What to do with leeks galore?

[Millymollymandy]

I have thought about that but could I make it with an already roasted chicken carcass or do I need an uncooked one to get more flavour? (I haven't even ever looked at a recipe to be honest!!! Was just imagining how to make it.....) *goes off and googles*

[Millymollymandy]

Prunes????!!!!! In cock-a-leekie soup? I don't remember that in any Campbells/Baxters/whoever's tins.

[Millymollymandy]

I finally got round to making the baked risotto recipe that Shirley posted. It was very nice but took a lot of time, as much with the preparation as the making of the risotto which I've never done before! It needed more liquid and took much longer to cook but I later realised I'd measured out 250g of rice instead of 225g!

How the author put that recipe into a book of 'quick and easy' meals I will never know! Takes about 2 hours!!!

Good one though, thanks Shirley, and I've only got about 8 leeks left now.

[Annpan]

I use a pre-roasted chicken to do my cock-a-leekie - here's the recipe from my blog

[Odsox]

Personally I'm not keen on chicken stock made from raw bones, but I love it made from a left-over roast carcass.
We have risotto on a regular basis and every time we have a roast the bones are boiled up and the stock is frozen in 1.5 pint portions (that's exactly the right amount of stock for a 2 serving properly made risotto)

[Millymollymandy]

I did make my own version of cockaleekie and added some tiny weeny macaroni that I had in the cupboard and it was very nice. Only cooked the carcass for 1/2 hour though as I reckoned it was already cooked and thought it wouldn't need any more. So do you actually get more flavour out by boiling the bones for a long time?

Was well pleased with my OH cos when I went to see if there was any meat left to pick off it there was absolutely none at all, so he doesn't waste a bit! I put back in my soup all the 'grobbly bits' (those are the brown bits that you have to pick off the carcass with your fingernails and my OH eats in sandwiches as I don't like them hence their name ).

[Mal]

Forgot to say, we've done the leek risotto bake twice now, love it.

Clearly we've adapted the recipe somewhat - don't use gruyere, use cheddar instead, but that's fairly standard. We also don't do the adding a spoonful of stock and wait for it to be absorbed and add another one. Who has the time for that? We just bung it all in and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Lovely though, goes great with some soda bread

[Odsox]

Only cooked the carcass for 1/2 hour though as I reckoned it was already cooked and thought it wouldn't need any more. So do you actually get more flavour out by boiling the bones for a long time?

I usually simmer mine for about one and a half hours ... just with some salt and a pinch of mixed herbs added and the leg bones broken if possible.
When it's cold it should be a sloppy jelly and taste wonderful.

[Millymollymandy]

Forgot to say, we've done the leek risotto bake twice now, love it.

Clearly we've adapted the recipe somewhat - don't use gruyere, use cheddar instead, but that's fairly standard. We also don't do the adding a spoonful of stock and wait for it to be absorbed and add another one. Who has the time for that? We just bung it all in and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Lovely though, goes great with some soda bread

Interesting, I used Cantal which is like mild cheddar as I don't like Gruyere (and who'd want to use that when you've got cheddar anyway? ) Didn't have any creme fraiche so just poured in a bit of single cream. In future I would put more cheese on the top, and I will follow your instructions for the risotto making. Thanks!