You’ve tried fresh chopped chives added to sour cream and served as a filling for a baked potato. But how about chives added to sour cream to serve with borscht and tomato soup? Fresh picked and snipped chives are a tasty garnish or flavoring in omelets, scrambled eggs, salads, and soups. Chives are also a…
Bulb Vegetables
Shallots: Kitchen Basics
Shallots have a sweet, delicate flavor and aroma. They are more subtle than onion and less pungent than garlic. Shallots can be served raw or cooked. Shallots are most often used as a condiment to enhance the flavor of other foods, but they can be cooked alone as a vegetable. Fresh green shallots with the…
Soft-neck and Hard-neck Garlic
There are hundreds of named varieties of garlic, but all of them can be categorized into two major types: soft-necked and hard-necked. The stalk that grows up from a garlic bulb is called a “neck.” The stalk of soft-necked garlic is pliable and soft at maturity. The stalk of hard-necked garlic is stiff at maturity….
How to Cook and Serve Garlic
Garlic is one of the most common vegetables used for flavoring other foods. It is also one of the best-tasting cooked vegetables. Garlic Flavor A whole garlic clove sautéed in oil will have a sweet, delicate flavor. A whole garlic clove cooked slowly will have a mellow, nutty flavor. Cut garlic—raw or cooked—will be pungent…
Six Ways to Cook and Serve Leeks
Leeks can be steamed, braised, grilled, and poached. You can also make leek au gratin and leek-potato soup. The flavor and fragrance of leeks are more subtle, more delicate and sweeter than onions How to Choose Leeks Select leeks that are straight, firm and intact with crisp, upright, brightly colored leaves and that have unblemished…
Tropea Onion—the Red Torpedo
There is an onion that comes from Tropea in Calabria, Italy that you will enjoy. It is a mild or “sweet” flavored red onion—many say the sweetest-tasting onion in the world–that will be a welcome addition to the preparation of many meals, and, if all else fails, you can just about make a meal of…
