Okay, How to Fix a Leek

It's that leek time of year when the stalks are fresh, cheaply abundant and few people know how to take full advantage of the situation. Leeks add a unique soft, sweet onion flavor to whatever you cook. They don't require much fussing once you clean them. They put iron in your body and like their less sophisticated onion cousins, help your immune system--perfect right now at the change of season. So here are the easiest ways to fix a leek, and in some cases preserve it for winter enjoyment.

Basic Vichyoisse Soup aka Leek and Potato Soup
This is traditionally served cold but I've served it warm and nobody complained. ;o)
It doesn't freeze well.

two large and one small leek
2 potatoes
1 tsp  thyme
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 -1/2 cup milk or to gild this use cream or compromise for the creamy effect and use evaporated milk
salt and pepper

Clean the leeks carefully and chop.
Peel potatoes and cut into small pieces.
Melt butter in a pot over MEDIUM heat--NOT HIGHEST HEAT.
Put in leeks and thyme and cook until the leeks are covered with butter and soft.
Add potatoes, salt and pepper. Stir to cover potatoes with butter.
Add enough water to cover what is in the pot. You can also add vegetable broth if you prefer.
Cover the pot and cook on low heat until the potatoes are very soft.
Put what is in the pot into the food processor and blend until smooth.
Add the milk and stir to mix everything well.
Serve warm or cool.
You can chop parsley to put on top when serving.


Here's a Turkish leek soup with feta and dill you might prefer:
Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter

3 med/lg leeks trimmed, chopped and washed

1 med red onion, peeled and diced

2½ cups vegetable broth or water

1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

1 cup milk

½ tsp salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

4 oz. fresh feta, crumbled

Smoked paprika or ground chipotle chili powder or paprika for garnish

Heat oil and butter in a heavy pot over med heat. Add leeks and onions. Sauté them until soft, about 10 minutes.  

 Add 2/3 of the dill and broth or water. Blend all ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  

 Cool slightly and puree soup. Add milk, remaining dill, salt and pepper. Heat on simmer until warm. Do not boil.

 Ladle into serving bowls. Top each with crumbled feta and paprika or chili. You can also add any extra dill fronds or minced flat leaf parsley.

And finally, a third soup, the famous Scotch Broth, a one-pot heart and body warming combination of lamb, leeks and barley. This one will serve hearty bowls to 4 or 5.

1 lb lamb stew meat (cut from shoulder or breast is best)
optionally: lamb bones if you want to make a very rich broth
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves
1 medium thick leek, cleaned, slit in half and then chopped
2 medium or 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into very thin disks
1 small rutabaga (this is going to most of the flavor so don't omit it), peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/3 cup pearl barley
Salt and Pepper
Optionally, which means not traditionally because the Scots don't spice anything, 1 tsp ground cumin, broken piece of star anise and a pinch of ginger.

Put the lamb, onion and cloves into a medium size soup pot or heavy gauge lidded pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 1/2 hour, then skim off the foam and impurities. Cook another 15 minutes and skim off any additional foam and fat.

Add the leek, carrots and rutabaga with optional spices. Cook over low heat another 30 minutes.
At this point, you can stop and refrigerate until the next day or two. At this point also, remove any lamb bones you used.

Add barley, at least 1 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste. Cover and cook 30 minutes or until barley is tender. Serve piping hot.

NOTE: you can also put all ingredients but the barley in a slow cooker and forget about them for hours, then add barley 30 minutes before you want to eat.

Leeks, being soft and not pushy, make a fabulous silent partner for mushrooms in an omelet or a risotto.
They're terrific with ham in a quiche or omelet.

And here's a big winner: Leek Fritters, supposedly a Bulgarian recipe:

 serves 4

3 lg leeks, white and light green parts only

1 tbsp fresh chives, minced

1 tbsp freshly chopped dill

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup dried breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

freshly ground black pepper to your taste

2 tbsp corn or canola oil for frying

1 lemon

Cut the leeks in half lengthwise and crosswise and rinse to clean.

Put leeks in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil.

Lower heat to simmer and cook uncovered about 25 minutes, until leeks are soft.

Drain well. Wrap leeks in a heavy towel to squeeze out as much excess water as possible.

Coarsely chop the leeks. Put in a bowl with the chives, dill, salt and pepper. Stir in breadcrumbs. (Enough to take up any remaining moisture in the leeks.) Blend in the egg. 

Make patties that are about ½ inch thick.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Arrange the patties in the pan so they don’t touch (you may have to do this in two batches) and cook until brown on the bottom side, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook another 1-2 minutes so both sides are evenly browned. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

Serve with a squirt of lemon juice and a wedge of lemon.

Garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley

Can be served warm or at room temperature. 

The book, How to Fix a Leek... has a wonderful recipe for leeks with fresh salmon that I won't repeat here. And finally the first edition of that book had this great vegetable recipe:

Persian Braised Leeks for 4

8 leeks 1" in diameter

1/4 c olive oil

1 med onion, halved and sliced into thin rings

3 tbsp chopped fresh dill (almost 1/4 cup)

2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 c vegetable or chicken broth

3 tbsp freshly squeeze lemon juice (almost 1/4 cup)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste

Cut root ends off leeks, also the green tops 2" above the white stem. Slit each 2/3 lengthwise (leaving 1" at the base) and run under warm water to clean.  Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and saute until soft. Add leeks keeping them parallel and carefully coating them in the oil. Add everything else. Cover and simmer 20 minutes until leeks are tender. Arrange on a serving dish, pour the juices over the top and serve warm or at room temperature.