St. David's Day Fare

St. David's Day is the Welsh equivalent of the better-known St. Patrick's day, which occurs later on this month. It's celebrated by Welsh around the world on March 1st. Having a spattering of Welsh in my blood as well, I often take the day, or the weekend nearest to it, to connect with some of my heritage and cook a bit of Welsh fare. It's always a pleasure since two of my favourite foods, leeks and cheese, feature prominently in many traditional Welsh recipes. This one is no exception.

Anglesey Eggs is a traditional supper dish of mashed potatoes and leeks topped with hard boiled eggs and cheese sauce. Probably not entirely healthy, but definitely tasty. In some ways it could be the Welsh equivalent to Quebecois poutine. While usually served for supper with peas, I think this makes a great brunch or hearty breakfast dish as well.

Anglesey Eggs (Wyau Ynys Môn)
Serves 4

2 oz butter, divided
1 Tbs flour
1 cup hot milk
4 oz cheddar cheese, grated
8 hard boiled eggs, just hard, halved
4 leeks, chopped and cooked
2 cups hot mashed potatoes
2 Tbs fresh breadcrumbs
Grated nutmeg
Salt and black pepper

Heat over to 350F and butter/oil an oven dish.

Make a cheese sauce by melting half the butter in a saucepan and then adding the flour, stirring it for about a minute over low heat before adding the hot milk with a whisk. Then add the cheese and stir some more, simmering until the sauce thickens.

As the sauce thickens, in a bowl, mix together the leeks, mashed potatoes, half the butter, and some salt and pepper. Put the mixture into the buttered dish. Arrange the hard boiled egg halves on top, and then pour most of the cheese mixture on top of that. Keep some of the cheese sauce back and mix it with the breadcrumbs and nutmeg. Sprinkle this crumb mixture on top of the whole thing.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the top is browned. Don't leave it too long, otherwise the eggs go rubbery.

Variations:
While leeks may be one of the national plants of Wales (the other being daffodils), they are not always available. If you can't find them, you can use onions instead. It's definitely not the same, but passable.

I sometimes add cooked chard, kale or spinach to the mashed potato mixture. I think once I even layered kale on the bottom, beneath the mashed potatoes.