From Wild Garlic,
Gooseberries . . . and Me, Denis Cotter, Collins, 2007.
This recipe calls for wild garlic rather than garlic chives.
Cotter, in this book, tells about the wild foods he likes and discusses the
problem of wild garlic in that there are many items throughout Europe, North
America and Africa that are called wild garlic. He settles for a couple that he
knows in Britain. I wondered about the wild garlic and considered that garlic
chives here in Australia may perhaps be one of the wild garlics and so decided
to try his recipe but using garlic chives.
Firstly I had to make the pastry for the tart case. This was
a simple flour and butter mix with a touch of cold water. While it was serving
its half hour in the refrigerator I got onto dealing with the vegetables.
The garlic chives (about 150g) went into salted boiling
water for 30 seconds. They were then cold bathed and squeezed to rid them of
any surplus water. The chives were chopped roughly. They were mixed with 200g
crumbled feta and 2 tablespoons pine nuts that had been lightly roasted.
The pastry case was part cooked until it was lightly brown.
A layer of the chives mix now went in and was covered by a layer of potatoes.
This was repeated twice more. Four eggs were beaten with 150ml cream and
carefully poured into the tart, letting it seep through the potatoes. It looked
as though it would not all fit but adding it slowly and giving it time to
disperse though the filling it all did go in.
It was baked in a 180ºC oven for half an hour.
The result was a reasonably tasty potato pie. The garlic
chives did not seem to be noticeable more than possibly an added savouriness.
The grassiness of the raw chives had dissipated in the cooking. I’m not sure
that there was any real benefit from using the chives and if I make this again
I would substitute another ingredient, possibly spinach or just cooked onions.
Taste:
✔✔✔
Ease of
cooking: ✔✔✔
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