An Official Leek

This morning I inspected and tasted the Lentil Sprouts. They are about 1/4inch long already and have a flavour akin to a very sweet garden pea. Quite delicious. All I've got to do now is work out what to do with them! But first, they can grow on a little more because I'm interested to see just how long they can get and if, with a little age and maturity so to speak, their flavour changes. Probably all been done before but it's passing the time in a slightly different way to the norm of just twiddling fingers all day long.

It's official!! The UK is NOT required to metricate by the EU. So now I can talk about how big it is in inches, real inches. 15 and I'm going to braise it, plaster it in cheese sauce and then brown it under a grill, serve it with some Spanish streaky and chase it down with a cheap white. Why? Because I've got some cheese in the fridge that's going dry and it'll use it up. Actually I'm glad I've got stuff to play with in the kitchen because it is dull, wet and downright miserable right now here on the Costa Del Sol. Let's go do the Salsa!

Leek con Salsa Queso (Making 4 tapas/starters).

2 large leeks.
1 tbspn Olive Oil
2 tbspn Flour
125ml Milk
Mustard
Chicken bouillon
100g Grated Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese + some extra (see Prep notes)
Pinch of grated mace or nutmeg
4 rashers streaky bacon
Fresh parsley

PREP
Trim, wash and cut Leeks to make four 3-4inch pieces
(remove and keep useable green tops)
Dice bacon
Grate cheddar and Parmesan (or use pre-pack)
Extra Parmesan for garnish
Dissolve Chicken Bouillon cube in 200mls hot water
Make up a rounded teaspoon of mustard powder with water and a drip of vinegar. Yes, OK, you can use ready-prepared, sigh.
Chop some Parsley for Garnish

METHOD
Pre-heat oven to 190C/370F
Place the Leek pieces into a suitably sized ovenproof dish and pour in the hot stock to come about 1/2 way up the leeks. Season the leeks with some black pepper then cover, place in the centre of the oven, and braise for about 45minutes. Meanwhile.......
Fry bacon until JUST crisping and use a slotted spoon to remove.
Place together in a small saucepan 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil and 2 tablespoons of Flour and over a low heat create a roux. Then slowly add the milk to make a white sauce, finishing with the teaspoon of made mustard stirred in. Then add the bacon, spice and the grated cheeses and keep over a low heat stirring continuously while the cheeses melt in.

Place one leek piece into a suitable serving dish (4inch Spanish Cazuela?) and dress with the cheese sauce. Spinkle some extra Parmesan on top and brown under a hot grill. Garnish with parsley and serve with a glass of your favourite fancy.

VARIATIONS
Some grated Provolone or similar 'gooey when melted' cheese might make an interesting alternative to the cheddar.
50/50 Chicken stock/white wine

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT!
The very next time that you saute some onion for whatever, chop up and chuck in with the onion those saved green tops from this recipe. But do it soon before the greens wilt etc.
And an idea not tested as I write.....the remaining chicken stock and some lentil sprouts could be the beginnings of a tasty bowl of soup.