Crispy Cornmeal Fried Leeks

Take off the dark green parts of the leeks and discard or save them for your compost pile. Slice the leeks into rings. The rings don’t need to be separated. Soak the leek rings in a bowl of water to remove dirt (dirt should sink to the bottom). Rinse the leeks well.

Put the buttermilk in a medium-sized bowl and add the leeks. Soak the leeks in the buttermilk for 10 to 15 minutes.

Combine the flour, cornmeal and salt and pepper to taste in a mixing bowl.

Heat your oil to 350 F in an electric deep fryer or a Dutch oven with a fry thermometer attached.

When the oil is to temperature, dredge the rings in the flour mixture and then add them into the oil. Don’t overcrowd them. Fry the rings for 60-90 seconds or until golden brown. Remove them from the oil to a cooling rack and add additional kosher salt if needed.

I got the idea for making leek rings from Alton Brown. However I decided to use a batter adapted from Ina Garten (she used the batter for onion rings).