Happy New Year

To kick off 2007 with plenty of good luck and fortune, the family cooked the traditional Southern New Year's Day meal, including hoppin' John with fresh black-eyed peas, collards (both pictured below) and cornbread.

For a new addition to the repertoire, my dad fried leek rings (pictured above). A sort of take on onion rings — but oh so much better — the leeks were thickly sliced with the centers poked out, dipped in seasoned flour, then buttermilk and egg, and back in the flour before a dunk in hot oil. Fried basil topped it off.

Perfectly sized for one bite, the leeks were soft inside with none of the annoying stringiness of onion rings. It's a recipe I'm adding to the "rave reviews" file.

Hoppin' John for luck

Collard greens for fortune

Comments

Italian Chef said…
I'm all about those leeks and collards!
1/02/2007 4:37 PM
Anonymous said…
what--no recipe for the leeks??? ;) i'd love to have it if you are so inclined!!!
1/03/2007 11:12 AM
Anonymous said…
i was looking at leeks the other day and only thought of potato leek soup. I'm soooo going to try this. My dad makes hoppin john too!
1/03/2007 11:48 AM
Amanda said…
My dad sort of made it up as he went along, but I'd describe it something like this:

*Take a bunch or two of leeks, wash them, and cut off the leafy green tops.

*Slice the whites into 1-inch thick rounds. Carefully poke out the center to create a ring.

*Dredge rings in a bowl of flour seasoned well with salt and pepper. (You could add other spices like cayenne here too.)

*Then dip rings into a bowl containing a mixture of egg and buttermilk (no exact proportions here).

*Return rings to flour mixture once more.

*Fry until golden brown in an inch or two of canola oil in a heavy fry pan. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
1/03/2007 11:59 AM
Anonymous said…
I saw pretty much the same recipe on Good Eats the other day, except regular milk instead of buttermilk. Looked very light and tasty.

I think the episode title was Sprung A Leek. Love that show.
1/03/2007 4:38 PM
Amanda said…
I think that was the recipe my dad was trying to recall - he couldn't remember where he saw it.

To anon above who wanted the recipe, I looked it up on foodtv.com (much more specific than my rendition): http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_29688,00.html?rsrc=search
1/03/2007 4:47 PM
Anonymous said…
Hi AMANDA! Great SUGGESTIONS, congratulations for the blog too

Many many greetings from the barbecue fans community and happy New Year to all BBQ lovers!

carnealfuoco.it - tutto per il barbecue ricette foto community
1/17/2007 9:59 AM
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