Leeking again: braised leeks, with add ons

The constant reader of this blog will know of my affection for leeks. I think they are probably the most underrated vegetable of all of them, or at least of the ones that I like. To my taste, they have a "soft" oniony flavor that is very hard to resist. They are somewhat more difficult to work with than other vegetables, and sadly, rather expensive, for reasons I have not been able to figure out. Yet, cooking them is a delight. Here's a recipe that I learned, from scanning the internet, but simplified. I will give you what I regard as the "add ons," but I do want you to know, none of them are required.
The recipe is entitled "Leeks vinaigrette with burrata cheese and mustard." If you do not know burrata, you should make its acquaintance as fast as possible. Burrata is , I guess, a type of fresh mozzarella. I am not sure how they make it, but it is very, VERY soft and liquid, and filled with what they tell me is cream, but which tastes a lot like fresh butter to me. You have to eat it very fresh, otherwise, it's "just" mozzarella. Nothing wrong with that, but don't miss this wonderful treat.
Anyway, in the full version of this dish, the burrata is served alongside of leeks, with a mustardy crumb topping and the vinaigrette over the top. When I made it, I thought it was terrific, but the burrata can, and should stand on its own. The leeks and cheese did not make for something particularly harmonious. So I would say leave it out.

Let's make the leeks first, because they are key here. As I've said before, when you buy leeks, they will have several inches of dark green, tough leaves on the top. Cut them off and unless you have more discipline than do I and plan to make soup quickly, discard them, or put them in a compost pile. You want the leeks to be, between 6 and 8 inches (let's not go there, shall we?). Check to make sure they are not dirty, and if they are, wash them, by spreading the layers, or cutting vertically down the middle so you can spread them apart, and giving them lots of water.
If your leeks are more than about 3/4 inch in diameter, you should also cut them in half, vertically. The bigger ones will not cook.

You need a lot of them here: I made 16 this way, in a 9x13 inch pan. If you make less, use a smaller pan. In any event, preheat your oven to 450. Then, put the leeks into your baking vessel. If you've cut them in half, put the cut side down. You can layer them on top of each other if you need to. Now, pour about a cup and a half of chicken stock over them, and add a half dozen or so sprigs of fresh thyme. You also want to slice up a lemon into thin slices, and put that in the baking dish, together with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt. Cover this with tin foil, and bake away , for 30 minutes. Then, take off the foil and bake for another hour.

Time consuming, yes? Well, not really. Remember you're not doing much while this is happening, and your leeks will soften, carmelize, and turn wonderfully golden. They will also reduce in volume markedly. The taste concentrates. You don't need a lot for a portion. 16 leeks is plenty for 8 people.

Now, you can take these out of the vessel and leave any liquid behind that is there, and serve the l eeks as they are. I do l ike the vinaigrette with them though, and you do that by using some of that downtime to squeeze 1/3 cup lemon juice, and mixing it with an equal amount of mustard, and twice the amount of olive oil. T his may give you more vinaigrette than you will want (it's a lot), but if it is, you've got great salad dressing for another meal.

If you want to - and I like this - you can interpose a layer of mustard breadcrumbs between the leeks and the dressing.
MUSTARD BREADCRUMBS? Patience meine kindern. This is not hard to do, but it's also time consuming. The good thing is, you can do this days ahead of time.

Get a loaf of bread - more than half a pound, and no more than a pound or so. Get GOOD bread. None of that s pongy stuff . Ciabatta, baguette, anything that is crusty and solid will do. Don't take off the crust (the original recipe said you should. DON'T). Cut the bread into cubes , maybe half an inch in size, and don't be surgical about it. Then mix up 1/4 cup of mustard, 1/4 cup of white wine, and 1/4 cup of neutral oil - no olive oil here, please. Put the bread, and this marinade in a bowl together, and get your hands in to coat the bread. Then, spread it all out on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake it at 250 (very low), for an hour and a half. The coating will seep into the bread, and then caramelize somewhat. After the bread is cooked and dry, taste one.

Good, huh? Well, now you know how to make flavored croutons if you want to. Just substitute something for the mustard.

For this recipe, now put those cubes, after they were cooled, into a sturdy bag , or double bag, and crush them with a meat pounder, a rolling pin, anything. You want uneven, bigger pieces. Don't pulverize.

You'll have more than you need here, so you can use the rest for, oh, a crust on mac and cheese or in a salad with that l eft over vinaigrette. In any event, spoon a couple of tablespoons over the leeks and then add the vinaigrette, if you use this variation.

In the complete form of the recipe, you now put a small piece of burrata cheese alongside of the leeks. In my opinion, what you should do is serve the burrata first, with some good sausage, and then serve these as a first course. Or leave out the burrata alltogether. Use it for another meal.

This one sounds time consuming and complicated, but it really isn't. Try it. We had it as a first course to a cassoulet dinner, and it hit precisely the right note. Everyone else is still talking about the cassoulet. Moi? I could eat these leeks right now.