I grew a lot of leeks this winter but used them quite traditionally using only the whites, and mostly in vege soup. I'm now pulling the last of them and wondering about experimenting. Is there anything I can use them for? Are they too bitter to put in stock? I have about a dozen left, so any favourite recipes would also be appreciated.
jag5,
Aug 27, 12:39am
I use..... the green tops all the top along with the white stalk.Are you not supposed to??? Waste not want not, plus it adds colour, particularly if doing in white sauce.And I use them in soups.
lilyfield,
Aug 27, 12:43am
of course you use all cook the dark green bits firstfor 5 minutes before adding the whites. if too many greens- chop anf freeze(no blanching) and add to any soups or stews
darlingmole,
Aug 27, 12:49am
eh? you've never eaten the green part? I use ALL the leek.I love it vegetable soup, leek'n'potato soup, quiche, vege bake, with cheese sauce, use it when making stock aswell.And you're lucky to have been growing them all winter ~ I planted some back in April/May and am STILL waiting for them to look more than blades of grass!
rog.e,
Aug 27, 12:51am
Sliced up 2cm slices green tops (apart from a couple of the outside leaves) go really nicely in silverbeet, kaleor cabbage greens being steamed or boiledetc. Also great in stirfries. I also blanche briefly and freeze. Every bit is good for us to eat. V
donnabeth,
Aug 27, 1:00am
Bugga. Looks like my compost bugs were well fed. All the recipies I looked at said use the white only, or the bright green bits. The dark green tops are meant to be too tough to eat. I'll use the supluss in stock from now on. I still have good red silverbeet, so I'll try chopping some of the greens through that. Tonight I'm cooking leeks in mashed potato with cheese and sour cream served with salmon and salad.
uli,
Aug 27, 1:05am
darlingmole leeks are planted at Xmas in NZ - if you want to have decent leeks by April when it gets cold. Then you can harvest all winter until about September/October when they start to flower. Unfortunately mine haven't read the book, so they are starting to flower now - so into the freezer they go this weekend.
uli,
Aug 27, 1:07am
donnabeth you can eat almost anything in the garden. I made a nice quiche last week with the beetroot tops instead of raiding the silverbeet. It is the same family anyway. I also eat the radish tops (not the tough outer leaves) and the leaves off the kohlrabi. They just go into the pot earlier while I peel and slice the roots.
donnabeth,
Aug 27, 1:13am
Uli, I used to eat the beetroot tops in a salad 30 years ago. We used to have a very good weekly gardening column in our paper and in an era when beetroot was boiled, sliced and pickeled; one article said to eat grated raw beetroot and shredded beetroot tops. It's interesting that it's taken all these years to become popular. I also gathered chickweed to make soup.
darlingmole,
Aug 27, 1:56am
thanks for that uli ~ that LYING man at the garden centre said they were fine to plant then! So thanks for that helpful advice as I'm going to have a great vege garden this summer and hopefully winter too :-D
illusion_,
Aug 27, 4:35am
tops for leek & potato soup whites simply cut across and steamed with a touch of butter added just before eating. YUM. Plenty of other uses too tho
janny3,
Sep 1, 10:58am
Green leaves good for eating too Stayed w/ a Southland family and they just cook the leek leaves like any green leafy vege to have w/ the usual evening meal.Otherwise they're nice in a white sauce.
uli,
Sep 8, 6:48am
darlingmole garden centre people have not muchclue nowadays (sometimes you find the odd knowledgeble person) - believe me I used to sell to them ...
deus701,
Sep 8, 1:35pm
A lesson I learnt in the kitchen "Waste nothing but yourself"
summersunnz,
Sep 14, 8:07am
Thanks for sharing your recipe.. have plenty of leeks in my garden :-)
uli,
Sep 15, 8:01am
bump for the last leeks before they go to seed :)
uli,
Sep 22, 6:24am
Having leek and potato soup for dinner tonight and then there are only 15 left in the garden :(
calista,
Sep 22, 11:25am
8 Note that rhubarb leaves are an exception (as I'm sure you know). In case anyone doesn't - please don't eat them - they are poisonous.
janny3,
Sep 22, 1:52pm
Leek n potato soup or leek n pumpkin soup are some of my favourites. Anyone have their best leek n potato soup recipes? Hooked on eating the greens, roughly chopped & lightly cooked til just tender, in a little water w/ a knob of butter & a bit of pepper & salt. Served as they are or w/ a white sauce.
darlingmole,
Sep 23, 2:09am
yeah I reckon uli ... I actually get the best advice ever on the recipe threads.It's amazing the knowledge that's shared ... networking is alive and well in here!!!
whiskey13,
Sep 23, 2:34am
Can some kind person please post a recipe for a leek quiche. My leeks need to come out and dad's chickens are laying over time so i have both those ingredients in abundance.TIA
arielbooks,
Sep 23, 3:56am
Leek Pie Layer pie case with bacon, top with cooked leeks, beat eggs with a little milk and seasoned with salt, pepper and curry powder to taste. Put pastry top on bushed with milk or egg and bake at 180 degrees.
Vary amounts and time to suit dish size/number of people to feed. Lovely and moist better than straight Bacon and Egg pie.
midnight42,
Sep 23, 5:11am
Do you plant the seed at xmas time or the plants if you can buy them as I don't have much luck planting seed.
uli,
Sep 23, 8:51am
sow seed any time now and plant around xmas time. They need to be kept well watered those first few weeks so they root in nicely and stand up again :) from then on its all go. They are gross feeders too like cabbages, so if you feed them "gross" things (like chicken manure or horse manure both composted first or a nice brew of comfrey leaves and dead possums, or bury some guts underneath them ...) they will be nice and fat by late autumn/early winter.
bev00,
Sep 30, 10:56am
and agin
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