Leeks are root vegetables that look quite like giant green onions, to which they are related. Their flavor is onion-like but much milder. People who avoid leeks because they don’t like onions should try them — their flavor is mellow and not overpowering, and many onion-haters love leeks.–WiseGeeks

I was the proud recipient of some unwanted leeks this week.  Free leeks aren’t exactly the greatest gift a guy can get, I mean they aren’t free bacon, but leeks have become one of my new favorite vegetables.  Up to this point I’ve only cooked leeks in braising liquids with tougher cuts of meat.  They add a great flavor to broth and the resulting gravy.  I love leeks…

Leeks have a wonderful onion flavor and are great for adding flavor to other dishes.  As a side dish they might not be for everyone, but for me grilling leeks gives them a nice little flavor that when combined with a little olive oil and vinegar makes them one of my favorites.

Here’s how I grilled my leeks!

Trim the root end of the leeks off and the leafy tops.  Remove the first layer or two from the leeks.  They should look something like the picture on the left above.  Bring a pot of water to a boil, add some salt and/or a little BBQ rub to the water.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook the leeks for about 12 minutes or until they just start to get tender.  Remove and drain well.  Be careful, you want to try to keep the leeks in their original shape.  Try to keep them from coming apart.  When the leeks have cooled, give them a light coating of olive oil and grill, over medium heat, until they start to char and get grill marks.

Remove the leeks from the grill and immediately rough chop them.  Toss them in a bowl with a little more olive oil and a splash of vinegar.  Add a dash of salt and serve.  The mild onion flavor works great with the acid from the vinegar.  A little sweetness comes out from the caramelizing from the grill.  Great…great flavor.

In the process for cooking I used an interesting salt I picked up at the Winter Fancy Food Show from The Salt Works.  The Hellfire salt is smoked for days with mesquite wood and infused with Habanero and a little lime.  I added 1/2 tablespoons of the Hellfire sea salt to the water during the initial cooking process. The salt with Habanero added an amazing flavor that actually held up through the entire cooking process.  I added a pinch more when I served the chopped leeks.

This salt has a lot of strong smoke flavor and is quite hot from the Habanero, so a light hand is needed.  It would be very easy to ruin your meal with a heavy hand.  I’m going to have to see about ordering some in quantity because I’m already thinking about a new chicken brine using the salt.

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As I wondered through the Fancy Food Store I was immediately stopped in my tracks at the Ginger People booth.  They had a fountain of sweet chili sauce flowing.  They had taken one of those ever popular wedding reception appliances and filled it full of sweet chili sauce instead of chocolate.  Anyone with that much love of their product deserved my attention.

A cube of chicken on a toothpick dipped into the fountain immediately told my tongue that this was not just any normal sweet chili sauce.  The Ginger People are serious  about their ginger and it shows in the Sweet Ginger Chili Sauce.  It’s loaded with ginger.  You can see the  floating in this stuff.  And you know what it tastes fantastic.  I’ve never been a huge fan of ginger.  Not because I don’t like ginger, but because other than putting ground ginger in teriyaki sauce or eating a few thin slices  when I eat sushi I had not used it all that much.

(See the end of this post for some details on the history of ginger.)

Tonight I decided to give my sample of Ginger Sweet Chili Sauce a try on some grilled fresh salmon.  Because I wanted to be able to taste how the ginger and chili worked with the salmon I only used sea salt and fresh ground pepper on it.

I used my Weber 26 inch kettle to grill the salmon and some asparagus.

After 7 minutes on each side I glazed the salmon with a healthy dose of the Sweet Ginger Chili Sauce and let it set for a few minutes.  Toss in a small baked potato and you’ve got yourself a great meal.

The glaze was great with the salmon.  The balance between sweet and hot was even handed and neither overpowered the mildness of the fish.  Best of all the sweetness hit the front of the tongue immediately with a little bit of hit on the back of the throat on the way down.

Next up for the Sweet Ginger Chili Sauce will be a spatchcocked chicken.  It’s going to be great, I already know that.

Ginger is native to India and China. It takes its name from the Sanskrit word stringa-vera, which means “with a body like a horn”, as in antlers. Ginger has been important in Chinese medicine for many centuries, and is mentioned in the writings of Confucius. It is also named in the Koran, the sacred book of the Moslems, indicating it was known in Arab countries as far back as 650 A.D. It was one of the earliest spice known in Western Europe, used since the ninth century. It became so popular in Europe that it was included in every table setting, like salt and pepper. A common article of medieval and Renaissance trade, it was one of the spices used against the plague. In English pubs and taverns in the nineteenth century, barkeepers put out small containers of ground ginger, for people to sprinkle into their beer — the origin of ginger ale. In order to ’gee up’ a lazy horse, it is the time honoured practice of Sussex farmers to apply a pinch of ginger to the animal’s backside. (Courtesy of The Encyclopedia of Spices)

Ginger is a tuber and a member of the Zingiberaceae family.  Other members of the this plant family are turmeric and cardamon.