Braised Leeks

Here begins the type of post I will heretofore refer to as "a la carte." Often David and I will have veggie nights where we take whatever items I have salvaged from the previous weekend's Haymarket and try to make a meal's worth out of them--kinda like the good, old-fashioned "veggie plate" of my youth (only with less butter and, sadly, no fried cornbread). Sometimes there are hits, sometimes there are misses. I'm going to try to record the hits here, so if you ever find yourself with, say, some leeks you're not sure what to do with, you may find ideas. 

So, braised leeks for two. Pretty simple:

2 leeks

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup broth of your choice

1/4 cup white wine

1 Tbps fresh (or 1 tsp dried) thyme leaves

Plenty of S&P, and some olive oil.

Start by cleaning your leeks. Slice off the leaves where they move from light to dark green (you only want to eat the white/light green parts) and cut off only what you must from the stem end. Split them in half long ways and hold them under the running water of the faucet, gently pulling the layers apart and getting the dirt out of 'em. 

Ok, first preheat your oven to 400. Then, heat a little bit of oil in a heavy pan over med-hi heat. Salt and pepper the cut side of the leeks and place them cut-side-down in the pan. Season the backs while that side sears, about 3-4 minutes. Using tongs, flip each leek half over and sprinkle onions in; cook another 3-4 minutes. 

Pour in wine, broth, and thyme. Stir to combine, then throw the skillet in the oven to finish cooking, about 10 more minutes. Remove from oven, scoop liquid and onions over top of the leeks and serve.