Leeks offer tremendous flavor to soup and repast . But you ’ll require to cut leeks before using them . There are two region to scallion , the green leafy upside , and the supply ship clean , yellow inner part .
Leeks are used very rarely and definitely not as much as their more popular cousins . Why is this ? Probably because leek are interpret as difficult to prepare and cook .
We hope after reading this and seeing how easy it is to train and immobilize leeks they will justifiably become a more frequent visitant to your kitchen .
What are Leeks?
Leeks are a marvellous vegetable that tend to have a luscious modest mellifluous oniony flavor and they have a image of wellness benefit .
They have a long mature time of year and are readily useable .
Leeks are from the same kinsperson as Allium cepa and Allium sativum , which are super pop in all cooking and used on an almost daily basis in most kitchen .
There are two portion to leeks , the green leafy tops and the tender white , yellow inside part .
Even though the whole plant has that great leek savour , most recipe only call for the white tender part .
The dark green leek tops ( the leek special K ) are very chewy and not very palatable . you could dehydrate the green into a leek pulverisation .
How to Cut Leeks
When you bribe leeks most will be whole leeks and still have the beginning at the bottom . They definitely will if you grow them yourself !
You ca n’t wipe out the whole scallion so you ’ll want to discard or compost this part ( you may set them into some dirt , as some leek roots will re - grow ) .
And we ’re not going to immobilise whole scallion so you will need to chop them some more .
Here ’s how you cut Allium porrum :
Like onion , leeks have many layers
How to Clean Leeks
Some leeks are very dirty in the centre because they were ‘ hill up ’ during the growing period .
This means soil was add up the leek stem while it was mature to make it whiter alternatively of green .
Some leeks are very sporty within , others very dirty .
How to Freeze Leeks
Freezing leeks is crack super tardily . If you follow these step you ’ll have successfully frozen leeks every meter and will be leave behind with easy portions of frozen leeks ready to pop in to your dishes when it come time to utilize them in your preparation . We will show you how to suspend leeks without blanching .
Flash Freeze Leeks
The best way to freeze your leeks and other vegetables is to flash immobilise them . That ’s freezing your leeks quickly .
Flash freezing maintains the cell social organisation of the nutrient best . Commercial vegetable freezers , like Birdseye , can blink freeze them in seconds .
Unfortunately most of us do n’t have admittance to things like liquid nitrogen or a commercial cryptical freezing to flash freezing leek , so we have to do it the quick way we can using a domesticated freezer .
When you ’re flash freezing leeks at home the trick is to spread the leeks out to again get as much air around them as possible .
This prison term you break the leek to expose them to the freezing temperatures so they freeze as quickly as possible .
The upright way is to circularise them out in a single level on a baking weather sheet , preferably on some wax composition or parchment paper so they do n’t freeze onto the metal surface of the baking sheet .
Then send the tray into the freezer for about an 60 minutes to flash freeze them until they begin go square .
While your leeks freeze , take a few minutes to grab your deep freezer secure container and/or freezer bag . And get going tick them up with the date and contents .
It ’s much easier to write on a freezer bag while it ’s empty , and save time to get your leeks back in the deep-freeze for mysterious freezing after they have jiffy wintry .
Storing Frozen Leeks in the Freezer
Once they have flash frozen , quickly take your baking tray of frozen Allium porrum out of the freezer and commence putting them into the containers or freezer bag .
Now line is your enemy , so you need to apply an airtight container or Ziploc bags with as much air absent as possible .
The best idea is to keep them in small portion sizes . They will remain to immobilize best and if you need more than one portion when cooking you’re able to just use more than one container or bag of frozen leeks .
That ’s much easier than separating a handsome portion of frozen leeks if you only need a lilliputian .
Using Your Frozen Leeks
Now the time and care you have put into preparing and freezing your Allium porrum pays dividends .
When it ’s meter to start cooking and eating your delightful leeks it does n’t get much easy .
People often ask if they need to defrost Allium porrum before cook . But because you have your Allium porrum cut already there is no need to deice them before cooking .
Simply remove your container or Deepfreeze bag of frozen leeks from the freezer , remove the still quick-frozen leeks and pop them directly into your genus Pan , mickle or cooking dish .
The frozen leeks will defrost very rapidly and then cook as normal .
That ’s all there is to it . You did all the cookery to the leeks before you suspend them so all the work is already done .
Can You Refreeze Leeks?
You may wonder if you could refreeze leek . The simple answer is no .
In any case , and the beauty of freezing leeks this fashion , is that you should never have the penury to refreeze them as you only take the leeks out when you need them and cook them straight aside .
And if you do freeze leek this style , in small portions , and in proper storage dish or containers then you will only take out on the nose the amount you necessitate .
So not only can you maintain all the leeks you grease one’s palms or grow for up to a year , there is little or no wastage .
How to Blanch Leeks
Blanching is n’t cooking , it is heating for a very short time to mince the vegetables . The key is to do it quickly and to stop it quickly , too .
While not substantive , a blanching basket and a large bowl of ice-skating rink piss will give you the skilful results . The blanching handbasket allows you to put the leeks in boiling water quickly and take them out quick . The iced weewee cools the raging leeks quick to cease them prepare .
So once you have chopped and rinse off your leeks here ’s how to pale leeks :
Dry the Leeks
It ’s significant that before you freeze leek they are as ironical as potential . They will immobilize better and last longer the drier they are .
So you need to murder any extra wet to prepare the leek for suspend .
Lay them out , on a paper towel if you wish , or on a patty character rack to allow the water to dribble off .
Turn them over , dap them with newspaper towel , move the leeks around and get as much air around them to hit supererogatory water .
Leek Cooking Tips
leek taste wonderful if you sauté them in oil or butter as it institute out more tone .
I jazz using sautéed leeksin a quiche , in a roast base or stock , or substituted for onions in dishes like spanakopita or any soup .
Leek and potatosoup is also a classic , and is great blended orbroth - based .
Hopefully , this has persuaded you to let leeks into your kitchen a little more often , and add together something dissimilar to your cooking .
Because of leeks cold margin it ’s one of my top crop for a fall and wintertime vegetable garden .
Yep , leek can resist cold temperatures and snow !
