The onion's more humble cousin, the leek, is sadly underrepresented in the preserving world. However this delicious recipe is a great way of preserving leeks, harnessing their pungent sweetness, and the result is a great way to lift your leftover Christmas turkey on Boxing Day. Leek has a milder flavour than its relative’s onion and garlic and has often been overlooked in the culinary world, but is starting to come back into favour in the UK.
Ingredients:
4 bulbs garlic
4 cups sliced leeks
2 onions, finely chopped
50g butter
180ml cider vinegar
120ml lemon juice
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1.5 teaspoons ground mustard
1 teaspoon salt
* teaspoon white pepper
* teaspoon ground ginger
600g-800g sugar, according to taste
(Vary the quantity of sugar depending on how sweet you want the jam to be.)
Method:
First of all, roast the garlic by cutting off the top of the bulbs, drizzling them with olive oil and roasting at 220C for 35 minutes. Allow to cool.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks and onions and fry gently until soft and golden. Squeeze the garlic bulbs so the flesh comes out as a paste and stir it into the pan with the leeks and onions. Add the cider and Balsamic vinegars, lemon juice, mustard, ginger, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Add the sugar, allow the mixture to come back to the boil and hold it for five to ten minutes, stirring all the time.
Spoon the jam into clean, sterilised jars while still warm, seal and store in a cool, dark place until ready to use.
Adding a touch of chilli gives an interesting bite to the jam!
Leek and Rosemary Marmalade
For a slightly woodier tasting way of preserving leeks try Leek and Rosemary Marmalade.
Ingredients:
1.2kg sliced leeks
900g sugar
500ml white wine vinegar
3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary, tied up in a muslin parcel
Method:
Heat the vinegar and sugar gently in a large saucepan until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the rosemary muslin parcel and simmer for five minutes, then stir in the leeks. Simmer for about an hour and a half, by which time the mixture should have become a kind of translucent jam. Spoon into clean, sterilised jars, seal and store in a cool, dark place for up to three months. Keep in the refrigerator once opened.
