shrimp with leeks recipe (2024)

FAQs

How does Gordon Ramsay cook leeks? ›

Season leeks with soy, maple, sesame oil, and mirin. Top with sliced garlic and a few knobs of butter around the outside of the pan. Add just enough stock to cover leeks halfway, bring to a boil and pop into over to roast until caramelized and tender when pierced with a knife.

So we often apply a mild baking soda solution to meat before cooking it. In our Fisherman's Pie, we use the same trick on shrimp, allowing them to stay plump and juicy throughout cooking.

Try sprinkling your seafood with a spice blend before cooking or adding a handful of fresh herbs to the dish during the last few minutes of cooking. You can also make a simple herb or spice-infused oil or butter to drizzle over your seafood after cooking for an extra burst of flavor.

Before cooking, it's important to thoroughly wash leeks as dirt and grit often gets trapped between the layers of leaves as they grow.

In addition to their great flavor, leeks are also a good source of dietary fiber, and contain large amounts of folic acid, calcium, potassium, and vitamin C. They have laxative, antiseptic, diuretic, and anti-arthritic properties and are easier to digest than regular onions.

To cook: Leeks can be boiled, braised or steamed. Sliced leeks should be cooked for 5-7 minutes until tender but still firm. Whole small leeks should be cooked for 10-15 minutes until tender but still firm, top with a cheese sauce and then brown under a preheated grill for 5 minutes or until golden.

Leeks partner well with chicken, ham, cheese, cream, garlic, and shallots. Complementary herbs and spices include chervil, parsley, sage, thyme, basil, lemon, and mustard.

The part of the leek you eat is the white and light green part—sometimes referred to as the stalk or stem. The dark green tops of the leek are also edible, but they are quite bitter and tough and are often discarded.

After a quick brine, the New York Times recommends another step used in Chinese dishes, a technique known as velveting. This consists of marinating the shrimp in a mixture of cornstarch and beaten egg white. The process helps insulate the proteins when cooking, leaving them tender and silky.

Why add baking soda to shrimp before cooking? ›

Alkaline baking soda slightly alters the pH of the shrimp, making them as plump and succulent as lobster and resistant to overcooking. The brine also causes the meat to pull away from the shells while cooking, so you get all the great flavor of shell-on shrimp without the hassle.

Some prefer to soak seafood in milk before cooking to keep it from tasting too fishy. If you choose to soak your shrimp, you should do so with whole milk for at least 10 minutes.

Shrimp have a rather mild flavor on their own, so using a marinade can infuse them with herbs and spices that help your shrimp shine. And, when you let your shrimp marinate overnight, the flavors get absorbed into the meat so that they are locked in, maximizing the punch when you take a bite.

Marinating peeled shrimp will result in more flavor soaking into the shrimp. Tails on or off is totally up to you and will probably depend on how you're serving the shrimp. If you're serving the shrimp in tacos, for instance, you'll want to remove the tails either before or after cooking the shrimp.

Herbs and blends that go well with shrimp are: basil, bay leaf, cayenne pepper, chili powder, chives, cilantro, curry powder, dill, garlic, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, oregano, paprika, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and thyme.

Put a large casserole-type pan (ideally one you'd be happy to serve in) on a medium heat and add a drizzle of oil, the butter, thyme leaves and garlic. Cook until it begins to bubble and fry, then stir in the leeks. Continue cooking and checking on it every few minutes to stir and make sure it doesn't catch.

The common wisdom is that leek greens are so tough, they should only be used to make stock. I agree that leek greens are great to throw into stock, but that's far from their only use. Yes, the fact is that they are tough. But you know what makes tough things tender?

Leeks are the mildest of the onion family and really shine when they're cooked, offering a lovely subtlety to dishes and a delicate, melty texture. Typically, the white and light green parts are consumed, while the dark green tops are left out, being full of fibers and hard to chew.