The 2011 Gardening Season Begins - Let's Talk Garlic!

Though the garden is sleeping and covered in snow where I live, the garlic and shallots are planted and will be ready to push up through their blanket of straw come early spring.  Nothing says "Italian cooking" to me more than garlic!  Garlic serves as the base layer of flavor for so many Italian dishes, whether it's something tomato-based, seafood-related, vegetable-only, a roasted meat... It's hard to imagine making something Italian without having some garlic on-hand. 

That's why, in my garden, I always plant lots and lots of garlic!  It stores well, and it's there whenever I need it all winter long.  I'd like to share some tips on selecting garlic for your garden, along with one of my favorite recipes using this indispensible flavoring. 

Not all garlic is created equal.  First of all, did you know that most garlic that's consumed in America comes from China?  If you're buying your garlic at the regular grocery store and it isn't labeled "local," it's likely been imported from China.  I'd personally rather consume garlic that's grown closer to home and with more oversight regarding pesticides, fertilizers, etc.  So, for the past ten years or so, I've just been growing it in my own backyard. 

Here is my garlic patch as it looks today, buried under straw and snow, in the middle of January.  In this single garlic patch, there are three different types:  a Rocambole, a Marbled Purple Stripe, and a Porcelain. Each type has its own individual characteristics with regard to size, color, & number of cloves per head, flavor (hot vs sweet, nutty, etc.), best use (raw vs. saute'), and how long they will keep after harvest. 

Within each type, there are many varieties or cultivars.  For example, French Rose, Italian Purple, Russian Red, and Spanish Roja are four different varieties of Rocambole garlic.  Rocambole-type garlics in general tend to be delicious raw, but they don't store as well as Porcelains (which many find too hot to eat raw).  And you thought garlic was just garlic!

My favorite garlic mail-order company is Ronniger's, which has now forged with Potato Garden (yes, they sell seed potatoes, too!), http://www.potatogarden.com/.  If you're interested in shopping for garlic, check out all the varieties on their website.  Another great source is Seed Savers Exchange, http://www.seedsavers.com/.  Most of the growing garlic sold by Seed Savers is Certified Organic, and they have a selection to make your mouth water:  Bogatyr, Chesnok Red, Georgian Fire, Persian Star, Lorz Italian, and more.  Don't the names alone make you want to start a garlic garden? 

The time to choose and order your growing garlic is in early fall for most of the United States.  Garlic must be planted sometime between about mid-September and mid-November, and certainly before the ground freezes.  When you receive your garlic, split the heads apart into cloves and choose the biggest and hardiest-looking cloves to plant.  Spacing and depth requirements are usually provided in the package from the shipper.  Once you have planted your garlic, cover it with a generous layer of weed-free hay or straw to prevent it from freezing over the winter.  To keep my straw from blowing away, I cover it with plastic trays and pin them down with metal stakes or top them with a few heavy rocks. 

When Old Man Winter retreats and warmer days arrive, usually in early March, it will be time to remove the layer of mulch.  I'm always surprised to see that the first green shoots have beaten me to it, and they are already poking up through the straw!  They know when it's time!  By about mid-June, you'll have garlic ready for harvest.  Stay tuned to this blog, because when Spring arrives, I'll be posting pictures of the sprouting garlic, and I'll describe then how to tend and harvest your garlic. 

In the meantime, here is one of my favorite winter recipes using garlic and another winter favorite - kale.  It's more delicious than you think and definitely worth trying!

Kale with Garlic & Herbs

Ingredients: 

1 to 2 bunches of kale, tough stems removed, and chopped or torn into large pieces

1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1 can anchovies
3 to 4 cloves of garlic
fresh rosemary (leaves from about 3 sprigs)

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar


Directions:

Immerse kale in salted boiling water (in batches, if necessary) and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes until limp but still brightly-colored.  Then submerge immediately in cold water to stop the cooking.  Meanwhile, add next 5 ingredients to a food processor and blend.  Put the oil/herb/garlic mixture into a saute' pan and bring up to temperature.  Add kale and toss to heat the kale through.  Add balsamic vinegar and toss again.  Serve immediately.  Makes a lovely and very healthy side dish. 

Mangia, mangia!

Garmugia Soup Recipe from Lucca

For those of you who might have seen "Garmugia" on the menu below from Prosciutto e Melone and wondered what it was, this link will bring you to a recipe: Garmugia Soup Recipe from Lucca.  It is a hearty peasant-type dish believed to have originated in or around Lucca. 

Lucca's Buccellato

When I got to Lucca, I couldn't wait to try their famous Buccellato, and I knew I had to visit Taddeucci's to get the very best sampling. 

You can visit Taddeucci's website to learn more about the history of Buccellato:  http://www.taddeucci.com/. 

Borrowing from http://www.experience-tuscany.thrifytuscany.com/, "Buccellato is a famous sweet-style bread from Lucca. As the old Lucchese saying goes: “Chi va a Lucca e non mangia il buccellato è come se non ci fosse stato” (Going to Lucca and not eating the Buccellato is like never being there). The Buccellato is a cake shaped like a doughnut or long loaf of bread and has an average weight of approximately 1 pound.  Its main ingredients are flour, sugar, anise seeds, yeast, raisins and egg white.  The Buccellato is a bread-like cake that stays fresh for several days, even if it eventually becomes very hard. When it hardens, it is usually consumed the Lucchese way, cut up into thick slices and dunked in wine (such as the sweet Vin Santo wine). It can also be toasted and served covered with sugar and strawberries."  Read more: http://experience-tuscany.thriftytuscany.com/the-buccellato-di-lucca-pastry

Believe me, your Buccellato will get as hard as a baseball bat after several days, and if you're traveling without a toaster, you'd better get yourself some sweet wine to dunk it in!  I recommend getting as small a loaf as they will sell you, or else plan to share it with several people while it is still fresh.  :-)  The anise flavor is quite pronounced and makes this a very distinctive treat.

You must visit B&B Giglio Bianco in Florence !

Here are some photos from our stay at B&B Giglio Bianco in Florence. This "home away from home" is located in the Oltrarno district, about a 10-minute's walk south of the Ponte Vecchio. Each night as we walked back to the B&B, we felt that we were leaving the madness and chaos of Florence behind us (wonderful though it can be) and that we were coming "home" for the evening.

Varinia and Edoardo were excellent and caring hosts. They offered us a cell phone to use while we were in Florence; our bed was very comfortable and the room adorable; Edoardo gave us a lovely bottle of wine to enjoy in our room upon our arrival; and the breakfasts were beautifully-presented, and we were offered anything we wanted.



We also enjoyed two of Varinia's "special dinners," one of which followed a cooking class that Varinia taught just to me! Varinia and I made two luscious types of pasta (pumpkin ravioli and tagliatelle with vegetables), talking and laughing and drinking wine in her cute, intimate cucina.
Check out the pictures of some of the courses below!


There are hundreds of places to stay in a city as large as Florence, but I am thrilled that I chose B&B Giglio Bianco. It was not a long walk to the hustle and bustle (and there are tons of cute shops along the way, plus the best pizzeria in all of Florence!), but this B&B offered a quiet, comfortable and safe refuge from the crowds and craziness that you find in the center of the city. We got a wonderful night's sleep each night, delicious and healthy (and mostly organic!) meals, and two new friends in Varinia and Edoardo. Visit http://www.gigliobianco.it/ to see more pictures and book your stay or your cooking class with Varinia and Edoardo!

I miss you, Varinia and Edoardo !

Choosing your squash blossoms for stuffing

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/4253/video-squash-blossoms

This link is a great, short video explaining how to choose which squash blossoms to pick from your plant when you want to make stuffed squash blossoms. Many people don't realize that there are male and female blossoms on each plant, and because the females turn into your squash, you don't want to pick too many of the female blossoms. Watch this video to learn the difference!
And check back for a recipe for stuffed squash blossoms that I learned at a cooking class in Italy! The photo to the left shows me blowing the blossom open to prepare it for stuffing.

PS There is no difference in taste between the male and female blossoms.

Truffle Trivia, as promised!

OK, here is the truffle trivia, as promised! This information was provided to us in an unforgettable cooking class in Spoleto, Umbria, at Il Tartufo - meaning, "The Truffle."

• Store white truffles in damp towel, but store black truffles in dry towel.
• Always use white truffles fresh, never cooked (the heat of the dish will release the flavor), whereas black truffles are made into sauces and salsas - they are never shaved fresh or raw on top of a dish.
• There are two types of Black truffles - summer and winter varieties.
• What should you pay for truffles? White truffles cost about 180 Euro/kilo. Summer black truffles cost ~150 Euro/kilo, and winter black truffles can easily cost up to 1500 Euro/kilo !
• Other differences between summer and winter black truffles:
• The summer type is the "lesser" type and therefore costs much less; the winter type is called "pregiato," which meach appreciated or prestigious. It is the more precious of the two types of black truffles.
• Summer black truffles' surface is thick and abrasive/rough with bigger holes, whereas the winter black truffles' surface is smoother with tiny pores.
• You should clean the surface of black truffles with a little brush to remove the dirt (also makes them weigh less so you pay less!) allowing you to carefully examine the surface. It could save you a lot of money and help you not pay for winter truffles when they're trying to sell you summer truflles (if you happen to encounter an unscrupulous vendor).
• Summer black truffles are black on the outside but beige on the inside! Winter black truffles are actually black throughout, even a dark purplish black.
• Black truffles, both summer and winter, have veins running throughout. The summer truffles' veins are larger and fewer, whereas the winter truffles' veins are very thin and narrow.

Now, you are all prepared to shop for truffles! Buon appetito!

Truffle Trivia

Do you know all the differences between white and black truffles? between summer and winter truffles? Do you know how much you should pay for each kind?

Check back in mid-October for a post on "truffle trivia."

The information comes direct to you from the "people in the know," the chefs of "Il Tartufo," which means "The Truffle," a lovely historic restaurant in the heart of Umbria and one of the places where we hold our La Contadina cooking classes. Remember to come back and check out the blog!

pere al vino UPDATE

OK, you have GOT to try this! I made canned pears two ways yesterday - with ruby port wine and with pear brandy. Both ways are intoxicatingly delicious. I wish I had enough to ship a jar to everyone who reads this blog. You only add 1 tbsp. of the liquor to each 8 oz. jar, while the rest is packed with the sliced, lightly-cooked pears and the sugar syrup. Indescribable.