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Hi folks...

Picked up some green garlic from Nichols' at the Federal Plaza today, mostly coz it looked so nice. However, I've never used green garlic before and I'm not sure I've even tasted it. I'd love some suggestions with what to do with it -- i'm totally open. I looked through a search but it wasn't very enlightening.

How is it roasted? I've gotten the sense that perhaps it wouldn't do it justice to roast it -- but I also picked up some gorgeous fingerlings and i thought I'd roast them with some herbs and oil and the garlic.

Help me, LTH-Kenobi...you're my only hope!

I love green garlic and use it frequently. Generally I mince it and add it to sautees or roasted dishes near the end of cooking. I think it's at its best with a mild amount of heat applied. You can also use it raw in salads.

Most recently, I steamed green beans and dressed them with olive oil slowly heated with minced green garlic.

It's a very flexible ingredient.

Best,
Michael

I love this stuff.

Two options: Use it like regular garlic. It isn't nearly as strong, so you can use more of it.

Or, treat it like spring onions or scallions. For me, this means rubbing it with olive oil, season it with salt, and grill.

In terms of mincing it -- should I use only the bulb? or are the green stalks good too -- similar to a scallion? The whole thing smells sooo good and garlicky -- i'm tempted to use them in a soup to flavor the broth.

good tip on waiting til the end of cooking to use the garlic -- i think I might do the fingerlings as I mentioned and then about 15 minutes from the end, add the garlic in as a final coup de grace! I wished I'd thawed the Tallgrass sirloin that's in the damn freezer.

You can eat the whole thing. As you get closer to the top, you may find it a little stringy. So I discard the tops when I grill them. You could definitely use this part, though, for flavoring soups.

You can also put the tops in a long slow braise (I've done it with chicken thighs). The fibers loosen up significantly and they add a nice flavor.

Best,
Michael

In China, you can get green garlic with tops like this ,

which you then simply stir fry and add the teeniest bit of sesame oil.

Geo

Image credit: here

That looks like a scape to me (which come off of more mature garlic when it's about to flower). Scapes should be available within the next few weeks at farmer's markets.

Or is that something else entirely?

Scapes (and onions) from last season:


Best,
Michael

Michael,

Yes, that's a scape, good call. In China they plant in succession so that scapes are available pretty much from early Spring until mid-Summer. I've seen them in the Asian markets here in Montreal, but they're not as widely available as I'd wish.

Geo

There are three things I love to do with green garlic.

First is a quick pickle. I slice them thinly on a bias to get nice long pieces and then I let them sit in a mixture of lime juice, bitter orange juice, sugar and salt for about a 1/2 hour. These are delicious on a taco, or on grilled chicken or fish.

Second is cold green garlic soup. I saute a shallot, add as much green garlic as I can get my hands on and sweat it until it is melting. I then add some vegetable stock and simmer for about 10 mins. Then I blend it up. Once it is blended I add a dollop of greek yogurt and put it in the fridge, the soup is delicious cold and pretty good warm as well. It goes great with some fresh bread and radishes.

Third is roasted green garlic and tomatillo salsa. I roast some tomatillos and some garlic until charred, I throw them in the food processor, add a fresh jalelpeno, some salt, lime juice and cilantro and puree, it is a great fresh salsa. Adding some avocado to the puree is a nice touch as well.

What a first post! Welcome. These sound excellent and I hope to try all three this week.

Where do you get the bitter orange juice? Can't find it anywhere.

You can find bitter orange juice at most Mexican grocery stores. It is about 4 bucks for a good sized bottle, great stuff to have on hand.

Goya brand Bitter Orange juice - I have seen it at Strack and Van Til on Elston.

The last couple weeks I've made a few batches of some excellent spring veg risotto - green garlic sauteed with the rice on the front end. Halfway through cooking, add a large bunch of chard (de-ribbed and sliced in ribbons), and the last couple minutes, add some lightly steamed asparagus. YUM!!!

These are awesome suggestions, everyone! I really appreciate it. I'm obviously going to have to go to the market tomorrow and get more green garlic! The risotto idea really interests me -- and i have some great asparagus too.

I'm getting so inspired by all your creativity!!

This is something I did recently to make the most of a recent Green City visit:

Get some good bread. I like a loaf of a crusty bread with a softer interior cut wide on the bias. Lightly toasted bagged bread also works as a good substitute.

Get some radishes, preferably breakfast radishes. Slice them thin, but not paper thin.

Get some green garlic. Slice it thin, including some of the green part. One stem should do for two slices of bread.

In a heavy bottomed pan, brown some butter. Toss in the garlic. Add tiny bit of salt & pepper, to taste. Swirl the pan with the garlic, slightly off the heat until the garlic is crispy, making sure not to burn the garlic or the butter. Remove from heat.

Spread some good butter onto the bread slices. Spoon some of the browned butter & garlic onto each slice. Then, layer the radishes in a single layer, overlapping slightly.

Hey folks -- wanted to report back. I used my green garlic tonight and not only was it delish but it also just filled my house up with such a fragrant garlic smell -- it was just incredible.

I roasted chicken breasts with thyme, fingerling potatoes, olive oil and wine. I roasted them for about 15 minutes and then I added chopped up green garlic and onion to the mix and finished them off. I'll have to work on the timing in the future -- the breasts were a bit overdone but the lovely sauce in the pan made it okay. I can't get over the incredible melty mess of that garlic and onion -- it was just heaven.

So thanks for the tips -- i'm going to be using this stuff until it disappears from the markets...

s

You know, it's purty easy to grow! Buy a couple of heads of garlic, split it up into cloves, and stick the cloves into the ground. Couple weeks later, gently yank it from the ground. I've done it in 6" pots in the kitchen.

Works with shallots, too. Now *those* greens, shallot greens, are spectacularly wonderful.

Geo

I bought three large bunches of these at International Mall in Westmont last weekend for $2 each. The Chinese people there told me they are garlic shoots with promised availability for another 2 weeks. I then got an e-mail discussing garlic scapes, which looked exactly like these pictured. I also found a blog on the Washington Post discussing scapes. It is funny how something that did mean much to me suddenly seemed to be everywhere. I made pesto for lunch today that we found quite refreshing and didn't linger on our breath as much as garlic bulbs do.

Regards,

Excellent article in the NYTImes today about using green garlic, scapes and garlic itself with some killer sounding recipes. I think you'll have to register to read it (it's free) but it's definitely an article worth perusing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/18appe.html

Also -- used some green garlic in a marinara sauce last night -- well...marinara with a bit of ground beef I had to get rid of -- and it was just so good. I can't get over the round lovely flavor that the green garlic imparts to everything it touches. It's just heavenly. How is it possible that in my 43 years of life I've not ever tried this stuff before?

I went to a farm dinner at Osteria via Stato and they served green garlic braised in a balsamic reduction with lovely lamb chops.

Osteria via Stato
620 N. State St.
Chicago
(312) 642-8450
http://www.osteriaviastato.com

Last night I sautéed some green garlic and onions in a bit of rendered bacon fat, added in some spinach and wilted that. Then threw the bacon back in, and added a bit of a honey balsamic vinegar that I have. A bit of salt and pepper too, it was really tasty.

An adaptation of the linked pesto recipe was brought to the potluck:


Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup walnuts
¾ cup olive oil
¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

In a food processesor, process scapes and walnuts until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly add olive oil and process. Scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano, then salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto.

For ½ pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.

Looks tasty, C2!

Man, it sure sounds like a great time was had by all at the potluck... wish I coulda been there.

Does anyone know whether there's a special variety (or varieties) of garlic to grow in order to get good scapes? Seems to me there *must* be... some variety that puts all its energy into the scape instead of into the bulb.

Geo

Scapes are also vey interesting in flower arrangements. The keep an amazingly long time, and add an avant-garde touch to the simplest of combinations. Garlic scapes, a decorative allium, and one or two oversized Casa Blanca lilies make a nice All-Onion Family combo.

It may be a little late in the season now, but my favorite thing to cook after my first trip to the Green City Market in the spring is a nice pasta dish:

Boil a pound of your favorite pasta (I like Cavatippi or other fork-sized pasta for this).
Mince a whole stalk (or two) of green green garlic and saute in a couple tablespoons of olive oil with a pinch of salt and pepper until just soft.
Add a pint of those fresh spring peas you get at the Market early in the season, and stir until just heated through. (do not overcook these beautiful peas)
Add the juice of half a lemon.
Toss with pasta.

Serves 4

This just says "spring is back" to me. . .Enjoy!

And the leftovers make a great fritatta the next morning! Just heat the pasta in a pan on med-high with a little olive oil, add enough whipped eggs to cover. Stir a couple times then cook until just set. Top with shredded Parm and broil until brown.

Hi,

Last night I was at H-Mart. They had a late night madness sale on scapes for 49 cents a pound. Otherwise it would have been a lofty 79 cents.

Regards,

Bye the bye, I've found a marvelous site for info; not sure if they ship to the US. And they're very quick in response to queries.

http://www.garlicfarm.ca/

Geo

PS. What are you going to do with your bounty, C2?

Since we just had it last night, haven't had a chance to post, but Great Lake in Andersonville is featuring green garlic as a specialty pizza. We had it (with sheep's milk cheese and herbs)...excellent!