Seasonal Pantry: Cooking with fresh garlic

There is a small window, typically from mid to late May through late June or early July, when we can enjoy fresh garlic, a delicacy that is easy to overlook if you don’t shop at a farmers market or farm stand.

In recent years, green garlic has become increasingly common, as have garlic scapes. Green garlic is garlic before its bulb has formed and it resembles a slender leek. Garlic scapes have a round stem that typically curls around itself, ending in an unopened blossom. Both have a delicate flavor of garlic and are versatile in the kitchen. Scapes are best stir-fried or sauteed. Green garlic can be sauteed, braised, pureed or enjoyed raw.

Fresh garlic is another thing entirely. For garlic to last through the winter until the next harvest, it must be cured, a process that involves leaving it in the field or hanging it until it has lost much of its moisture. During this time, cloves change from pristine white to cream colored. This is the garlic that is most familiar to us, the garlic we find in supermarkets and the garlic we buy throughout the year.

Fresh garlic is simply garlic right out of the ground, after its bulb has formed but before it has been cured. The membranes between cloves are moist, tender and pliable, the garlic itself juicy, its flavors bright and delicate. It has more high notes, more of a melody line, than cured garlic and is less earthy, less pungent. When you bite into a clove, it has a pleasing crunch. To a lot of people, including many who grow it, this is garlic at its very best. We cure garlic so it lasts, not because the process improves its flavor.

You can use fresh garlic as you use cured garlic, though in certain dishes, you may have to adjust the recipe a bit because of its greater quantity of moisture. Fresh garlic cooks more quickly and its flavors dissipate more rapidly than cured garlic, too, and it is sometimes best to add it at the end of cooking rather than at the beginning. This is especially true with tomato-based sauces; if you want a spike of garlic flavor, add it at the end of cooking.

To buy fresh garlic, simply head to your local farmers market.

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Make this soup only when you have fresh, juicy garlic; to make it with cured garlic, reduce the amount of cloves to ¾ cup. Served with a simple spring salad, this soup makes an excellent dinner.

Garlic Soup with Fresh Herbs & Garlic Croutons

Serves 4 to 6

- Aïoli (recipe follows)

12-18 garlic crostini (see Note below)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups young garlic cloves, peeled

- Kosher salt

6 cups homemade chicken stock

1¼ cups fresh herbs, loosely packed (a mixture of Italian parsley, thyme, oregano, chives, sage and summer savory)

½ cup heavy cream

½ cups freshly grated Asiago cheese

- Black pepper in a mill

Make the aïoli, cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Make the croutons and set them aside.

Put the olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium-low heat, add the garlic, season with salt and stir gently for 2 minutes. Pour in the stock and 1 cup of the herbs, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and skim off any foam that forms on the surface. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently until the garlic is tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat, cool slightly and purée with an immersion blender until very smooth. (For a more refined soup, strain through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan.) Return the soup to low heat, add the cream and the cheese and stir gently until the cheese is just melted; do not let the soup reach a boil.

Ladle into soup plates, top with crostini, some of the remaining herbs and a big spoonful of aïoli, and serve right away.

Note: Crostini, sometimes called croutons, are simply thin slices of baguette that have been lightly toasted. To make garlic crostini, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut 12 to 18 baguette slices, about ¼-inch wide, brush both sides lightly with olive oil and then rub with a cut clove of garlic. Set on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use.

Variation: Scrub a pound of very small new potatoes, cut them into quarters and add to the saucepan with the stock. Continue as directed in the main recipe, though puréeing the soup is optional; leave it chunky if you prefer it that way.

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Aïoli, by Hand

Makes about 1 cup

6-8 large fresh garlic cloves, lightly crushed

- Kosher salt

1 extra-large egg yolk from a pastured hen

¾ cup best-quality extra-virgin olive oil

½ lemon, optional

Put the crushed garlic into a large suribachi or mortar, sprinkle generously with salt and use a good pestle to crush and pound the garlic until it forms a very smooth paste. Mix in the egg yolk.

Set the pestle aside and use a balloon whisk to mix in olive oil, a few drops at a time. As the emulsion increases in volume, you may increase the amount of oil you add.

After all the oil has been incorporated, taste the aïoli. If it is flat, add a few generous pinches of salt, placing it in one area. Slowly squeeze a little lemon juice over it so that it dissolves and then whisk it into the sauce.

The texture of the aïoli should be similar to that of mayonnaise; if it seems too stiff, thin with up to 1 tablespoon of water.

Cover and refrigerate for an hour or two before serving.

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This salad is best when made in a wooden salad bowl. If you do not have one, use a large ceramic or glass bowl; do not use plastic or metal.

Simple Spring Salad

Serves 3 to 4

1-2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled

1 head of butter lettuce, leaves separated and torn, or 3 or 4 handfuls very fresh salad greens

- Small handful of fresh herbs of choice

- Kosher salt or other flake salt

- Best-quality extra-virgin olive oil

½ lemon, ½ lime or 1 teaspoon vinegar of choice

- Black pepper in a mill, optional

Cut the garlic cloves in half and rub them all over the interior of the bowl, pressing to release the juices.

Add the lettuces or other greens and the herbs and sprinkle somewhat generously with salt. Toss gently.

Drizzle with olive oil and turn the greens over and over, gently, to both distribute the oil and pick up the garlic juices. Drizzle with a little bit of acid and turn again. Taste and correct for both salt and acid.

Season with a few turns of black pepper and enjoy right away.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 21 books to date, including the new “Good Cook’s” series. Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.