The French word for leeks is “poireaux” and it’s pronounced pwah-roe. My mother-in-law made this traditionally French recipe when we went to their house a week ago for lunch. I thought it was delicious and decided to reproduce it. The kids were not huge fans, I have to say.
Who cares. More for the adults! 🙂
I used 750 grams of leeks, mostly whites. In other words, I didn’t factor the green stems into the weight. This is close to 2 lbs, but if leeks are hard to find near you, you can halve the recipe. Particularly if it’s going to be just you eating it.
So, leeks. You need to cut off any part that’s too green as it will be bitter. Then slice them in rounds.
Wash them well because leeks grow in sand, and it tends to get stuck in the layers. When the leek slices are washed, melt 30 grams of butter (a couple of tablespoons) in a skillet
and stir-fry the leeks. It takes 45 minutes for them to get soft, so you’ll need to keep adding water so they don’t stick to the pan as they cook. As you near the 40-minute mark, stop adding water. And once all the water is soaked up, your leeks are ready.
Add a teaspoon of salt and a heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard. And then … have you guessed it, knowing me? A half-cup crème fraîche or sour cream.
And that’s it. You can serve it hot as a side-dish to white fish and potatoes, for instance. Or chicken and quinoa. Or filet mignon and rice (like my mother-in-law). Or just about anything! It’s a perfect winter vegetable dish.
I know it’s hard to make cooked leeks look appealing in the photo, but never mind.
They’re plenty appealing in the mouth. 🙂
- 750 grams leeks
- 30 grams butter (2-3 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ cup sour cream or crème fraîche
- water to keep things from sticking
- Cut off the ends of the leeks, slice them, and wash thoroughly.
- Melt the butter and stir-fry the leeks for 45 minutes.
- Keep adding water to keep them from sticking.
- Add the salt, Dijon mustard, and crème fraîche.
- Serve hot as a side-dish.
Maybe I’m crazy but I think the pictures look delicious, too.
The kind of delicious where I could eat the entire 2 lbs myself.
🙂
Julie Gardner recently posted…Mother Knows Best
2 lbs of leeks is so much better than 2 lbs of ice cream.
I love leeks and I’m thankful you posted this, because I didn’t really know how to prepare them except in soup! Trying this asap…
Thanks Carrie. I just made a leek-salmon quiche that was really good as well. Maybe that will be an upcoming recipe. Oh, and there’s also my vegetable soup recipe called la purée on the recipe page that has leeks (if you’re looking for other ideas).