It’s Allium in the Family

 

This month’s Widows’ Cooking Club recipes include a leek quiche and French onion soup so my theme is the versatile onion family, otherwise known as the Allium family!

My “slice of life” reflection is about the importance of family connections after losing a loved one.  I’ve been very fortunate to have stable, loving relationships with my daughter and my late husband’s two children.  The “kids” were well into adulthood when we became a couple and over 40 years of age when we finally got married.  So, it seemed rather odd to think of them as “step-children”.   They are “step-adults”.   We made sure to do our legal work early on once we built a home together to ensure a smooth inheritance when the time came.  I feel blessed by their gracious compassion when I had to put our plan into place.

I went back to our estate-planning attorney after the dust settled, about two years after I lost my husband.  It is important to have paperwork re-done, as most couples list their spouse as being the primary beneficiary and power-of-attorney designee.  We went through all the pertinent documents, removing my husband’s name and adding my daughter’s.  So, if you have not yet done so, please don’t forget to do this legal step. As my attorney explained to me, it could make a big difference in a life threatening situation when medical decisions have to be made urgently.

Now, about the allium family:  This is the botanical family which includes onions, shallots, chives, garlic and leeks.  Allium plants are in the lily family.   Of course, onions are known to make one cry, as does missing your loved one!  Peel an onion if you want to have a good cry and can’t get started!

I love leeks!  Leeks are milder than onions.  The leek is the national emblem of Wales!  I must be part Welch!  The leek has been associated with Wales for centuries. It is thought that the patron saint of Wales, St. David, told Welsh soldiers to wear the leek on their helmets, so they could better spot each other when in battle against the Saxons who wore similar armor. Trivia:  Shakespeare’s play, Henry the Fifth, mentions the leek as a symbol of Wales.

To use leeks, the leafy top is cut off and discarded or can be used to decorate your dish. (see photo of finished quiche below).  The leeks are usually cut into rings like an onion.  They need to be thoroughly washed as there is sometimes a fine gritty dirt left in them from harvesting.  Drain well and dry before cooking. 

About the leek quiche recipe:  I have adapted this recipe from an older cookbook in my kitchen library, “The Frugal Gourmet”.  This guy did a television cooking show in the 1980’s.  I watched it for years!  Jeff was a professorial type and a minister, but scandal struck him down after multiple accusations of molesting young men.  None the less, I like some of his recipes and this is my favorite quiche!

Leek Quiche

To start, you will need one pre-baked pie shell.  You have a range of options from using an ubaked pie shell in an aluminum pie plate from the market, to the ready-to-roll-out pie crusts in the refrigerated section of the market, to using pie crust mix or making crust from scratch using flour and butter.  Since I was using a deeper dish pie plate, the pre-made crust was not big enough to fully cover my pie plate so I used the pie crust mix, and used the full box for one crust.

Hints for making a pre-baked bottom pie crust:

Shape the dough around the rim of the pie plate by pinching it to add a bit of room at the top to prevent over-spilling.  Use a fork to poke holes in the bottom of the crust to allow steam to escape. It is best to use pie weights to keep the crust from shrinking down the sides of the pie plate while cooking.  To do this: cut out a circle of parchment paper and place over the bottom of the raw crust.  Add a single layer of pie weights or dried beans which work well and cost less. 

Note: Why I use parchment paper: to make it easier to get the pie weights or beans out of the cooked crust.  Just lift the paper and pour them out.  The beans can be re-used, just like the pie weights.

Bake the crust in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  No need to overbake since the baked crust is going back into the oven with the quiche filling.  Cool the crust before filling.

For the quiche filling:

1 lb. or two large leeks, washed and cut into thin rings (set aside a couple of top leaves of the leeks to use as a decoration)
2 tablespoons butter
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup light cream
1 cup whole milk
8 oz. Swiss cheese, grated
Salt and Aleppo pepper, or coarsely ground black pepper

Saute’ the sliced leeks in butter until tender.  Place cooked leeks in the bottom of the cooked quiche crust.

In a bowl, beat the eggs, add the cream and milk, stir in the grated swiss cheese, salt and pepper.  Pour this mixture over the leeks and bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.  Test for doneness by inserting a knife and if it comes out dry, the filling is done.

Cool for 10 minutes  before slicing.

You can get creative and use other fillings for this same basic recipe for cooking a quiche.  Parboil some sliced asparagus and add diced ham, for example.

I make quiche for company, as a whole quiche is way too much for me living alone.  However,, quiche freezes very well and if you freeze single slices, you can reheat a slice for lunch very easily!

 

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

I’ve been making this soup since I got my first crock pot, and this recipe came from a very small, thin paperback cookbook of crockpot recipes published in 1975.  The pages are decorated with drops of soup and other ingredients, so you know it is well loved.
The key to a great onion soup is a very rich broth.  A thin, flavorless broth makes an onion soup taste like it was made with dishwater (as my mother would say!)

3 tablespoons butter
6-8 onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons flour
8 cups beef stock (canned or homemade which will taste richer if using beef neck bones and canned beef stock tastes a bit richer than canned beef broth*)
¼ cup apple brandy
Salt and pepper to taste
toasted rounds of French bread for crouton
Slices of Swiss cheese for the topping

Heat the butter in a large skillet and add the sliced onions. Cook for 15 minutes until onions are browned and caramelized, add the garlic for the last five minutes of cooking time.   Add the flour and stir to mix well.
Add the onions to the beef stock in the crock pot.  Add the apple brandy.  Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.  To serve, fill oven proof soup crocks with soup, float the crouton, cover with a slice of Swiss Cheese and broil for a minute or two to melt the cheese.

* What is the difference between beef broth and beef stock?  Beef broth uses meat and beef stock uses bones, which imparts more flavor.