Pumpkin & Leek Soup

Another recipe from the August issue of Recipes+,paraphrased, and slightly adapted to the slow cooker.

Pumpkin & Leek Soup
1.2kg pumpkin, seeds removed, cut into small chunks
4 cloves garlic
cooking spray
20g butter
1 large leek, sliced thinly
1L chicken stock
homemade cheese pullaparts, to serve

Preheat oven to 220°C. Place pumpkin and unpeeled garlic on a large baking tray. Spray lightly with oil spray and bake for 20 minutes until golden and tender. This can be done the day before and kept in the fridge overnight in a covered container.

Melt butter over moderate heat and gently cook leeks until soft. Throw into the slow cooker, along with the stock and pumpkin. Squeeze the garlic out of it's skin and add to the rest of the ingredients. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.
Process with a hand held stick mixer until smooth. Serve with home baked bread goods hot from the oven so the butter is all melty.

Tarragon Chicken & Leek Pies

Based on the Chicken & Vegetable Pies at taste.com.au, only adapted for a slow cooker.

Tarragon Chicken & Leek Pies
1kg chicken thighs, cut into 2cm chunks
2 leeks, white part only, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/3 cup white wine or water
2/3 cup chicken stock
2 large carrots, diced
400g baby potatoes, diced
200g mushrooms, sliced
3 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
1 cup frozen corn, cooked
300ml thick cream
100g baby spinach
8 sheets puff pastry, thawed

Toss the diced potatoes and carrots into your slow cooker. Top with the chicken, leeks, garlic and mushrooms. Pour the wine and stock over the top, and add the tarragon. Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.

Add the corn, cream, and spinach, and stir through until the corn has thawed. Preheat your oven to 200°C. Lay out each sheet of pastry on a oven tray lined with baking paper, with the corner pointing up. Drain some of the chicken mixture, and place in the centre of the pastry. Fold each corner over the chicken into the middle, to close the pie. Repeat with other pastry sheets and chicken mix.

Cook for 25 minutes or until golden. Extra pies can be frozen once cooked.

Creamy Tarragon Chicken with Leek Risotto

Creamy Tarragon Chicken with Leek Risotto
4 chicken thighs
3/4 cup buttermilk
tarragon
1 leek, sliced thinly
1 cup aborio rice
maggi, liquid stock or stock cubes
butter/oil

Place the chicken, tarragon and buttermilk in a zip lock bag, and remove as much air as possible. Leave in the fridge to marinate for 20 minutes, longer if you have the time. Gently sautee the leek in the butter until just starting to wilt, then add in the rice. Cook over low heat until the leek is cooked, translucent and collapsed. Then transfer the rice and leek into a microwave container with 2 cups of stock, or water with maggi or stock cubes in it. Cook for 5 minutes on HIGH in the microwave, stir, and return for another five minutes. Keep stirring and cooking for 5 minute intervals until the rice is done. You may need to add more stock if the rice has absorbed all the liquid but the rice is still hard to the bite.
Fry the chicken in your buttery, leeky frypan. Add the leftover buttermilk once the chicken has browned, but not fully cooked. That will give it enough time on the heat to kill any bacteria, but not so much that it will all boil away. Serve with the cooked risotto.