It’s the first weekend of a new month, so you know what that means right? It’s time for a new love blog hop theme! This month we’ve chosen onions mild tasting sibling the leek!
I love working with leeks, they cook up quickly and don’t provide as big of a bite as onions do. Leeks pair beautifully with practically everything, eggs, cheese, bacon, in a salad, on their own and of course with potatoes.
When brainstorming how I wanted to feature my leeks for #leeklove, I first thought of doing a leek souffle but then immediately changed my mind back to this recipe. Once you make these potatoes, you will never look back on your mashed potato recipe again.
Stoemp is a traditional Belgian potato recipe. There are many different varieties, some use carrots, shallots or even spinach. Personally, I love the simplicity of just the velvety smooth potatoes with leeks braised in stock and heavy cream.
Leeks sauteed in butter
For perfectly smooth potatoes, I highly recommend using a potato ricer to mash your potatoes. If you don't have one, a traditional masher or a fork to mash will be fine, just make sure there are no lumps remaining.
Ingredients
- 1lb yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 large leek, cut into 1/4 inch halves white and light green parts only
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus additional to top the stoemp
- 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup low-sodium chicken stock
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a medium stock pot and fill with water until it covers the potatoes by 1 inch. Add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until fork tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Remove the dark green parts of the leeks and the tough outer layer. Cut the leek in half lengthwise and then slice into 1/4 inch moons. Fill a bowl with cold water and plunge the leeks in to release any dirt trapped between the layers. Lift the leeks out with a slotted spoon (do not pour the water out, or the dirt will end up back in your leeks) and dry on a paper towel.
- In a saute pan on medium-low heat, melt the butter and add your leeks. Cook, stirring occasionally until the leeks begin to soften but not brown - about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the heavy cream and chicken stock, bring to a simmer, cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Take your cooked potatoes and either place them through a ricer or finely mash into a large bowl. Once the leeks are finished braising, remove from the liquid with a slotted spoon and add to the mashed potatoes.
- Increase the heat of the heavy cream mixture and cook until it reduces by half. Pour over the potatoes and stir until creamy. Season generously with salt and pepper and top with additional butter.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook by Ruth Van Waerebeek with Maria Robbins
January is #leeklove month!
Please join in on the #leeklove fun by linking up any nut recipe from the month of January 2013. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #leeklove event! The twitter hashtag is #leeklove
Be sure to say hi to my fellow hosts and see what they’ve cooked up this month!
Deanna @ Teaspoon of Spice | @tspbasil
Kimberly @ Badger Girl Learns To Cook |@Bdgergrl
T.R. @ No One Likes Crumbly Cookies | @TRCrumbley
Oh heavens … this looks delectable 🙂
Ooh, I’ve never heard of Stoemp but eager to make it! I don’t think I’ll ever have plain mashed potatoes again 🙂 Happy #leeklove!
Oh boy…oh man…oh jeez. These sound phenomenal. I love me some leeks. Yes…yes…I am pinning this.