Leek, Bacon and Gruyere Tart

Last Year's Post: Spanish Asparagus Revuelto
Two Years Ago:   Coconut Lime Grilled Shrimp with Pineapple Rice

Mother's Day is coming up, and I have a suggestion for a much more fun alternative to a stuffy, over-priced restaurant buffet.  I've been doing this Mother's Day brunch menu for a long time, and it really works.

Here's the game plan:
1.  Make one or more savory tarts, depending on the size of your crowd.  The one shown above is popular with all age groups and can be served warm or at room temperature.
2.  Buy a big plastic container of cut-up fruit at the store, and put it in a pretty bowl.  (No one will ever know.)
3.  Buy croissants, muffins and other pastries and arrange them on a large platter.
4.  Buy at least 4-5 fun and interesting organic juice blends and stick them in a big tub of ice.  Add a bottle of champagne to make mimosas for the adults.
5.  Make a big pot of strong coffee.

If you have family members who always ask "what can I bring?", assign the fruit, pastries, juices and champagne to others.  That way all you have to do is make the tart(s) and brew the coffee.

If it's a nice day, have the party outside.  Everyone is relaxed and the kids have so much more fun than if they were forced to dress up and sit at a restaurant table for endless hours.  And interestingly, the juices are usually the hit of the party because people like to try different kinds that they wouldn't normally have.

This particular tart recipe combines sauteed mild leeks with bacon and nutty Gruyere cheese and is absolutely delicious.  It calls for an 11" tart pan which is pretty big and would serve 6 for dinner with a salad and crusty bread, or would easily serve 8 as part of a larger brunch.  If you want to make a couple of different tarts or quiches (basically the same thing except a quiche pan is deeper than a tart pan), here are a couple of other ideas I've posted in the past:  roasted tomato tart with goat cheese and black olives, cotswold quiche, wild mushroom and gruyere quiche, summer harvest quiche, and cabbage and spring onion tart.  If you do make two different tarts, cut them into smaller pieces so everyone can try both.

Leek, Bacon and Gruyere Tart

Serves 6-8

One unbaked pie crust, homemade or purchased

4 slices bacon, cut into small dice

1 oz. (2 Tbs.) unsalted butter

3 large leeks (white and light green parts only), cleaned and sliced crosswise 1⁄4 inch thick to yield about 4 cups

1 Tbs. unbleached all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1⁄3 cup heavy cream

1⁄3 cup whole milk

3⁄4 tsp. kosher salt

1⁄8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Freshly ground black pepper

2⁄3 cup grated Gruyère (or Emmentaler)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F.

Roll the dough out to a 14-inch circle about 1⁄8 inch thick.  Transfer the dough to an 11-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press it carefully into the corners and up the sides of the pan. Fold any excess dough back into the pan and press along the sides to make a sturdier rim. Prick the surface of the dough all over with a fork, line it with parchment, and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Put the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the edges of the tart shell are dry and flaky (but not browned), about 10 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment; the center should still be moist and raw. Prick the bottom again and return the shell to the oven. Bake until the bottom surface is completely dry, 5 to 7 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Lower the oven temperature to 375°F.

Make the filling:

In a 12-inch skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp and golden brown, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a dish and set aside. Discard all but about 2 tsp. of the bacon fat. Set the skillet over medium-low heat, add the butter, let it melt, and then add the leeks. Stir to coat them with the fat, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir the flour into the leeks and cook uncovered, stirring, for about 2 minutes to cook off the raw-flour flavor. Set aside and let cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Add the cream, milk, salt, nutmeg, and several grinds of pepper and whisk until blended. Add the bacon and leeks to the mixture and stir to combine.

To assemble the tart, scatter 1⁄3 cup cheese over the cooled tart shell and pour in the egg mixture. Spread the leeks evenly. Scatter the remaining 1⁄3 cup cheese evenly over the top. Bake until the custard is set and the top is light golden brown, about 35 minutes. Let cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Prosciutto, Gruyere and Egg Toasts

Last Year's Post:  Cotswold Quiche
Two Years Ago:   Tabbouleh and Greek Chicken

This recipe is adapted from a very popular dish served at A.O.C. Wine Bar in Los Angeles.  Although I can see that it would be very good as a light dinner at a wine bar, I think it's even better as an elegant brunch entree.   The wine bar owner recommends serving it with a bright, berry-scented sparkling rose wine, or I think Champagne would be equally good.  Add some fresh fruit, french pastry, coffee and fruit juice to round out the meal for a beautiful Easter or Mother's Day brunch.

In case you're not familiar with frisee (free-say), it's a beautiful, lacy lettuce that doesn't get limp when tossed with dressing.  I often add it to other salad greens for texture and because it's so pretty.  You can often find it upscale grocers like Whole Foods.  If you can't find frisee, watercress or baby arugula leaves would make a good substitute.

Cut the core off and wash like any other lettuce.  I like to mix the outer darker leaves and inner lighter leaves for contrast.  Just be sure to chop them up into bite-sized pieces or they can be a little unwieldy to try to eat whole.

The toasts are fast and easy to make - just toast up some bread, fry some eggs, toss the salad, and melt some cheese.  Although the recipe calls for leaving the egg yolks runny it's easy to cook the eggs to everyone's preference.

printable recipe

Prosciutto, Gruyere and Egg Toasts

Serves 6

6 slices of Italian, sourdough or farmhouse white bread

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus softened butter for brushing

6 ounces frisee, torn into bite-size pieces (3 cups)

¼ cup lightly packed parsley leaves

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

6 large eggs

½ lb Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced

12 thin slices of prosciutto (6 ounces)

Preheat the broiler.  Brush both sides of the bread slices with softened butter and arrange in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.  Broil the bread 8 inches from the heat, turning once, until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes total.  Leave the broiler on.

In a medium bowl, toss the frisee with the parsley, green onions, lemon juice and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in each of two large nonstick skillets.  Crack 3 eggs into each skillet and cook sunny side up over moderate heat, until the whites are firm and the yolks are still runny, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper.

Top the toasts with the Gruyere, covering as much of them as possible with the cheese.  Broil 8 inches from the heat for about 3 minutes, watching closely, until the cheese has melted.  Transfer the toasts to plates.  Top with the frisee salad, prosciutto slices and fried eggs.  Serve at once.

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Wonton Cups

Last Year's Post: Banh Mi
Two Years Ago:  Tuxedo Strawberries

Raspberry and dark chocolate, what more do you need to say?  Valentine's Day is coming up, and these little cups would make a very special treat.  For that matter, they're perfect for any time when you want a little special dessert and would also be great as a sweet alternative for an appetizer party or for a Easter or Mother's Day brunch.

Although they look fancy, they're very easy to make - just bake some wonton wrappers in a mini-muffin pan, and fill with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and a raspberry.  Start to finish this project took about 45 minutes, and most of that was spent waiting for the oven to heat or for the wonton cups to cool.  You can make your own whipped cream, or whipped topping from the store will work just fine.  This will probably be best made on the same day you plan to serve them, and I wouldn't fill them very far in advance so the whipped cream doesn't soften the wonton cups.

You can make your own variations by substituting chocolate (or other flavored) pudding for the whipped topping, white chocolate for dark, blackberries for raspberries, etc.  Whatever combination you use will be delicious, impressive and pretty.

printable recipe

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Wonton Cups

Makes 12 cups

12 wonton wrappers

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tablespoon white sugar

½ cup dark chocolate shavings

¾ cup sweetened whipped cream or nondairy whipped topping

12 fresh raspberries

Special equipment: mini-muffin pan

Preheat oven to 350d.

Brush wonton wrappers with butter and sprinkle with sugar.  Press sugar side up into ungreased miniature muffin cups.  Bake at 350d for 5-7 minutes until crisp and lightly brown.   Transfer wrappers to a wire rack to cool.

Spoon whipped cream or topping into each muffin cup.  Top with chocolate shavings and a single raspberry.

Egg Gratin

Last year's post: Rustic Egg Tart

This recipe would be great for Easter or Mother's Day brunch. It's different from typical egg dishes - omelets, frittatas, scrambled eggs, stratas or souffles  - because it's made with hard-boiled eggs, peas and green onions that are baked in a delicious cheese sauce. It can be assembled in advance so all you have to do is bake it before serving, which makes it great for entertaining. It's also perfect for an easy but impressive dinner any night of the week.

I used to make a similar version fairly often while in college because it was cheap and good, cheap being the most important of the two virtues at the time. That version called for some sort of cream soup but I try to avoid canned soups now due to their additives and high sodium levels, plus it's easy to make the sauce from scratch.  Have you looked at the ingredient list on a can of soup lately?


fun at the grocery store

Let's talk about eggs for a minute. Eggs have a number of good qualities and one drawback. The drawback is that they're fairly high in cholesterol so you don't want to eat them every day, but in my opinion that's outweighed by the good qualities. Eggs are all-natural and packed with a number of nutrients. One egg has 13 essential vitamins and minerals in varying amounts, high-quality protein, unsaturated fats and antioxidants, all for 70 calories. Eggs' nutrients can help you with weight management, muscle strength, eye health, brain function and having a healthy pregnancy. Particularly important for aiding healthy brain function and pregnancy is choline (pronounced KOH-leen), which is amply present in eggs. (Can you tell I've been doing research on the egg council website?)  This recipe calls for six eggs and feeds 4-5 people, so you're only consuming a little more than one egg per serving.

Is this considered a vegetarian meal?  Not to get overly detailed, but most people who describe themselves as vegetarians are actually lacto-ovo vegetarians if they eat eggs and dairy products. "Flexitarians" is a new term that describes people who eat a mostly vegetarian diet but occasionally eat meat.  Vegans, on the other hand, do not eat meat of any kind and also do not eat eggs, dairy products, or processed foods containing those or other animal-derived ingredients such as gelatin.  Undoubtedly that was way more than you really wanted to know, but basically I consider this a vegetarian meal.  Unless, of course, you add a garnish of some crispy bacon.  Umm, bacon.  (If you have vegetarian friends it would probably be a good idea to ask if they eat eggs before serving this dish.)

You could substitute spinach for the peas in the recipe, but my old version had peas so I like them for sentimental reasons. You could also substitute cheddar or swiss cheese for the Gruyere, and use English muffins or French bread instead of Italian bread - just be sure whatever bread you use is toasted or grilled until crisp to provide textural contrast to the creamy eggs.

Obviously the garnish is optional but I thought it made the plate look more springtime-ish and the daikon sprouts add a fresh taste with just the barest hint of radish spiciness.  Or there's always bacon. (If you're feeling wild and crazy you could even fry up some chorizo.)

There's a world of opinions regarding how to hard-boil eggs, the two issues being how to avoid a green ring around the yolk and how to make sure the shell is easy to remove.  All I can tell you is that I cook eggs the way my mother taught me and I've never had green rings and very rarely have issues with the shells.  Here's how: place the eggs in a small saucepan and just barely cover them with tap water.

Bring to a boil uncovered, then turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.  Stick the saucepan in the sink and run cold water on the eggs for a couple of minutes to cool them down and stop the cooking process.  Done.

If you're planning to serve this for guests I would encourage you to buy a gratin dish because it looks so pretty.  Basically they're shallow baking dishes, usually oval in shape.  This dish is approximately 7.5" by 12" (not counting the handles) and the recipe fit perfectly.  If you plan to double the recipe larger gratin dishes are readily available.  Of course any regular baking dish will work but won't have quite the same wow factor.

printable recipe

Egg Gratin

Serves 4-5

6 hard-boiled eggs

2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups milk (whole or 2%)
1 teaspoon salt, divided
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ¼ cups shredded cheese (Gruyere, cheddar or swiss)
4 green onions, sliced
1 cup frozen peas (not thawed)
paprika
daikon sprouts (optional)
crumbled cooked bacon (optional)
grilled or toasted Italian bread, French bread, or English muffins

Preheat the oven to 450d.

Grease a 6-cup (1.5L) gratin or casserole dish.  Slice the eggs crosswise into 5-6 pieces each and arrange in the dish. 

Reserving a few green onions for garnish, sprinkle the remaining green onions and the peas over the eggs.

 In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for about 90 seconds, without browning.  Gradually whisk in milk, then add ½ teaspoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg.  Continue whisking and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in 1 cup of the cheese until melted.  Taste for seasoning and add the additional salt if needed.

 Pour the sauce evenly over the eggs, peas and onions to cover all.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  

Bake on the oven’s center rack until bubbly and very slightly browned, about 25 minutes.  Turn the oven to broil and allow the dish to brown to your liking while watching closely, approximately 30-60 seconds.

Remove and garnish with paprika and the remaining green onions.

 Serve over grilled or toasted bread, garnished with daikon sprouts and/or bacon (optional).