Leek casserole

A real nice dish and very good to let children eat leek. Mine ate everything when I serve this dish and the recipe is just enough for 4 of us. When it goes in the oven and you start to smell the bread and cheese everybody starts to get hungry. And when it is served, it becomes very quit and we all enjoy this dish.

That simple. 

So hereby this great fall recipe:

Ingredients (4 persons):

• 300 grams chicken breast;
• 130 grams butter, room temperature;
• 1 garlic clove;
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt;
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice;
• 15 sprigs parsley
• 150 grams bacon, cut in small strips;
• 4 leeks, sliced in rings;
• 2 baguettes;
• 50 grams cheese, grated;
• 20 grams flour;
• 2 dl beef stock, room temperature (recipe: Homemade beefstock 4Pure);
• pepper and salt.

Materials: 

• Baking dish.

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Crush the garlic clove above 100 grams of butter. Chop the leaves of 5 strips parsley very fine and add them to the butter, together with the sea salt and lemon juice. Mix the butter very well and set aside.

Cut the chicken breast in 1 x 1 cm cubes. Heat a frying pan and add the bacon. Leave it on low heat for about 3 minutes, so the fat from the bacon comes free. Add the chicken and bake until its well done. Scoop the chicken and bacon with a slotted spoon out of the pan and into the baking dish. 

Put the frying pan (with a bit of fat) back on the heat and add 1 tablespoon of garlic butter. When it's melted add the leeks. Stir fry the leeks for about 3 minutes. Add to the baking dish. Make a white sauce by melting the remaining butter. When it's melted, but not browned add the flour at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until the butter and flour becomes one. Then add the cold beef stock and stir with a whisk. Taste and add pepper and salt if necessary. Simmer for about 5 minutes, while stirring occasionally

Cut the remaining parley leaves very fine and add to the sauce. Poor the sauce over the chicken/leek mixture and stir everything through and through.

Slice the baguette and butter the slices with the garlic-butter mixture. Cover the baking dish with the slices of baguette (with the butter side on top). Sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Put the baking dish 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

Tips en Tricks:

• Cut the leeks lengthwise once (stop about 1.5 cm from the bottom). Quarter turn the leek and again cut lengthwise once (and stop again about 1.5 cm from the bottom). Get the outer leaves of the leeks and wash under the running tap. You can wash all the sand out this way;
• Add to a warm roux (butter - flour mixture), cold liquid. Add to a cold roux warm liquid. That way you won't get clumps. When you add warm liquid to a warm roux you will get clumps!

4Pure: Leek casserole