Garlic from the garden

It looks and smells amazing, but I'm not sure what to do with it. Should I treat it the same way as garlic you get at the grocery store? If not, how should I use it?

ceeteebee
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4 Comments

Lindsay-Jean H. April 27, 2013
In case you missed it, we just had a post on green garlic with a number of recipe ideas! http://food52.com/blog/6458-green-garlic-the-adolescent-allium
 
ceeteebee April 25, 2013
Thanks! It's not from my garden, so I don't know if it's hard neck or soft neck. Some of the leaves are brown and wilted and the bulbs are white, though I don't see any cloves. So I suppose that I should just use this with a lighter hand than I would garlic that has been cured?
 
petitbleu April 25, 2013
Is your garlic green? This early in the season, green garlic seems to be the norm. In which case, it will be a little funkier than mature garlic. This isn't a bad thing, but you may want to use a little less of it. Mature garlic is harvested when approx. 1/3 of the leaves turn brown and wilt--the heads should have formed cloves at this point and there should be a papery skin on the outside. They are typically cured as mentioned above, at which point they have a much longer shelf life and tend to mellow out. Any idea if your garlic is hard neck or soft neck?
 
jilhil April 25, 2013
Yes, use it the same way. Garlic, like onions, needs to hang in a dry, relatively cool place to dry out if you want to use it for a long period of time. (My family hangs herbs, garlic and onions from the rafters in the garage.). If you don't want to go to the trouble of drying it out you can make lots of things like garlic butter, garlic confit, etc.
 
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