Eat Well at Home: May 2011

My husband was going to be on Southland Drive Sunday, so as he was leaving I asked him to stop by the Farmers Market and pick up a vegetable for dinner. I had everything else already, and he would save me a trip to the store. (I was on a roll with some much-procrastinated spring cleaning.)

He comes home with green garlic.

I should tell you that my husband is "a lost ball in high weeds" (his phrase) when it comes to food shopping. He's also a financial planner, and the price was right. Normally $3 a bunch, the guy from Elmwood Stock Farm sold him 2 bunches for $2. How could he resist? (There's a good reason to go to the market late on Sunday, btw.)

Yes, it's a sign of spring. Yes, it's delicious. But as a side vegetable? I had always thought of it as an aromatic.

I had let my hair dry by itself, so there was no way I was going to leave the house. So...

I chopped up the root ends, and let them sweat in 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil over med-low heat.

After about 5 minutes I coarsely chopped the greens and added them to the pan with some salt and pepper, and turned up the heat a bit.

I reserved some of the greens, minced them finely, and added them to buttermilk cornbread batter.

When the green garlic was starting to brown, it was time to deglaze.

I poured in 1/2 cup of chicken stock and did the scraping thing.

I covered it, and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

When I raised the lid, I discovered that most of the stock had been absorbed. I left the lid off a few minutes, to reduce further (didn't want it dripping) and finished it with the teeniest knob of butter. And speaking of reducing, one whole bunch doesn't amount to much at the end of the day. I should have done both of them -- it was our vegetable after all.