ingredient: leeks

Well, of course, I have lots to share about my first trip to NYC (from this past weekend), but while I am still sorting thru all of my pics, let's talk first about my "new ingredient" challenge for the week. 

My first new ingredient: leeks

I really didn't anticipate leeks to be oversized green onions; I'm not sure what I thought they were but not this ...

So, let me also start this blog by saying I am not creating my own recipes. I will be looking to those more skilled and advanced than myself in this department and will give credit where it is due. At this point, I don't even know what most of these ingredients are, so creating my own recipes with them, at this point, is not on the agenda.

Back to leeks ... other than oversized green onions, my first thought is - what part do you use? I'm confused.

I was recently reminded of a story from my stepmother-in-law of a dinner we had during the early days of my relationship with my now husband. I, being the somewhat sheltered vegetable eater I was raised to be (sorry, Mom and Dad), was so excited to have found a love for a new vegetable: asparagus. I really do still love it so much, and instead of gnawing on it as I do at home (picture Bugs Bunny eating his carrot), I decided to have appropriate table manners and use a knife and fork in order to eat my asparagus properly in front of my in-laws. To this, they also noticed that I was only eating the stem ... as I thought the tip/top/head of the asparagus was a decoration of sorts.

No, not quite.

JB, my father-in-law, proceeded to tell me that yes, I could eat that portion of the asparagus, and, yes, it was actually the best part!

It's like I had found a new vegetable!

So, to those of you not eating the top of the asparagus, no worries - it will make you love the asparagus even more when you figure out you CAN eat the top and will find a completely new flavor hiding there. Thanks, JB and Lois, for filling me on in this as I would have wasted lots of asparagus tips over the last 6.5 years if it wasn't for you.

Back to leeks ... again ... I decided to try two recipes for leeks: one which showcased the leeks as a main ingredient and the other where leeks were an added flavor, which happened to be added to my aforementioned favorite, asparagus. In reference to the above question on what part to use, both of these recipes suggested to use the white and light green parts only.

The first comes from Linda Thompson with There and Back Again blog. Although this dish is more of an autumn dish, it was still yummy and different than anything I've made before. It is a Leek, Apple and Gruyere Tart.

I think using the tart apples is key as it would be very "dessertish" if you used a sweet apple. I'm not sure I will make this again 'as is' as I'd like more depth and, actually, less leeks.

Click here for the her recipe; below is a pic of my finished product.

The second comes from kaykay (found on Food52) and is entitled Absurdly Addictive Asparagus. Below is the pic of how mine came out; click here for the original recipe.

I will say I didn't do it justice quite as much as I left out a few key ingredients based on time and what I had on hand. So, I omitted the orange, lemon and pine nuts and added lime zest/juice as my replacement. Either way, I really enjoyed it!

Verdict: I'm indifferent with leeks. To be honest, I couldn't tell a big difference between leeks and green onions so I'm not planning on cooking with them again in the near future. Let me know if you love leeks and can share how you love to cook them!