The Incredible Edible Leek

Ok so I know I am late in posting this tips and tricks segment. I have a good excuse though I have been busy with orders from my store A Thyme To Bee Comforted! Busy is always good, but with busy also comes problems, i.e the Post Office, they are on my list this month....grrrr......



Well enough about that! So today's tip and trick is the Leek! A leek you say, what the hell is a leek. It's that thing at the grocery store that looks like a green onion on steroids!!! Wikipedia defines the leek as:


Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum(L.) J.Gay
The leek, Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum (L.), also sometimes known as Allium porrum, is a vegetable which belongs, along with the onion and garlic, to the Alliaceae family. Two related vegetables, the elephant garlic and kurrat, are also variant subspecies of Allium ampeloprasum, although different in their uses as food. The edible part of the leek plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths which is sometimes called a stem or stalk.



Why use a leek you may ask, well because it has a subtle onion flavor, not strong at all. It's darn tasty to!!! You also might be thinking to yourself well what tips or tricks could you possibly have for a leek??? Well the tip is on how to to wash a leek. A leek is like an onion it has many layers, and the stem is open not as tight as a green onion. So dirty etc tend to get stuck in the stems! So how do we was a leek, well there are two ways:



1. To wash a whole Leek halve the leek length wise, splay open the layers, and run water over them until your sure that all the grit has been removed. See pretty straight forward and simple!



2. To wash sliced Leeks soak the sliced leeks in a bowl of cold water. Let them stand undisturbed for about ten minutes to let the grit fall to the bottom of the bowl. Scoop the leeks out gently, taking care not to stir up the grit. Pat the leeks dry.




Now that you have some clean leeks what can you do with them, well you can make Home At Least Leek Salad, the recipe is courtesy of the Food Network (one of my fave sites).




Ingredients


Dressing:


3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 to 3 sprigs thyme, stripped from stems
1 teaspoon stone-ground mustard
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed with the side of a knife blade and quartered
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil


Salad:


6 leeks, soaked in salt water to remove grit and thoroughly rinsed
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup olive oil
6 ears fresh corn, boiled until tender and cooled to room temperature
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil or if dehydrated soaked in water to rehydrate
6 small sprigs parsley


Directions:


Through the feed opening of a running blender add, 1 at a time, vinegar, thyme, mustard, garlic, honey, salt, and ground black pepper. Leaving the blender running, slowly add the olive oil in a thin stream. Set aside until needed.
Slice the white and tender green parts of the leeks into 1/2-inch diagonals. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet and saute until tender. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Slice the corn from the cobs and place in a bowl with the sauteed leeks. Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into 1/2-inch pieces and add to the bowl. Toss with enough of the dressing to coat. Do not feel compelled to use all of the dressing.
Serve garnished with parsley and additional dressing on the side.



There are over 700 hundred recipes for leeks on the Food Network site, so if you haven't ever cooked with likes I suggest you give them a try and you might surprise yourself! They make a great soup!! Well thanks for joining me in this late but great tips and tricks segment......I am off to finish up my Pecan Brittle order! Here is wishing you and your family a safe and HAPPY Holiday season!!



Hugs!

Angelica

Wednesday's Tip: Clarified Butter

Well it is Wednesday and time for another tip!! Today's tip is how to make clarified butter!! Yes you will see this in many recepies, and you think to yourself butter is butter isnt it!?!?!

What is clarified butter you ask, well it is also called drawn butter or ghee. Simply defined, clarified butter is unsalted butter that has the milk solids and water removed so all that remains is pure liquid golden-yellow butterfat. The advantages of this type of butter is its long keeping quality (several months refrigerated) and its high smoke point (can be used in frying without burning).

Well it is a 3 step processes to make, not really all that hard!! Once again the instructions for this process comes from one of my favorite magazines Bon Appetit! So here is the D/L on how to make your own clarified butter:



1. Melt two sticks of butter in a small sauce pan (un alted butter). Let it sit of the heat for a couple of minutes to allow the milk solids to fall to the bottom of the pan. Why unsalted butter you ask....well that is because you want to be able to control the salt content in your dishes. If you use butter that is salted, your dish may come out way to salty, and that is definitely not a tasty thing!!!!



2. Use a large slotted spoon or a fine-meshed skimmer to remove any remaining foam from the top of the melted butter. Discard the foam.



3. Slowly pour the clarified butter into a bowl leaving behind the milky solids. Discard solids. Keep the clarified butter covered and chilled.



So what are you going to use this butter for.....well you know those yummy lobsters and crab that you get at your fave restaurant, well the butter they give you to dip all of that delicate goodness in is clarified butter! What else can you do with it, well you can fry with it, and it is also used in different baking applications!



Rosti-Styled Latkes with Rosemary and Brown Butter Apple Sauce





Serves: 8-10



6 large russet potatoes (4lbs)

2 tbs (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup finely chopped shallots (about 6)

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

12 tablespoons clarified butter, divided Rosemary and Brown Butter Applesauce (see recipe)



Cook potatoes in large pot of generously salted boiling water until partially cooked (tester will meet some resistance), about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes, rinse in cold water, and drain again. Peel, cover, and chill until very cold, at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.



Coarsely grate potatoes into large bowl. Melt butter in large ovenproof cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallots; sute until soft, about 6 minutes. Add shallot mixture, 2 teaspoons coarse salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to potatoes (reserve skillet). Toss to blend evenly (do not compact potato mixture). DO AHEAD can be made 3 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.



Preheat oven to 450 F. Melt 4 tbs of clarified butter in reserved skillet over medium heat. Add half of potato mixture (5.5 to 6 cups). Stir gently until clarified butter is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Spread potatoes to even layer, then press firmly with metal spatula to compact. Cook 5 minutes, pressing and flattening occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low. Place slightly smaller skillet atop potato cake. Weigh down with heavy can (like a big can of tomatoes). Cook potato cake 15 minutes, pressing occasionally.



Remove can and small skillet. Press potato cake again to flatten. Spread with 2 tbs of clarified butter.



Place skillet in oven and bake potato cake uncovered 15 minutes. Run narrow spatula around potato cake. Turn out onto platter, bottom (crusty) side up. Immediately cut into wedges and serve with applesauce.



Rosemary & Brown Butter Applesauce



Makes about 3 cups and can be made 1 day ahead



3c unsweetened apple juice

3 4" fresh Rosemary springs

1.5 cinnamon sticks

3.5 lbs (7 to 8 medium) Braeburn apples or other tart-sweet apples, unpeeled, quartered, cored, cut into 1" chunks (about 12 cups)

3 tbs unsalted butter



Combine first three ingredients and large pinch of salt in a large pot. Boil until juice is reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Mix in apples. Cover; cook over medium heat until apples are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes. Uncover and, if necessary, cook until liquid evaporates. Discard rosemary and cinnamon.



Transfer apples to food mill fitted with fine or medium plate and pass apples through mill (or press through coarse sieve) into medium bowl, discard skins. Melt butter int small skillet over medium-low heat. Cook until butter browns, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Mix brown butter into apple sauce.

Well try this out, yes it sounds complicated but well worth it!! Hope this inspires you to delve into your kitchen and cook up some delisious treats for your family and friends!!!

Hugs

Angelica

Tips and Tricks Inaugural Post: Standing Rib Roast

Good Morning to all of you Foodie's!!

It has been a long night for me, I was up til 3 am tossing and turning, trying to figure out what I should blog about. Well duh it came to me!! Tips and tricks that you all can use in your own homes!!!

Being a foodie I love all things food, so I am always doing research (actually it's me time) on different tips, gadgets etc to use in the kitchen. While I have a knack for throwing together some scrumptious dishes, somethings still allude me or I have the "Angelica" way of doing things, which is not necessarily the right way (wait did I say that, my way is always the right way......hehehe).

So we are going to find the right way to do things together!! If you have a dish that you just can't get right and can't figure out why or you are thinking to yourself there has to be some kind of gadget to make a process easier, email me!! I will do the research and then your question and of course the answer will be featured on the blog!! Until I start getting those questions I will delve into the culinary arts on my own!!



So this brings us to today's Tip, the all intimidating Standing Rib Roast!!! For those of you that do not know what a standing rib roast is, it's that sheek hunk of meat that you see on all those Holiday food commercials, you know the hunk of meet that looks like a crown!!! Yes your family will ooooooooooh and ahhhh if you prepare one of these!!! Well did you know that you can actually stuff one of these puppy's to really impress your family?? Yes I said stuff it, like a turkey!!!

This technique comes to us from one of my fav magazines, Bon Appetit!! Ok here are the steps to stuff your own standing rib roast!

1. Position roast on work surface with bones up right. With a long, sharp knife, start at the top and work down, cutting a five - to- six inch crevice between the bones and meat. Be sure to keep the bones attached. Basically what you are doing is cutting behind the bones to create a pocket for the stuffing, when you are creating the pocket make sure that you don't cut it all the way down, I would say leave a good 2 inches at the bottom!

2. Gently pry the bones away from the meat, creating a space. Fill the crevice with the stuffing, making sure to pack firmly. Basically you are going to take the side with the bones in one hand and with your other hand you are going to pull the meat away from the bones, be careful not to pull to hard, you don't want to have a rip in your pocket!! If you are having trouble pulling the meat away, take your free hand and make a fist and fit it into the pocket to help stretch the meat.

3. Once you have inserted all the stuffing press the bones in to compact the stuffing. Tie the bones back in place with three to four loops of kitchen string. Bring the string completely around the roast to secure it and to keep the stuffing in place. You can buy butchers twine at Fry's or any of your large grocery stores. Basically you are just trussing this puppy together, cut 3 to 4 strands of the butchers twine that are long enough to go around the roast (vertically) and long enough to let you give it a good tight knot. This also depends on how big the roast is, if your roast is larger you may need more twine!!

Well there you go, now you can stuff your own Standing Rib Roast!! Now I know what your thinking I don't have a recipe to make one of these, well Angelica is here to please!! You need to visit one of my favorite web sites, Food Network!! There is a video that Tyler Florence has and also the recipe for the roast! His version is not stuffed, but you can apply the technique above and stuff it!!

Video Link

Recipe

Well I hope this helps to inspire you to do something different on Christmas!! It will most definitely become a Christmas tradition if you prepare this for your family, give that tired old ham and turkey a rest already!!! Check back on Wednesday when we tackle how to make clarified butter, yes something that a TON of recipes call for!!! See you then, be safe and kind!!


**Hugs,

Angelica