Roasted Potato Fans With Creamed Leeks Food

ROASTED POTATO FANS WITH CREAMED LEEKS

Steps:

• Trim leeks, discarding dark green part, and halve lengthwise. Cut leeks crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices and in a large bowl of cold water wash well. Drain leeks.
• In a 12-inch heavy ovenproof skillet cook leeks and onions in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add flour and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Add broth in a stream, stirring, and simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste and remove skillet from heat.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Peel potatoes and halve lengthwise. Arrange each potato flat side down and make crosswise slices about 1/4 inch apart, cutting down to about 1/4 inch from flat side but not all the way through (a metal skewer inserted lengthwise about 1/4 inch from flat side will prevent slicing all the way through). Remove skewer if using.
• Arrange potato halves, flat sides down, in leek mixture and bring mixture to a simmer. Brush potatoes with butter and sprinkle with paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Bake mixture in lower third of oven 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender within and crisp and golden on top.

ROASTED POTATOES, CARROTS AND LEEKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Spray 2 large roasted pans or casserole dishes with non-stick spray. .
• Wash and chop potatoes in to large bite-sized pieces (try to chop roughly the same size for even cooking). Feel free to peel the potatoes before chopping them, I did. .
• After rinsing potatoes dry very well with paper towels or a clean dish towel. .
• Divide potatoes evenly between the roasting pans. .
• Add baby carrots to both roasting pans. .
• Slice dark green parts and end of root tip off of the leeks. .
• Slice the leek vertically from light green end toward root, but leave it attached at the root. .
• Turn the leek over on its side and slice it vertically again. .
• Rinse the heck out of the leek, making sure there is no grit in between the layers. .
• Chop the leeks in to 1 inch pieces. .
• Reserve the leeks for later. .
• Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and carrots and season liberally with salt, pepper and herbs of your choice (I used dried parsley and thyme). .
• Make sure potatoes and carrots are in a single layer, if they overlap they went crisp up as well for you. .
• Place in a 400 degree oven in the top 1/3 of the oven for 30 minutes. .
• Remove the pans from the oven, add the leeks and the minced garlic and a touch more oil if necessary, and turn the potatoes and carrots and combine with the leeks and garlic. .
• Place pans back in to the oven and continue to roast for an additional 25-30 minutes until it is as cooked through and browned and crispy as you prefer. .
• *I used one metal roasting pan and one ceramic casserole pan and the potatoes and carrots browned faster and nicer in the metal pan. .
• **making sure the potatoes and vegetables are dry before adding to the pan and drizzling with oil will help them to crisp up better. .

ROASTED POTATO & LEEK SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Clean, peel (if desired), and cut potatoes into 1" pieces. Place in large bowl.
• Clean leeks. Cut lengthwise, then into 1/4" slices. Add to potatoes.
• Mince or press garlic over potatoes and leeks.
• Drizzle with olive oil and put the whole mess in a rimmed cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 40 minutes, turning once after 20 minutes.
• After 40 minutes, pull vegetables and pour wine over. Place spinach on vegetables and carefully put back into the oven for 5 minutes, just to wilt the spinach (or other green).
• When spinach has wilted, pull cookie sheet from oven and gently scrape vegetables from cookie sheet.
• In batches, scoop vegetables into food processor with 1 cup of broth and pulse to desired consistency (or if chunky is your thing, simply use a potato masher, adding broth is needed).
• Add salt, pepper, and cream as desired.

PAN ROASTED MONKFISH WITH POTATOES AND LEEKS

Steps:

• Begin by removing the outer mottled gray membranes and any dark red portions from the monkfish fillets. On a slight angle, slice the fish into 1/2-inch thick medallions. Using two pieces of wax paper, place a few medallions between the paper and lightly pound them with the flat side of a meat mallet or small heavy saucepan to slightly flatten them.
• In a 4-5 quart saucepan, add the potatoes and enough cold water to cover them by 3 inches, season with salt and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook 10 minutes.
• Trim the root ends and dark green leaves from the leeks. From the greens of one leek, trim any yellow, wilted or bruised parts and reserve them. The other two leek greens can be set aside for another use, like stock. Slice the leek whites and reserved greens in half lengthwise. Rinse layers well under cold water to remove any grit from between the layers. Using one set of leek whites and greens, cut again in half lengthwise. The remaining leek whites cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces. Add all the leeks to the potatoes after they have cooked at a gentle boil for 10 minutes. Cook leeks and potatoes for an additional 10 minutes or until they are tender.
• Reserve 2 cups of the potato/leek cooking liquid. Drain the remaining liquid from the vegetables. Transfer to a blender the leek greens, long pieces of leek whites and two slices of the potato. Add approximately 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking liquid and blend until smooth. While the blender is still running, add 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a thin steady stream. Blend until creamy and the sauce is thick enough to lightly coat a spoon. If necessary, add more cooking liquid to get the sauce to that stage. Strain the sauce into a small saucepan, keep warm over low heat.
• In a large skillet over a medium-high flame, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the remaining leeks and potatoes that have been drained and the thyme sprigs to the skillet.
• Season with salt and pepper and cook until golden brown, turning often, for approximately 12 minutes. Remove from heat and cover skillet to keep the mixture warm.
• Sprinkle the monkfish slices with salt and lightly coat them with flour, tap off excess. In a large non-stick skillet over medium flame, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. Add as many monkfish slices as possible to fit in a single layer. Cook fish only turning once until golden brown on both sides, approximately 5-7 minutes. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
• Divide the potatoes and leeks among 6 warm dinner plates. Place the monkfish slices on top of the vegetable mixture and spoon the sauce over the fish. Garnish with a sprinkle of parsley and/or chives. Serve immediately.