Three tries before success; it seems to be
my rule. Once I have baked/cooked something three times, I can do it to my
satisfaction. For example: Yotam Ottolenghi’s Fried Leeks.
There are three components to the dish: The
fried leeks, the crème fresh sauce and the peppers. It looks, seems and reads
easy but I found it enough of a challenge to wait until time number three to
take photos of the fried leeks (prior to presentation).
Ell things can be done better with practice
and I had never fried anything in oil before trying this recipe. The problems I
encountered were:
- I started off boiling the leeks for 15 minutes and it seems like way too long to me. Even ten minutes made leeks too mushy to keep in decent shape for the rest of the process. I boiled the leeks above for at 8 minutes.
- The recipe does not explain how to determine the right temperature for the oil. To get nice even browned leeks the time in the oil is proportionate to the heat of the oil. I really pay attention to this part.
- The recipe does not tell you the panko crumbs that come off the leeks must frequently be removed from the oil or they will:
- Burn
- Stick to the frying leeks I did not know that even one drop of oil can cause a fire on the burner.
- I found the whole process with egg batter messy —transferring the leeks to the panko and the coated leeks to the oil. I found I had to constantly clean my fingers and utensils in order to get good results.
I made my third batch Friday morning and
then John and Bunny came to pick me up and take me for a walk in the University
Endowment Lands. It was fabulous. We saw LOT of mushrooms — in January! And in winter, the moss everywhere makes the wood seem like a movie set. We truly live in a rain forest.
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