Leeks braised in a garlic butter sauce

Last night's supper included this braised leek dish that Julia Child would have been proud of.

Using a simple French method for a butter sauce I used some more of the smoked garlic from our visit to the Isle of Wight last month.   The quantities are approximate so I would use what you have to hand.  I've just used leeks this time around, but have also made this dish with quartered, medium sized onions and courgette battens, which also work wonderfully.

For the leeks I like to use quite thin, long ones as I try to get three 10 cm lengths out of each one.  If they are too thick you tend to get too much waste as the outer layers tend to be tough, so thinner ones seem to be more economical.

For a generous accompaniment or starter for two:

Six leeks, prepared as described above.

40 grams of salted butter - 20 grams plain, 20 grams of smoked garlic
3 heaped teaspoons of plain flour
100 mls of good white wine, a Sauvignon Blanc or Chablis would be ideal
Salt and white ground pepper.

Blanche the leeks in boiling, salted water for five minutes.  Set aside and retain 200 mls of cooking liquid

Pre-heat your oven to 190c.

To make your butter sauce, melt your butter over a medium heat and, just before it melts completely, add the flour and whisk vigorously  Once the flour has been amalgamated, add the wine and continue to whisk, turning the heat down slightly.  Add the leek cooking liquid slowly and continue with your implement - the sauce will be very cream consistency.  Check for seasoning, it may require a little salt, depending upon on the salt levels of the butter used. At this stage add a couple of pinches of white ground pepper.

With medium deep oven proof dish (about 4 cms) or deep oven tray, pour half the sauce on its bottom and lay the drained leeks on top.  Add the remaining sauce on top and cover with foil. 

Place in the oven for 15 minutes and then remove the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes.  The sauce should not be turning and should remain a bright green colour.  The parsley in the garlic butter will assist within the slightly freckled look to the sauce.

Roasted baby vegetables with olive butter and feta

Roasting baby vegetables has never been so tasty, a great side dish as well as a main or starter, this can be used in so many ways.

Using olive butter in particular (as well as many other forms of homemade favoured spreads) to enhance the sweetness of vegetables is an old culinary trick.  But this works particularly well in this recipe as this also provides a further use for roasted tomatoes - also naturally sweet when roasted.

 

·         Take 150 grams each of baby leeks, carrots and fennel.   Top, tail (if necessary) and cut lengthways
·         100 grams of roasted tomatoes
·         Three good dessert spoons of olive butter
·         75 grams of feta, crumbled

Pre-heat your oven to 200c.

Place your baby vegetables on an oiled oven tray and place in the oven for about 10 minutes.  Then take this out and add your olive butter, tossing the vegetables before returning them to the oven, reducing the heat slightly to 190c, for a further 15-20 minutes.

Toss the vegetables again and then add the tomatoes and feta evenly over the top and bake for a further 5 minutes or so (remember the tomatoes only need to heat through).

The result is a rather sexy, savoury/sweet experience, which is really good served as a starter with toast, served with penne or lentils or with grilled fish or meat.