I had some leeks and I wanted to do something new with them that I have never done before. I found Jose Andres’s recipe from Food & Wine Magazine called, Leeks two ways with wild mushrooms. The thing that was new and different is that I learned that a leek puree can be made from the dark green leaves that I normally trim off. My leek green puree I added vegetable soup base instead of salt to add a little flavor…….My leek puree came out delicious but not silky smooth like the way Jose Andres’s leek puree came out and I cooked mine up twice as long to get tender…….I do chalk that up to maybe my blender isn’t as good and also I didn’t have farm fresh produce like the chef gets. The other thing that I had to change the most from Jose Andres’s recipe is that I can not boil my leek slices without them falling apart. I think maybe that Jose Andres’s produce is the best and is also farm fresh. The leeks I get seem ok but I’m sure they are much drier and just won’t hold together so I remedy this by doing mine in the oven in a covered pan to get soft. I removed the foil that covered mine and browned them slightly. I also didn’t have dried black trumpet mushrooms so I used whatever pack I had in my refrigerator (I used 4oz. pack of champignon mushrooms) Serving size is around one leek a person. I used one pack of leeks and mine were small so for me this only made 2 servings.

Ingredients for around two servings

4 oz mushrooms – cleaned and (cut in half if a round shape)

1/2 cup hot water

1 teaspoon vegetable soup base

1 pack leeks (2-3 leeks) – dark green parts cut off totally cleans and chop up the dark green parts. The white part gets cut in 1/3 inch slices

1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

sea salt to taste

2 thyme sprigs

1/4 Tablespoon olive oil (this is a guesstimated amount since I don’t measure what I spray)

1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar

fresh ground black pepper to taste

Tablespoon of mint leaves – torn

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

In a small sauce pan of simmering water add the leek greens and cook for around three minutes and then drain. (RESERVE LIQUID) Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter, add the soup base and leek greens. Cook another minute or two. Blend this up with maybe a tablespoon of water till as smooth as you can get it,

The leek slices go in a pan or baking sheet with walls. Pour some of the reserved leek liquid till about half way cup the leeks. Add the thyme sprigs.) Season with salt and pepper and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in small chunks. Cover the pan and place on a middle rack for 15 minutes.

Get another baking sheet and place the mushrooms on it. Add the remaining 1/2 Tablespoon of butter in chunks. Spray lightly with oil. Keep in oven till cooked and starting to crisp. (timing will differ…in my oven my mushrooms took 12 minutes on the middle rack) Season with sea salt and ground black pepper.

Your leeks by now are done. I took mine slightly further and removed the foil covering them and returned the mushrooms to the lower rack. By now they’ve absorbed the liquid so I added more of the reserved leek water. I left mine in for 20-30 minutes more.

Mix together a tablespoon of white wine vinegar with a tablespoon or two of olive oil to top everything with.

Serve when ready.

Puree, leek slices, mushrooms, sprinkle on the oil mixed with vinegar and top the mushrooms with small pieces of mint.

A special THANKS to Jose Andres for his FORKING AMAZING recipe and to Food & Wine Magazine so I could come up with what I got here.