Indo Cymru Leek Stew with Dumplings that give you a Cwtch

Some of you will have noticed that in the past week or so, I have been gravitating towards Welsh recipes and Welsh things.  This is for the simple reason that next week many of us in Wales will be celebrating St David's Day, even the daffodils are coming out to celebrate, though to be honest they have been out posing by the side of the roads a month earlier.

As we enjoyed the Curried Root Vegetable Stew a couple of weeks back, I thought I would make it again, but enhance it further with the addition of spices and leeks and make it somewhat Fusion Welsh - yes we do like our leeks here in Wales, well I do.  Even though the daffodils are confused and finding the British weather warm, some of us are still finding it, so stew-like meals have been on the menu quite a bit.   

Cwtch means hug in Welsh and it a word you will hear and see a lot in Wales. And these light cloud like dumplings definitely give you a big warm welcome hug, who doesn't love a good hug. 

The topping of Welsh cheddar or Caerphilly cheese is purely optional.  

Five Welsh Vegetarian Leek Recipes

Many of you came by last week through Amy at Love Made My Home were really kind.  You seemed to have enjoyed my Five Welsh Castle posts, so in the same vain I thought I would share five of my favourite Welsh leek recipes with you. The Leek - as many of you will know is the national emblem of Wales alongside the daffodil and the roaring glorious red dragon.  

This short blog post is also a nod towards St David's Day that will shortly be here and my Welsh roots. Hope some of these Welsh Leek recipes inspire you to celebrate St David's Day whether your Welsh or not. 

Simple, but this Leek and Potato Soup with Chilli aka Welsh Dragon Soup remains one of my firm favourites.  

I created theseWelsh Leek, Caerphilly Cheese and Laverbread Burgers when I lived in Scotland and my lovely nephew came up to see me, they were a super success. 

You will find lots of versions of Red Dragon Pie, thisFiery Red Dragon Pie is mine.

Welsh Haggis Lasagne - Yes, the Welsh also have haggis!  

Not the prettiest, but these deep fried Welsh Leek and Caerphilly Cheese Pakoras aka Bhaji's are very tasty

So do you like leeks? Do you have any Welsh leek recipes to share. Do you celebrate St David's Day where you are? 

Vegetarian Welsh Chilli Con Carne

I did not get round to getting a photograph of my St Davids Day Vegetarian Menu as it was one of my busiest and rewarding evenings.   But I know there will be a next time when I make my  vegetarian Welsh Chilli, so right now you will just have to imagine how this red, white and green Welsh Vegetarian Chilli looked like in a bowl.  The colour red from the peppers, white from the cannelini and butter beans, and green from the leeks came through, extra red from the tomatoes and chilli flakes.

It was popular with the chilli fiends and avoided by some for the slightly milder Red Thai Dragon Curry or Red Dragon Burgers.  And for those who did not like the idea of spices in either the Welsh Chilli or the Red Thai Curry had the option of Caerphilly Cheese, Leek and Potato Pie. 
 
Welsh Chilli: Red, White and Green in a Bowl
Serves 6
Ingredients
270g white beans, soaked overnight.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onions, finely sliced
3 large leeks, washed and sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
2 small red chillies, sliced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 red peppers, diced
1 x 400g can of tomatoes, chopped
1 pint vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: coriander, chopped for garnish
Method
In a wide pan, cook beans in water until tender. Drain and set aside.
In a saucepan, warm the oil on medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions become soft, then add the leeks and cook until soft. Add the celery and chilli, then cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat and stir in the cumin, oregano,  coriander, pepper and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook until the peppers begin to soften. Stir occasionally to keep the spices from burning. Then add in the tomatoes cook for about 5 minutes, then stir in the beans and cook for  another 10minutes before stirring in the stock.  Allow to simmer for 30 minutes on a gentle head.  Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with rice or home-made nachos.  

Muddy leeks in the bag

Everything was looking well at the plot earlier. I admired my daffodils for awhile, then watered what needed to be watered and potted the tomato seedlings.
Then I pulled out some leeks from the ground. Wow the smell. These are Musselburgh leeks also known as the Scotch flag. I put them in a the bag and headed off home.
I must admit I have been feeling a little creative recently. So when I read that Fellow food blogger Julia who runs the inspirational and wonderful A Slice of Cherry Pie, on which every month she co hosts a competition with Scott of the Real Epicurean to come up with a recipe using seasonal ingredients. I must admit I was tempted.

The seasonal ingredient in the bag for March is leeks, along with eggs and cheese. How can I resist?

Winter harvest

I don't want you thinking that a little bit of rain would stop me from venturing to the allotment. So this is the first thing I did this morning while it was still dry. And I am so glad I did.
Look at my winter harvest.
Wow - leeks, kale, cabbage, sprouts, turnips, jerusalem artichokes and parsnips.
Winter roast vegetables for dinner - what do you think?

We dug up some fuseau jerusalem arichokes, pulled out some musselburgh leeks and tender and true parsnips. I also picked some more dwarf curly kale, brussel sprouts and a cabbage. Nestling in the cabbage plot I also found some bonus veg, that I completely forgot I had planted - purple top milan turnips.

We also took a wander over to Ds Plot 11. His plot is not looking so good. Other than being a permanent mud slide. His green house panes have come out, pots were all over the place and part of his fencing has come down. When the winds picks up, chances are the damage will become much worse. He will be lucky if that greenhouse makes it in one piece.

I am so glad we went to the allotment when we did, as by the afternoon it was snowing. But an hour or so later a rainbow came out. Ah Nature.