LEEKS!!!!!

I got leeks today!

On my first trip through the commissary on post, I made a note of the items I really wanted which were missing - lamb, leeks, brussels sprouts and pancetta. Today, I asked about pancetta and found there is a small package of it, which is okay. It doesn't take much. Wal-Mart, of all places, has fresh brussels sprouts (you can't shave frozen ones, for one of my favorite dishes) and today, even though I had been told they don't stock them, I found leeks in the commissary. They weren't beautiful, but that's probably because of the season. There were three bunches of threes, the usual packaging. One trio was a bit ugly, but the other two groups looked quite nice, with a lot of useable leek. I am very excited, and I may change my cooking plans for the next day or two, based on this new discovery.

Six months ago, I don't believe I had ever tasted a leek, but when I got into my little apartment in Prince George County, I rekindled a love for cooking that had been smoldering for sometime. I really began to plan my cooking to satisfy my schedule, and I reached for new techniques, for cooking that would challenge me a little bit. Step by step, I became a better cook. Among the many foods I discovered I love is leeks. There is also pancetta - a fancy bacon - and shallots - which are in the same family of bulbous plants as garlic, onions and yes, leeks.

Leeks look kind of like giant green onions. They have the best of the flavor of onions, but without the power to elicit tears. They are easy to to cook, sautéeing being my favorite way to eat them. They do take a little cleaning, since the way they grow pulls the dirt into the stalk and the harvesting and processing doesn't remove that. It's one of the many points of preparing to cook that takes the time and energy that makes cooking so worthwhile.

Like any hobby, the more one loves it, the more rewarding it is to sit back and enjoy afterward. I have come to feel that there is literally an injection of energy in the various materials involved that lingers in the finished product. The more of your soul you are willing to put into cooking, the more satisfying it will be to you and to any who eat it. It's easy to get hung up on technique, but it's the spirit that drives the process and which defines the result. I have found this to be true with cooking, and I believe it to be true with almost any creative activity.

At times, while preparing ingredients, I feel a part of my brain engaged that doesn't engage during my typical activities - driving, reading, listening, studying, etc. There's a feeling to being focused on what my hands are doing - a feeling that I'm putting my energy, myself, into those cuts, those separations, and those slow-cooking mixtures. That energy brings a peace to the work and to the dish when it hits the plate.

I love cooking. I learn from it. I learn about foods, and I especially learn about myself.