I bought a few Garlic bulbs recently that have HUGE cloves.
The first one I opened up only has four cloves.
I'm roasting it right now and boy does it smell good.

I've never seen garlic like this before but I wish all garlic had cloves this big. It sure makes processing em easy.

Elephant garlic ?

Saw some in the feed store the other day. BIG SOBs.

Elephant garlic


screen capture windows

Be careful with that elephant garlic...too much and things can get "explosive"

growing my own garlic and shallots now. No more chinese or messican chit for me.

Keith, that is really cool. Fresh garlic cannot in any way be compared to what we get in the store.

Only really super fresh garlic I've ever had was in Italy. The whole pod was soft and pliable. There were 4 of us traveling together, all cooks, joined by another in Florence, to make us 5 in all. We cooked almost every night in our places in Amalfi, Florence, and Rome with fresh stuff we'd buy each day. What a great, flavorful trip that was.

And I love shallots. Use them a LOT. There's actually one grocery here out of NY, Western Beef, where I buy a lot of good stuff, including nice, big shallots pretty reasonably.

I've grown fresh garlic in the past, but how do you guys preserve it? I can never use it fast enough.

Mike

yesterday

great pics...

Nothing like knocking the dirt off of a whole head and going to work in your fresh dishes. Used some the other night with those baby squash and blossoms.

Mmmmm.

I started using Litehouse freeze dried garlic some time ago and I am done looking elsewhere. Great taste, stores well and they are local to us so don't mind helping them out. I just made a pot of spaghetti sauce and meatballs with it. Killer.

Nice!

That's quite a trip...

sse, If not THE best, definitely one of the best. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Here's me "interviewing" one of the girls, Nancy, while she's finishing up our casserole for dinner on one of our nights in Amalfi.

http://vid43.photobucket.com/albums/e396/local_dirt/MVI_0828_zpsphxqzg1b.mp4

It doesn't get any better than this. Good times.

yeah, don't spare the parmigiano reggiano...!

NO WAY!

I planted a bunch of onions, garlic and shallots last fall. Onions had about a 50/50 rate of success. At least half never sprouted.

Garlic and shallots took off! I think they are about ready? I believe they said to wait until at least half the leaves turn brown and droop. First time I've grown it.

I've grown white onions started with bulbs that ended up producing really well. Gave a lot away as gifts to friends and neighbors, too. Had some in the middle of grow season that were producing tails 3 ft long. Bulbs had good flavor, too, but never got very big.

May try some shallots and garlic next time, too.