Plant on the shortest day and harvest on the longest or if you are impatient and need a little garlic now to chase the last of the winter bugs out, this week end at the farmers market grab some fresh baby garlic. Garlic is harvested after the tops have died in late Spring to Midsummer, it is the dried and sold. The garlic that is available at the moment is the same garlic but is just immature and harvested as shoots. The whole plant can be eaten at this stage and has the mild flavour of garlic. As with garlic there a many different types, some of the shoots have soft ends and are similar to chives others have hard shoots and look more like leek and the texture of asparagus. Garlic shoots are great in stir fries, curries or in salads. We tend to pair them up with white meat like chicken or fish in the restaurant. They add a nice flavour to a lemon butter sauce. A favourite of mine is with chicken Maryland cooked in white wine, tarragon, garlic shoots, chicken stock, Dijon mustard and finished by reducing the sauce & adding a dash of cream.
Come dine at Courtney's Brasserie for amazing fine food, call us on 9635 3288!
