Creamy Lambs Quarters Gratin Recipes

CREAMY LAMB'S-QUARTERS GRATIN

Steps:

• Make Filling:
• Preheat the oven to 350° F with the rack in the middle. Butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
• Bring 1-inch salted water to a boil in a large saucepan. Meanwhile, wash lamb's-quarters in a large bowl of cold water and drain well. Trim any coarse, woody stems at bottom (don't go crazy with trimming; young lamb's-quarter stems cook up tender and delicious).
• Add lamb's-quarters to pot and cook over medium heat, covered, until leaves are wilted and stems are tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the greens in a large sieve or colander and rinse well under cold running water. Drain again, pressing out excess liquid with the back of a large spoon. Coarsely chop greens and transfer to a bowl. Dry saucepan and reserve.
• Cook scallions in olive oil with 1/4 teaspoon salt in reserved saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Combine scallion mixture with greens in bowl. Reserve saucepan again.
• Melt butter in reserved saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in flour. Cook, stirring, 2 minutes, then whisk in milk and bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer sauce, whisking, 2 minutes (it will be thick). Remove from heat and whisk in nutmeg, zest, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix sauce into greens mixture. If the mixture is too thick, thin with a little additional milk; season with salt and pepper. Spread out mixture in baking dish.
• Make Topping:
• Toss together crumbs, cheeses, and oil until combined well. Sprinkle topping evenly over greens mixture and bake in oven until crumbs are golden and mixture is bubbling, about 30 minutes.
• Cooks' Notes:
• The best way to make coarse fresh breadcrumbs is to cube fresh bread, then grind it in small batches in a blender (a food processor is not as good at grinding crusty bread into breadcrumbs because the crusts get stuck in the blade).
• Creamy lamb's-quarters mixture and crumb mixture can be made 1 day ahead and kept separately in airtight containers, chilled.

CREAMY POTATO GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices, neither especially thin nor especially thick (approximately 1/2-inch) and put them into a large saucepan with the milk, cream, onion, minced garlic and salt. Bring to the boil and cook at a robust simmer or gentle boil (however you like to think of it) until verging on tender, but not dissolving into mush. The pan might be hell to clean afterward, but any excuse for long, lazy soaking rather than brisk pre-or postprandial scrubbing always appeals to me. And, for what it's worth, I find that when pans are really, dauntingly, stuck with cooked-on gunge, it's more effective to soak them in hot water and detergent (i.e., the stuff you put in the washing machine, though I haven't tried, and don't think I would, with tablets) rather than dish liquid.
• Use some of the butter to grease a large roasting pan (15 by 12-inches) and then pour the almost sludgy milk and potato mixture into it. Dot with remaining butter and cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until the potato is bubbly and browned on top. Remove, let stand for 10 to 20 minutes and then serve.
• This is not the most labor saving way of cooking potatoes, to be sure, but one of the most seductive. And it reheats well as an accompaniment to cold roast pork, or indeed anything in the days that follow.

LAMBSQUARTERS

Steps:

• Heat oil in a sautee pan and dice the onion.
• Wash the leaves and stems, bring the water to a boil.
• Brown the onion, when brown set aside with a lid on.
• Steam the leaves/stems until tender @2 minute Mix juice with onions and oil.
• Put leaves in a bowl, drizzle with onion/lemon/oil sauce and sprinkle with seeds and salt.
• Serve immediately.

CREAMY AU GRATIN POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a medium casserole dish.
• Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.

LAMB'S-QUARTER QUICHE

Steps:

• In a skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Add lamb's-quarter; cook and stir until wilted. Cover and remove from the heat. , In a bowl, beat eggs and milk. Stir in salt, pepper, 1 cup cheese and lamb's-quarter mixture. Pour into pie shell. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° bake 30 minutes more or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting.

CREAMY & RICH AU GRATIN POTATOES

Steps:

• Grease 1 1/2 quart casserole.
• Set aside.
• In small saucepan melt butter.
• Stir in flour, salt and pepper.
• Blend in milk and half-and-half.
• Cook on medium high heat, stirring constantly, until heated through.
• Set aside.
• Layer one-third of potato slices, half of onion, one-third of parsley, one-third of cheese and one-third of sauce in casserole.
• Repeat layers.
• Top with remaining potatoes, parsley, cheese and sauce.
• Bake in 375F degrees Convection oven on rack 3, 45-60 minutes (or bake in preheated 375F degrees radiant bake oven 1-1 1/4 hours) or until sauce is bubbly and potatoes are tender.

RACK OF LAMB WITH GARLIC-CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• Place garlic, shallot and cream in a small saucepan. Bring to barely a simmer, cover and cook until garlic and shallot are very soft, 1 to 2 hours. Transfer to a blender and purée, adding more cream as needed. Set aside.
• Rub lamb all over with thyme; discard sprigs. Brush lamb with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Sear or grill over medium-high heat until lamb reaches desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium.
• Reheat garlic mixture over very low heat (do not boil), adding more cream if sauce is too thick. Season lightly with salt and serve with lamb chops.

LAMBSQUARTERS SEED SMOOTHIE

Steps:

• Rinse lambsquarters seeds in a fine-mesh strainer. Drain.
• Combine rinsed seeds, water, pear, apple, beet tops and stems, honey, and ginger in a high-powered blender. Blend slowly until chunks are smaller. Increase speed to high and blend until smooth and creamy.