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Leeks


bobmac

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Rachel Ray make a leek soup yesterday using much more of the green than I normally use (I go up about an inch and a half, two inches). Did she use more because it was a soup? What's the rule of thumb? Have I been wasteful?

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Depends on the leeks, Is suppose. For years I only used the absolute whitest of the white part. Then I started slicing higher and higher into the green. Now I'll go almost to where the stalks start to separate and haven't noticed a remarkable difference.

BTW, besides asparagus, I think leeks are just about the most elegant vegetable. They are subtle in flavor and can be heightened with bearnaise sauce. Frizzled leeks can top the best soups and plain sautéed leeks with cream and tarragon can't be beat as a side dish for those haute cuisine style dinner parties.

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I have a garden full of leeks and made soup yesterday with a very liberal dose of leeks; probably $10 worth if I had to buy them. I use up to just the start of the dark green. If the leeks have been blanched in the soil there's lots of stem to use. Soup comes out a nice light green-yellow (I also use yellow Fin potatoes).

it was cold in Seattle yesterday and the soup made a great lunch. We'll do it again today.

Dave

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Depending on the usage, I will use any amount of the leek.

I made a leek salad once that was incredible and involved trimming only the tired ends off the green part. The leeks were parboiled and then cooled. After being attractively arranged (wrapped around themselves in a circle) on the plate, they were topped with a vinaigrette and some hard-boiled egg yolk crumbles. The taste of the leeks was truly memorable.

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I love using the green part of the leeks.

I've made a two-toned soup with one half from the whites, the other from the green.

At the very least I'll use the green part in making stocks.

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Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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I too generally save the green parts for making stocks. It's a nice economical, practical use of something I would have discarded anyway.

edit: I also occasionally quickly blanch them and then place them in the bottom of a roasting pan so the flavour of the leeks infuses into the final pan gravy.

Edited by Shalmanese (log)

PS: I am a guy.

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I follow Jacques Pepin's advice and make stock of the dark green part, freeze it and use it for all kinds of soups. Leeks are darned expensive and I hate to waste any of them.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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slice them thin, fry in butter with some bacon till frizzly and brown round the edges, stir into mashed potato.

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I am now emboldened with my leek usage!

I always wondered how much green I should use, and I tend to use more green for soups and such. I will now be saving the ends for stock, as I have never noticed any harm done by them. One of my favorite things is braised leeks, with a liberal pat of butter added at the end.

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