After a recent trip to the markets, my husband, Jimmy and sister-in-law returned home with some locally made quark cheese. Knowing quark is suitable for the failsafe diet (if you can have dairy) we had always wanted to try it on the kids to see they would like it… anything to increase our repertoire of food. My husband and sister-in-law thought the quark was divine, I on the other hand (not been a big cheese lover) thought it was the worst thing I had ever tasted, lol! After sampling it, I was sure we wouldn’t have much success with the kids, so I was thinking of a way to tone down the taste a bit. I was planning on making some Caramelized leeks… seemed like a perfect match!
The end result had Jimmy and my sister-in-law eating the Quark Caramelised Leek Dip and me whipping up some more leeks to mix with Philly cheese for the kids and I. They tried the quark version and were not very impressed either! We thought the philly cheese one was a much nicer version… but each to their own. If you like strong cheeses, by all means please try the quark version and let me know what you think too. I have not given up on quark completely just yet… the guy that they bought it from at the markets said it freezes well and the RPAH Elimination Diet handbook says to mix with sugar or maple syrup and use as an iced treat.
I used caramelised leek in one of my very first recipes on my blog, Leek & Deli Chicken Mini Pies. In that recipe I only cooked it for 4 minutes, I now like to cook it for a lot longer and it really caramelises beautifully. The caramelised leek is great on it’s own, lovely on a steak for dinner, in sandwiches with Deli Chicken, and with poached eggs for breakfast. Whatever your heart desires really, there is a lot you can do with it. As a dip it is a great dish to take to a party, a BBQ, to put in lunch boxes or just when you have friends drop around.
Caramelised leek
Equipment
- Thermomix
Ingredients
- 1 Leek
- 1 large clove garlic
- 30 g Rice bran oil
- 50 g Brown sugar
Instructions
- Cut leek into big chunks and place in Thermomix bowl with the garlic.
- Chop for 3 seconds on speed 6.
- Add oil and brown sugar.
- Cook for 12 mins at 100° on speed 1, reverse. Place the steaming basket on top of lid while cooking.
Quark or Philly Caramelised Leek Dip
Ingredients
- 250 g Philly cheese or Quark
- 150 g of the caramelised leek
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Allow the caramelised leek to completely cool before making into the dip.
- Place philly cheese or quark and caramelised leek into the Thermomix bowl with a sprinkle of salt.
- Mix on speed 4 for 10 seconds.
- Scrape down sides and repeat for another 10 seconds on speed 4.
- Store in the fridge until ready to serve with your favourite crackers, Beanfields bean and rice chips, vegetable sticks or accompaniments. Also great in lunch boxes with jatz and celery sticks.
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