Yikes, Stripes!

Now that spring has sprung

And the grass is riz,

I began to wonder where

The green garlic is.

Green garlic makes me wax poetic.

When I spotted some at our local farmer's market, I happily stuffed two bunches in my basket and brought them home in triumph, feeling like the original gatherer-woman.

It was marinated for a few hours in an equal mixture of red wine vinegar and olive oil that was flavored with a little salt and pepper, along with a lamb London broil that absorbed some of that great garlic flavor. Briefly grilled indoors (it was cold again and windy outside - spring is so fickle!), it relaxed and donned stripes. Still a little crunchy, it was mild and not at all hot as garlic is wont to be later in the season. Inspirational.

Cherry tomatoes are red,

The beanies are green,

Spring lamb is lovely,

With garlic that's green.

Green Green

Continuing on with my decision to try again those foods I detested as a child, I discovered kale a while back and have enjoyed it ever since.

And never more than this past week when I bought another big bunch of dino kale, so dark a green that it reminded me of the Black Hills of South Dakota, which are clad in that same rich color. A little further down the produce aisle, I spotted some green garlic. I had been asking and asking the produce manager to get in some green garlic, so I snagged three bunches to show him that I put my money where my mouth is.

The kale actually brightened in the pan where I had sautéed the green garlic in some butter, then laid in the chopped kale with just the water clinging to the leaves after washing. I covered the pan and let it cook gently for about 15 minutes, until the kale relaxed and the green garlic sweetened.

It was so good, I wished I had bought more and served it as a main course - who needs roast game hens and potatoes when you have serious meatiness in a vegetable dish? This is one of the admittedly few times in my life that I have seriously considered vegetarianism as a possible lifestyle.

Garlicky, Shroomy Rice

Still on that green garlic kick that we began when we found a nice big bunch of the lovely stuff at the farmer's market this week, I decided to cook some rice to accompany our lumpy chicken. I had a little mixed rice package and decided to doctor that up.

The rice package was a mix of red, wild, black and brown rices, so it already had variety and nuttiness going for it. I sautéed three bulbs of coarsely chopped green garlic and two or three sliced crimini mushrooms in about a tablespoon of butter before adding 1-1/4 cups of the rice to sizzle and pop for a few minutes. Then, in went two cups of organic chicken broth. I brought it all to a boil, then turned it to the lowest burner setting, put on the lid and let it simmer quietly for about 50 minutes.

The criminis all but dissolved, leaving behind just their rich earthiness. The green garlic gave us that allium savoriness. The rice medley was nutty and bumpy. All in all, one of the best easy rice dishes I've ever concocted and there's plenty for another meal or two.

Lumpy Chicken

Don't be alarmed - this chicken started out as a very nice, fresh, young, free-range chicken. The fact that it ended up reminding us of an aging and lumpy slattern who had seen better days didn't detract at all from the wonderful taste.

It's all the fault of the green garlic I found at this week's farmer's market. Trying to think of something different to do with our weekly roast chicken, I hatched the idea of sliding quarters of green garlic under the skin of the breast and thighs to flavor the meat as it roasted; it made the chicken look comically lumpy. I also olive oiled the skin, sprinkled it with lemon juice and tucked the rest of the lemon into the cavity along with a handful of fresh dill. Sprinkled some of the dill over the skin, too, and slid the whole thing into a 375 degree oven for about an hour.

As the bird roasted, the green garlic softened and spread divinely over the whole breast in little pockets of crisp skin over meltingly soft garlic underneath. The flavor was milder than "adult" garlic but still wonderfully savory and lingering. The lemon wafted up to keep the meat moist and lent its own little tang.

My Beloved and I have been trying to control our portion sizes recently - after all, we have a family wedding coming up out in the future and we want to look our best - but we failed miserably with this chicken. We went back without compunction for seconds and were still picking little pieces off the platter as we washed the dishes. Pretty is as pretty does - it can be as lumpy as it wants when it tastes this good.

Green and Greens

I probably should save this post for St. Patrick's Day - it's all about green, albeit the wrong green for St. Patty. I've been trying all kinds of different vegetables this winter, hoping to hit on some new favorites to spark up our winter menus. Inspired by the poached egg on collard greens and spuds that I enjoyed in SOCA a couple of weeks ago, I decided to try collard greens again this week.

According to my foodie friends and to most of the online recipes I consulted, collard greens need a long, slow cooking to bring out their best. I lucked into some green garlic last time I was at the farmer's market, so I thought to add three or four spears of that as well. I sautéed the sliced garlic in a little bacon fat, then added the greens to wilt them and enough chicken stock to cover them halfway. Covered the pot and left it to simmer quietly for about an hour, just returning to stir them around about halfway through the cooking time.

Honestly, I think they could easily stand up to a stronger garlic flavor - they are pretty muscular greens and tended to overwhelm the mild green garlic. And, served with ham, they would have been better than next to my roasted chicken. My Beloved didn't finish his, a sure indication that this is a green he would prefer that I fixed when he's away on business. However, I thought it was good in that homey, soft, seriously cooked way that greens often seem, when the first bright color has given way to a green reminiscent of kelp or Army vehicles.

I plan to use the rest of the broth to make soup, perhaps adding some ham to that concoction; that sounds good in my head. Hope it will be - and that My Beloved will be on a business trip when it makes its debut.

Spring Rice

I go in spurts. When I find a preparation I like, I tend to make it all the time until My Beloved cries "uncle!" and we move on to the next enthusiasm.

It would seem that raclette and risotto are my current jags. This risotto is the best one I've made so far, Lemon Risotto with Green Garlic, Chicken Apple Sausage and Asparagus. Doesn't that sound like a menu from some fancypants restaurant? But, I didn't get this from a famous chef; I assembled it from the contents of my fridge.

I discovered the fun of using lemon juice in risotto in place of the usual wine when I had no white wine in the house but lotsa lemons; I like it better. The Meyer lemons from Momo and Patty's bush are flavoring many of my dishes these days and one of them really improved this risotto.

After sautéeing the sliced green garlic in a knob of butter and adding about 3/4 of a cup of carnaroli rice to coat with buttery garlicky goodness, I added the juice of one (very juicy) lemon, chopped a single chicken apple sausage and added that to the pot, too. Stir, stir. Then came the veggie broth, ladled in and stirred bit by bit until it was all added (about three cups). Just as I was adding the parmesan cheese before serving, the thin asparagus spears, cut into inch-long lengths, went in and were stirred along with the rice until they were bright green and just tender.

The result was so fresh and springlike that we were both nodding and savoring, twinkling at each other over mouths full of flavor.

So far, I've heard no grumbles about "too much risotto" from My Beloved. I guess I can keep this trend going for a few more meals before he waves his white flag and asks for a change of menu.

Green Garlic Aside

A little advice from sad experience; green garlic is better steamed than roasted. When roasted alongside our rack of lamb, the outer layers turn crisp and stringy, rather than relaxing and turning tender. You can still strip off the outer layers and find the tender middle but when I butter steamed it a week or so ago, it was tender all the way through.

Just an aside. Butter steaming. Yes.

Spring Green

On my way up to Petaluma to have lunch with cousin J-Yah, I stopped at the Thursday Marin Farmer's Market and scored some treasures for dinner, fresh asparagus and the last bunch of green garlic at the Full Belly Farm stand. They also had some gorgeous little dried cranberry beans and popcorn, which I will try later, but today the fresh spring greens were calling my name.

I like fresh veggies cooked as simply as possible, so all I did was butter steam a few fat spears of asparagus in the same saute pan as the halved green garlic until the asparagus was bright green and the garlic had relaxed its tight formation a little and was slightly browned on the outside leaves. Like the lovely spring ramps we used to enjoy when the snow melted in upstate New York, the green garlic lent a mild flavor to the already fresh and flavorful asparagus. Heavenly spring green!