Leeks are closely related to onions and shallots, although they are not interchangeable in recipes, as their flavors and intensities differ.

 
Leeks are often called “gourmet onions” because they are harder to find and costlier than onions. They can be prepared easily—boiled, braised, fried, sautéed or poached—or in elaborate recipes, or served raw as a milder substitute for onions.

Roasted leeks are delicious, low in calories and easy to make. Photo courtesy La Tourangelle.

The only rub is cleaning them. Leeks grow in sandy soil and don’t have a protective skin cover like onions and shallots; so you’ve got to be sure to get the sand out. Here’s a video showing how to clean leeks.

Leeks are available throughout the year, although they are in greater supply from the fall through the early spring. Purchasing tips:

 
Try this easy recipe from La Tourangelle, producers of the finest culinary oils and a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week. The recipe tastes extra-special using their Roasted Walnut Oil or Roasted Hazelnut Oil, but is certainly delicious with EVOO. You can serve it as a side or a first course.
 
RECIPE: ROASTED LEEKS WITH MUSTARD-TARRAGON VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Prepare an ice bath in a bowl.

2. BRING a 2-quart pot of salted water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the leeks to the ice bath. Let chill completely, about 1 minute. Transfer the leeks to a paper towel-lined plate to drain about 3 minutes.

3. DRIZZLE the leeks with the oil and toss to coat. Place on a baking sheet or baking pan and roast the leeks until they become slightly golden brown, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl…

4. WHISK together the vinegar, mustard, garlic and lemon zest to make a vinaigrette.

5. REMOVE the leeks from the oven and transfer to a platter. Spoon the vinaigrette over the leeks and garnish with the black pepper and tarragon. Serve hot or at room temperature. Enjoy!

 
ABOUT LEEKS

Leeks are a member of the Allium genus, which includes garlic, onions, shallots, and scallions. Their botanical family, Amaryllidaceae, comprises herbaceous, perennial and bulbous flowering plants including the amaryllis, from which it takes its name.

Leeks look like large scallions, having a very small bulb and a long white cylindrical stalk of superimposed layers that flows into green, tightly wrapped, flat leaves. Cultivated leeks are usually about 12 inches in length and one to two inches in diameter and feature a fragrant flavor that is reminiscent of shallots but sweeter and more subtle.

Wild leeks, known as ramps, are much smaller in size, but have a stronger, more intense flavor. They are available for a short period of time each year and are often widely sought out at farmers markets when they are in season.

Believed to be native to Central Asia, leeks have been cultivated in there and in Europe for thousands of years. They were prized by the ancient Greeks and Romans and were thought to be beneficial to the throat. The Roman emperor Nero supposedly ate leeks everyday to make his voice stronger.

The Romans most likely introduced leeks to Britain; they were so esteemed in Wales that they became country’s national emblem. As the story goes, during a battle against that Saxons in 1620, Welsh soldiers placed leeks in their caps to differentiate themselves from the enemy—and won the battle, of course.

Trending in cakes these days: mug cake cookbooks. With a few ingredients, a microwave and a microwave-safe mug, you can have cake in five minutes.

 
These are books written for us. We often crave a piece of cake, but can’t keep it in the house (otherwise, a portion size becomes half a cake).

So what better solution than mug cakes, microwaved in five minutes with standard ingredients?

We have our hands on a copy of 5-Minute Mug Cakes. It has 3-5 times as many recipes as the other two—almost 100—and is a good place to start. You can treat yourself to a different cake every day for three months. Who needs a whole year with Julie And Julia?

Every recipe is simple, fast and delicious. In minutes, you’ll be sinking your spoon into the cake you’ve been hankering for, such as:

 
There are the basics, of course—vanilla, chocolate and lemon—and the sophisticates, such as Matcha Green Tea Cakes and Chocolate Stout Cake.

For special interests, there are Breakfast Mug Cakes, Brownie Mug Cakes, 21 And Over Mug Cakes (with alcohol), Holiday Mug Cakes, Savory Mug Cakes, Skinny Mug Cakes (under 200 calories) and Gluten-Free Mug Cakes (and more).

And if you mix your ingredients right in your favorite mug, clean-up is a cinch!

The biggest decision: which one to make today. The contenders: Dulce de Leche Brownie Cake or Cookies and Cream Blondie Cake.

Or perhaps we’ll invest another five minutes and make both!
  

[1] Different and delicious: Orange Date Ice (photo © Spice Islands).

[2] Dates—“nature’s candy”—are delicious for snacking and with cheese (photo © Bard Valley Date Growers Association).

[3] You can use any orange liqueur in this recipe. You also can enjoy a small glass of it along with the ice cream.

He happened upon a sale on dates and created what he calls “a uniquely delicious cross between a classic Creamsicle and exotic dates.”

If you want to dial up the orange flavor, says David, use an orange-flavored liqueur with the dates. You can also add a tablespoon of rum or orange-flavored liqueur to the custard just before churning.

The recipe follows. Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> > The different types of ice cream and frozen desserts: a photo glossary.

> The history of ice cream.

> The year’s 50+ ice cream holidays.

> The history of dates.

> The different types of orange liqueur.
 
 
RECIPE: ORANGE DATE ICE CREAM

Ingredients For 1 Quart

 
Preparation

1. Combine the dates, rum (or orange-flavored liqueur) and orange peel in a small saucepan. Warm the mixture gently and let simmer for about a minute, or until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, then cover and set aside.

(You can do this the day before.)

2. To make the ice cream, combine the milk, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan.

3. Pour the cream into a medium-sized bowl, set a mesh strainer over the top and nest the bowl in a bigger bowl of ice.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the yolks together.

5. Warm the milk until the sugar is dissolved. Once warm, slowly pour the milk over the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour.

6. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture just begins to thicken and coats the spatula. Do not overcook.

7. Immediately pour the mixture through the strainer into the cream, add the vanilla and stir to cool. Once cool, chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.

8. Freeze the ice cream mixture in your ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Once churned, fold in the macerated dates and orange peel, along with any liquid that might still be in the pan. Chill in the freezer before scooping.

For a great dessert, serve the ice cream a la mode with pound cake—and a glass of orange liqueur!
 

[4] Orange you delicious! Date-orange ice cream, pound cake with orange zest, and a glass of Cointreau orange liqueur ( Abacus Photo(.

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“Why the different shapes and sizes of wine glasses?” writes a reader. “Can’t I just use one generic glass?”

The bottom line is: You can serve wine in a juice glass, if that’s what you have. It’s how wine is served in many working class eateries the world over.

Just as you can drink soup from a bowl or a mug, you can drink wine from a tea cup, a vessel used by some during Prohibition lest the neighbors spot them drinking alcohol.

But for more elegant consumption that helps show off the qualities of the wine, three different shapes work best. Here’s why:

Larger Bowl Wine Glasses For Red Wine

Red wine glasses hold a minimum of 12 ounces. The wider bowl shape allows the wine to breathe more, opening up the flavors of red wine.

Those balloon glasses at 24 ounces may look impressive and appeal to major imbibers; but they take extra space to store, extra care to wash, and are more showy than useful.

White wine glasses range between 10 and 12 ounces. The shape’s narrower bowl helps to keep the wine cool longer.
 
Flutes For Sparkling Wine

Champagne and other sparkling wines are best served in an 8- to 12-ounce flute. The narrow shape keeps the bubbles from dissipating quickly (which is exactly what happens in a Champagne coupe), and focuses the bubbles to rise in a festive display.

In some better stemware lines, tiny dimples are etched into the bottom of the bowl, which produce more bubbles and help to improve the way it tastes.

In fact, the added effervescence increases the volatile compounds that are released when the bubbles burst, enhancing the bouquet.

The Science Of Stemware

For some time, the design of the best wine glasses has been a matter of science. At Riedel, the pioneer in stemware engineering and the glass of choice among connoisseurs, the bowls are designed to show off the qualities of each style of wine, enhancing the flavors and aromas. It’s scientific, and it works (it’s easy to do a side-by-side comparison between Riedel and a generic glass).
 
More Wine Glass Tips

Stems. The stem length will vary based on the designer. While tall stems look elegant, they may not be the most comfortable to hold. Also consider if they will fit easily into your cabinet and, if you hope to wash them mechanically, your dishwasher. On a similar plane, novelty stems—in the shape of cubes or diamonds, for example—are not as easy to hold.

Bowl designs. Avoid colors and designs. If you’re serious about wine, you need to be able to focus on the subtleties of its color.

Engineering. Experts look for thinner glass and a lip that curves in slightly to focus the aroma.

A final tip: Wine glasses should be filled only about two-thirds full, not to the brim.

[2] A gourmet touch: a topping of pickled mustard seeds and green pea purée (photo © The Eddy | New York City),

They’re not quite senior citizens, but Tater Tots® hit the big 6-0 this year. You could buy a box to celebrate, or you could make your own, tastier tots—bite-size potato croquettes—from scratch.

The Idaho Potato Commission salutes the tot as both an inspired potato product and a springboard for potato creativity. Its website boasts a collection of innovative tot recipes and variations on the theme.

For example, enhance the potato mixture with:

ROBUST SEASONINGS

 
ELABORATE STUFFINGS

Stuffed Tots with elaborate fillings:

 
HEARTY TOPPINGS

 
Check out the recipe for Loaded Potato Tots below.

The history of potatoes.

Potato types.
_______________

*The ingredients in Tater Tots are potato, vegetable oil, salt, corn flour, onions, dextrose (a simple sugar also known as glucose), disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate (an antioxidant that prevents potatoes from turning brown) and natural flavoring.

*Traditional poutine consists of these toppings on fries, but we’re borrowing them for tots.

The term Tater Tots is used generically, like Kleenex; although it’s a trademark of Ore-Ida, which invented the little potato bites in 1953. If you’re referring to anything but the Tater Tots brand, call them “potato tots.”

Tater Tots are made from deep-fried, grated potatoes, resulting in crisp little cylinders of hash brown-style potatoes. Tater is English dialect for potato, and “tots” came from their small size.

Ore-Ida founders, brothers F. Nephi Grigg and Golden Grigg, were considering what to do with leftover slivers of cut-up potatoes from their signature French fries. They chopped them up, mixed them with flour and seasonings, and pushed logs of the grated/mashed potato mixture through a form, slicing off and frying small pieces.

Tater Tots began to arrive in grocery stores in 1954. They quickly caught on as a snack food, a side dish, and the foundation for casseroles at dinner tables across America.

The Ore-Ida brand was acquired by H. J. Heinz Company in 1965.

This potato tot recipe borrows from the “loaded baked potato” concept, adding bacon, chives, shredded cheese and sour cream.

Ingredients

1. BOIL 2 pounds of potatoes. Cool, peel and mash.

2. COMBINE bacon, cheese, chives, butter, cream, pepper, and salt to taste in a large bowl; blend well. Roll into 1-ounce pieces, place on a wax paper-lined sheet pan, and chill overnight.

3. SHRED remaining potatoes, using a box grater, into a shallow bowl.

4. PLACE flour in another shallow bowl. Roll potato tots in flour to lightly coat then coat in egg. Roll in shredded potatoes to form a crust. Return to sheet pan and chill.

5. HEAT oil to 375°F in a heavy-bottomed pot, and fry balls until golden brown. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel to drain. Season with salt and serve.
 
 
MORE TATER TOTS RECIPES

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