"Giusi" > wrote in message
...
> "James Silverton" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> news:3eEAi.30318$Bv1.4712@trnddc06...
>> Hello, All!
>>
>> In principle I am in favor of natural approaches to growing vegetables
>> but today I made some Vichysoisse soup and I was reminded that leeks are
>> perhaps the filthiest vegetables on sale. As usual, the leeks I bought
>> were covered with soil, organic I hope! I wonder why this should be?
>> Celery can also require careful cleaning but hardly ever as much as
>> leeks.
>>
>>
>> James Silverton
>> Potomac, Maryland
>
> Leeks here are not as dirty as they were in the US, and I don't know why.
> It does show that they don't have to be dirty. I am a leek lover for sure
> and have worked with them a lot. I tell my students if they are very
> dirty and the recipe will work this way, cut them into rings and dump them
> into a big bowl of salted water. Use your hands like a washing machine to
> agititate them, let the dirt settle, then lift them up out of the water
> into a colander. Repeat as necessary.
>
> Bath always, as showers don't work. Salt seems to work a bit like soap to
> loosen the dirt.

Rachel Ray cleans her leeks this way, too; I learned it from her. What I'd
like to know how to do is to clean them enough to braise them whole. I've
done this once or twice without grit. I cut the side a little, but it
doesn't always work.
Dee Dee