WHY have I never had roasted leeks?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

My oh my. These are absolutely fabulous. Inspired after watching an episode of Mind of a Chef where they roasted some over a campfire, I did my own in the oven. Extremely simple - olive oil, butter, thyme, 3 whole cloves garlic, 3 trimmed/halved/washed, leeks, wrapped in foil. Roasted in oven at 375 for 30 minutes.

So savory with incredible depth of flavor for such a short cooking time. Melt in your mouth tender. I’ve eaten all over the place and I’ve never had this and I cannot understand why. Paired them with a herb roasted chicken and garlic mashed potatoes tonight, just killer.

2

yep. freaking delicious.

3

Ok Im trying them tomorrow

4

Cool, and I think that Mind of a Chef is the absolute best of all food shows!

5

Roasting is one of the best things you can do to almost any vegetable.

6

Yep - roasting turns vegetables into candy.

7

put them on pizza!

I riff on the tarte flambee by using leeks with past poll date sour cream and bacon.

caramelized leeks with sausage and red sauce is a nice combination too.

8

I think the answer is that leeks tend to have a lot of sand in them and it is very difficult to get the sand out and still roast them. I know I did it once and it worked, but I can’t remember what technique I used to be sure they were sand free.

9

Chop off the base, then fillet like a fish, making a single long incision halfway through. Separate the layers, reassemble if anal.

10

I would add treating them like greens or herbs at that point and placing them in a vessel of water, then agitating them so the sand drifts off and settles to the bottom. I find this treatment superior when dealing with leeks than just rinsing, no matter what size or shape I am cutting.

11

And, probably goes w/out saying, but then use a slotted spoon to remove them from the water as the sand sinks. If you pour them into a colander, you pour the sand back over them.

12

I use my hands, but the idea is the same.

13

Sheeeeeeeeee-it, you could probably do this to an old sock and it’ll come out delicious as well. [snort.gif]

14

Yep, if you’re cutting as Paul suggested, which makes sense for roasting, they’ll never really leave your hands - you just swish them around. I was thinking of cutting half-rounds for sauteeing. Never mind!

15

past poll date Nancy’s sour cream, leeks, smoked pork jowl, eggs, tellicherry pepper

16

I like to slice them into half-inch rounds, drizzle with olive oil and then top with Parmesan two mins before pulling.

17

Why must you torture us Paul Willenberg? flirtysmile

18

Ah! Now I understand. I misread the OP. I thought we were discussing grilled rather than roasted. Cleaning them is easy if you do not care about then remaining whole and round. I just wash them in successive changes of water in a large bowl - usually a salad spinner. I keep rinsing until there’s no more sand, and then once or twice more.

19

I don’t see the washing as a big deal. After I trim and halve them, I hold them under running water while I fan the stems by thumbing from top to bottom, like a deck of cards. You watch each layer for dirt spots and thumb over them as needed.

But again to the main question, why I haven’t seen these on a restaurant menu? These can pair with about anything and have incredible flavor, yet, never had a plate served with them.

20

Kenny, do you have the Le Pigeon cookbook? There’s a great recipe for leek carbonara. I’ve made it many times, even using carrots or broccoli stems in addition or instead of the leeks.