keeping one inch of the edge bare.  Sprinkle with two tablespoons of grated Parmesan.  With a finger, moisten with water the circumference, making sure you do not wet the exact edge as it will make the underside gummy, making transfer of the calzone to a baking sheet problematic.

Pull the empty half over the filled one, stretching the dough gently to make ends meet.  Seal completely the two edges, leaving a flattened inch of rim while pushing the filling together as much as possible to eliminate air pockets. Crimp as in making dumplings.  Lift it with a wide spatula and place on parchment-lined baking trays.  Repeat the entire process for the other three Calzone.

Gather scraps of dough into a ball and pull off two-inch lumps.  While splaying your fingers, roll out the lumps into breadsticks, making sure you work on a clean surface, free of any flour.  Also wash your hands to ensure they are not floury.  Or else you will get flattened sticks and not nice round ones.

Bake the calzone and breadsticks for about twenty minutes until nicely browned.  Place them on a wire rack and using a pastry brush, a piece of paper towel, or your fingers, coat each calzone with olive oil for a nice sheen and also for additional flavour.

The Calzone are sharing the wire-rack with a heap of freshly picked thyme

They are best warm.  However, they can be eaten cold with little loss of flavour.  They also can be frozen and reheated in a covered dish in a 350 degrees F oven for about 20 minutes or in a microwave.  The breadsticks are delicious eaten hot, but if not eaten immediately, cool them, and put them in an airtight container or else they get soggy.  They could be crisped in the oven.

In the garden, signs of spring are continuing.  Soon the first veggie of the season can be harvested, pea shoots!  They go well with pasta and omelettes.

Though tulips are lovely, most do not naturalise and need to be replaced regularly.  Therefore, I plant species tulips like the splendid Fosteriana ones with their varied, bright hues which do stick around and increase on their own.

Until my nursery order with its asparagus crowns, onion sets, seed potatoes, and bare-root blueberries arrives--I needed to cancel my original order placed two months ago because of various problems and recently ordered from other nurseries--I will be focused on runcation (weeding!), transplanting, mowing/strimming, taking cuttings to generate more plants, and looking over our garden's wall at this splendid ornamental cherry tree shaking out its pink coverlet of blossoms.

The front garden:  Prunier d'Ente in the foreground

Dayo is staying out more and more so we need to be vigilant on maintaining his flea control program.  After all, his vet is fond of saying that cats are just restaurants for fleas.

I love how he aeroplanes his ears that way!

À la prochaine.

RELATED LINKS

Making Pizza
Sowing leeks and making twice-baked potatoes stuffed with leeks
Leek, apple, thyme rustic tart
Leek and potato soup

Tarted-Up: A Leek/Apple/Thyme Appetiser!

The French are very fond of regaling their guests with a pre-dinner apéritif which consists of a beverage, usually alcoholic like kir or/and some savoury tidbits, either hot like gougeres or cold like a selection of nuts/crackers. Since the French like to spend time in the kitchen doing it right, the guests need to be able to stave off their hunger without spoiling their appetite so when the cook finally makes an appearance, somewhat stressed, though attractively so, with some flour on their person here and there and a few strands of hair out of place, they will not regard him as the main dish!  Just as importantly, pre-dinner drinks and snacks serve as a means to encourage conviviality.

Meanwhile the potager is brimming over with plump leeks and tons of thyme.

So as not to succumb--not yet anyway--to the lure of a cheesy leek and bacon quiche, I have decided to go the appetiser route and instead wrangle up a rustic leek tart.

Ingredients

• Onions, sliced thinly, 1 cup*
• Leeks, just the white & yellow parts, sliced thinly, 1 cup*
• crème fraîche, approximately 1 heaping T
• Butter, 1 T
• Olive oil, 1 T 
• Sugar, 1/4 tsp
• Apple, Granny Smith, peeled, diced, 1/8 cup*
• Lovage, diced, a few sprigs, or celery, diced 1/8 cup*
• Thyme, fresh, minced, 1/2 tsp and sprigs for garnishing--it's worth the bother of getting fresh, any extra can be dried or frozen for future use.
• Egg yolk, one mixed with a tsp of cold water for glaze
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Mustard, Dijon, approximately 1.5 teaspoons
• Short pastry, if buying, get the best you can, enough for a 9 inch round

*cup is 8 oz, that is, American measure.

Complete instructions on how to clean leeks thoroughly can be found in this past post.  Gather the ingredients and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Put the butter and olive oil in a skillet over high heat until foaming--the olive oil will raise the burning point a bit, but still be careful not to burn the fat.   Toss in the sliced leeks and onions, finely chopped apple, and the sugar.  Stir over moderately high heat for a few minutes or until some edges of the onions and leeks are browned.

Then lower the heat as much as is possible, add the lovage/celery and let carmelize for about 15-20 minutes, stirring from time to time.  The onions and leeks need not be fully carmelized as they are for French Onion Soup as they will spend some time in the oven also.

Put them in a mixing bowl.  Add the thyme and the crème fraîche bit by bit as the mixture needs to be moist without being soupy--more or less than the suggested amount can be added to get the right consistency.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Let cool.

Roll out the pastry on parchment paper to 1/8 thick and using a 9 inch pie plate as a template, cut around the edge of the plate with a knife.  Beat the mustard with a fork--to get it more fluid--and coat thinly the round with it, leaving an one-inch-wide brim around the perimeter.  Gather the scraps together into a small ball and put in the fridge.

Spread the filling as evenly as possible.

Fold the edge over, pleating it as necessary.  Apply the egg wash either with a pastry brush or with your fingers or with a piece of paper towel on the folded-over edges.  Using the edges of the parchment paper to carry it, put the tart on a shallow baking pan and place on the middle rack in the oven.

Take out the small ball of dough gathered from the scraps.  Roll out and cut out small rounds to make biscuits which can be dusted with powdered sugar after baking.  Another approach is to pair two rounds on top of each other, with some raspberry jam spread between them.  Cut off a small round opening on the top, letting the jewelled colour of the jam show--a rough-and-ready version of a Linzer cookie.  Put them in the oven.

Bake the tart for about 25 minutes until golden brown, rotating it if necessary halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning.  The small rounds should take less time, around 15 minutes.

I really liked how these turned out--fairly easy to slide off the serving plate onto individual napkins and truly tasty, a bit of tang, a bit of sweetness with a bright note of herb, luscious without being overwhelming.  They were best served warm or tepid, as when they become cold, their zesty appeal is somewhat subdued.  Any extra can be frozen, thawed, and re-heated gently, though the crust seems to get crumbly.

I dusted the biscuits well with confectioner's sugar; they reminded me of a baked version of Crusciki, a deep-fried Slavic pastry.

Damp and soggy conditions continue in the potager. My shipment from the plant nursery has been delayed by inclement weather. I am patiently trying to prune and prepare beds for planting between bouts of rain.  The daffodils are in full bloom though.

The buds on some bearded Irises are colouring.  There are already lots of sweet violets with their lush evergreen foliage in that part of the garden, and soon there will be bluebells and lilacs--blue on blue on blue on blue.  It's my favourite colour so I am not complaining!

Dayo is happy with how good this warm, wet winter has been for the grass.  Yum!

He also was very pleased with an art postcard sent from Tokyo by our favourite conceptual archivist, +Arthur Huang.  Apparently Dayo would have some competition from other felines as Tokyo has a huge cat population.  Arthur enjoys looking for such postcards among other things at craft markets, and one of his favourites is this one, which takes place monthly on the grounds of a shrine.

Conceptual Archivist?  You must mean Conceptual Artist, no?  He is a Conceptual Archivist because he has coupled his conceptual art with his love of collecting personal artefacts.   Among other projects, you can keep up-to-date with his work-in-progress, Houses for Light at his website.

Using several varieties of Japanese mushrooms, Arthur has adapted my recipe for mushroom soup à la forestière.  He is planning to make my minestrone soup soon.  If he can't get white beans or chick peas, he will substitute soy, fresh or dried.  In any case, I am sure it will be delicious!

À la prochaine!

RELATED POSTS

Leek and Potato Soup
Twice-baked Potatoes With Leek Stuffing

The Stalwart Leek

The roses are close to blooming.  Though roses themselves are gorgeous, the leaves are attractive in their own right.

One of the seven Queen Elizabeth hedge roses taking a shower

Handsome, versatile leeks function both as an food crop and structural plants.  Sow seeds by May and they will provide visual/culinary interest starting in early autumn all the way through to next spring.  They can be popped into the bays between shrubs in a sunny location as long as the area is pesticide/herbicide free. They will stay in the ground looking smart and perky until you are ready for them so no real need for successive planting.

Leeks are biennials.  The second year, that is, their second spring, they go to seed. Edible plants often go bitter when they go to seed, so I make sure I harvest what I want as food before that happens, leaving a couple of plants for seed collection.  Or if you have the space just let nature eventually do it for you and then transplant the volunteers into better locations.

Note the lovely self-sown youngster.

Select the sturdiest and most robust leeks to be your seed bearers.  The seed head itself looks like a gnome's pointy hat.  Leeks are such a class act as they look as dapper as ever while sporting their steely-blue, violet, or white globular flower heads.

Leek seeds being tiny and black makes it difficult to regulate their spacing.  In addition, leeks are best transplanted so their lower fleshy parts are fully buried ensuring that they will be white and sweetly succulent.

Transplanting allows for the better placed leek on the right which is buried right up to bottom leaves

Leeks certainly can be mounded if grown in place.  However, both problems are solved more easily if they are sown first in flats.  Or a few seeds can be sown in small pots, obviating the need to transplant later to larger pots.  Leeks do not need heat to germinate so the flats/pots can go out on the terrace/patio/balcony. In either case choose the sturdiest seedlings to remain, clipping the others off at soil level with scissors.   Another approach is to sow directly into a nursery bed, with later transplanting to where they will mature and be harvested. When transplant size, they are as thick as a pencil and should be placed about five inches apart.

As leeks and potatoes are such a perfect pairing one does not have to stop with leek and potato soup.  This agreeable coupling works well when making twice-baked potatoes.  Eight halves make for a very nice packed lunch for two if one has access to a microwave.  Some people do without re-heating, not that I would know about that!  Or two halves can accompany a larger meal providing a total of four servings.

TWICE-BAKED POTATOES WITH LEEK STUFFING
(Makes eight halves)

• Four medium-large baking or all-purpose potatoes 
• Leeks, thoroughly washed and sliced, two cups 
• Parmesan cheese, grated, 1/2 cup
• Cream, 1/3 cup 
• Garlic, one large clove crushed
• Red pepper flakes
• Butter, salt, freshly ground black pepper as needed

Having a block of aged Parmesan is nice to have handy

Scrub potatoes well.  Arrange on a rack in a 450 degrees F oven and bake till tender when tested with a knife's point--when done, the knife will feel like it is sliding of its own accord into the centre--about 45 to 60 minutes depending on the potatoes' size.

While the potatoes are baking, cook the prepared leeks and crushed garlic with a tablespoon each of butter and water--sauté for a few minutes first in butter, then add the water--in a covered skillet till tender for about 15 minutes.  Cut the baked potatoes into halves and scoop out the insides into a mixing bowl, leaving enough potato to make 1/8 inch thick walls.  This is a rather important detail for the finished dish--if the walls are too thin, the shells will not do their job holding the filling neatly in place, if too thick, you miss out on the delectable filling that could have been there.

Score first around the edge and then hollow out, neither too thickly or thinly

Rice or mash the potatoes in a large mixing bowl.  Reserving a couple of tablespoons of leeks for garnishing, put the rest in a small bowl and purée with an immersion blender with just enough cream to get a smooth texture. Then add the puréed leeks, Parmesan, and the rest of the cream along with the desired amount of salt and freshly ground pepper to the potatoes.  Beat well with a large wooden spoon or whisk till a luscious consistency.  Stuff the potato  halves.

This nifty masher is really a ricer

Note the leeks smoothly blended with just enough cream and the leeks  reserved for garnishing

Any time food preparation requires mixing/beating, I use it as an excuse to make percussion music

The filling can be piped into the shells or a scored pattern  following the contours of the potatoes can be made using a fork.  Bits of butter placed on top will increase browning.  Bake 400 degrees F for about a half an hour or until the top is crusty and golden brown. Garnish with red pepper flakes and the reserved leeks which may need to be reheated to make them glisten attractively.

Bon appétit!

Michelle's Astuce

If a more puffy, pillow-like look is preferred, mound the shells as fully as necessary, using the extra ones as the basis for making potato skins.  There will be about four halves constituting heftier portions, so keep that in mind when menu planning.

RELATED LINKS

Sowing seeds indoors

Cleaning leeks and leek/potato soup recipe