Interesting combination of ingredients. Who is going to be the first here to try it? I would if I could find some decent crab!

Linda

That is interesting, isn't it? I'm betting Elery would love the stuff.

I'll be looking forward to more recipes...

Annie

I keep looking at the recipe. Sounds thin, which has me wondering about how much the crab tops verus plops. But I'm tempted.

Additionally fueled by Brenda's post which gives me the ol' "whoops", I just have to ask - what makes a "Gilroy" garlic special, and is it ok to substitute whatever garlic it is they have at my grocery? And while I'm at it, do blood oranges taste much different than any run-of-the-mill juice orange, or are we talking a color thing?

FOAS - My guess is that Gilroy grows more than one type of garlic. And they probably have ideal growing conditions, which makes them lay claim to one of the garlic capitals of the world. The is an annual food & wine show here in Minneapolis. One of the Gilroy growers came for the show. He had many fine olive oils and dried seasonings.

There are more than 400 varieties of garlic, about 120 of them do well here in Minnesota. I grew 3 this varieties this year.

If you are going to try the recipes I'm sure you could just get the garlic you enjoy from local sources.

Yes - blood oranges have a unique taste, as do Cara Cara oranges.

Actually, some soil problem moved most of the actual growing fields away from Gilroy and over to the Central Valley, so little is actually grown in the Gilroy area now. ;-( But Gilroy still has the processing plants.

Gilroy has the ideal climate for growing garlic....and they have capitalized on that fact. I have been to a Fancy Food show or 2 ( or 3 or 4 LOL!!) where Gilroy garlic growers were hawking their wares and have come home with braids of garlic....and I will tell you is top of the line!!
The braids I bought were soft neck white variety...I didn't see any hard neck varieties...but maybe they just didn't bring them to the show.
Wow, Teresa....400 varieties of garlic? Who knew! I was aware of about 15.
Are all the varieties commercially viable?

Linda - the numerous varieties are available in different growing climates. Do you remember Karen at the hosta forum? Both Karen and her husband Mike have jobs...but they bought a hobby farm and decided to grow garlic as a hobby. They started out with a dozen varieties. But a few weeks ago when the harvest came in I looked at their website. They had at least 120 varieties. I asked Karen what varieties I should grow here. I can't find that email, but Gray Porcelin was one of her favorites.

Lindac - Karen sells both soft neck and hard neck varieties. Her website describes the storage time on all. This would be a fun site for you to peruse. Even if you don't order any garlic - it is really informative and Karen has some delicious recipes!

Other than knowing Karen from the hosta forum, and the fact that I will be purchasing garlic to plant this fall, in no way am I profitting from passing on this info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wisconsin Garlic - to eat or grow!

I don't know why garlic this year is so expensive. It's $4.00 a lb here in NYC area.

I am growing elephant garlic this year.

I know. It is not a garlic. :-)

dcarch

$4.00 a pound? They are giving it away.

Garlic at our farmers market is anywhere from $2.00 to $5.00 a head and by the pound between $9.00 and $12.00 depending on the vendor.

Ann

When I was selling garden produce, I sold my garlic for $12/lb. And never had enough of it.

I guess I was spoiled. Last year they were $2.75.

dcarch

$3.49 a pound here near Philly (for Calif grown garlic).

Hmmm, guess I better see how much I've been paying for it at the supermarket. I haven't been paying attention to the price since I feel like garlic is a must have.

Beverly, I agree that real garlic is a must have. I always keep a good supply on hand.

Supermarket garlic isn't expensive. We also can buy California garlic (Christopher Ranch) year round in the grocery stores and at Costco for about the same as what Alexa is paying in her area. Seems to fluctuate between $2.99 and $3.49 a pound.

Local fresh grown garlic is anywhere from $9.00 to $12.00 a pound. Fresh local garlic is amazing. Can't be compared to anything available in our grocery stores.

Ann

Guess I'll have to see for myself whether my local fresh garlic is worth the upcharge. Never would have thunk it.

FOAS - the fresh garlic at the farmer's markets here is usually $2 for 3 or 4 heads - depending on the size of the heads. Think of the difference between the taste of fresh basil and dried basil.

The difference between fresh garlic and the dried you get in the grocery store is huge. I think it would be worth it for you to just try a couple of heads of the fresh - just for a treat!

You could roast it with olive oil, and mash it with butter to make garlic bread. Or after making the garlic butter, you could freeze small portions to use later for grilled steak or chicken.

$2.00 for three or four heads is a great price. I wish it was that reasonable here.

FOAS, regardless of price, fresh garlic is definitely better than grocery store garlic.

I wait for this time of year just to stock up on fresh garlic and buy enough to keep me going until after the new year.

Ann

ann t - have you tried growing it? Just buy some dried varieties from your local market and put them in the ground in a spot where they won't drown in moisture. They need hay mulch in the spring. I put some in last fall for the first time. One variety that I grew - one clove turned into a 4" head. Check out the wegrowgarlic site and see what will grow in your area.

I can already see the wheels in Alexa's brain turning....need to rid myself of this rose bush, and maybe a few hostas....

I grew garlic last year. Forgot to plant it again last fall but I intend to plant it again this year.

Ann

I've ordered from Karen and Mike for the past few years. We've been on a search for varieties that will grow here and store well. They have been really helpful. I wound up collecting 38 kinds to plant last fall. Dratted gophers got some of my best looking plants and some types haven't done well, but I think we'll wind up with three or four winners. And we've been feasting on scapes....mmmm...

Thanks for that site, Teresa.

I've grown my own garlic in the past, both in the garden and in my flower box. I sent Ann T some of the stuff that grew in my flower box, small but hot, LOL.

I quit because somehow or another, I plant the stuff in October, it stays in the ground all winter and is ready to harvest about July. However, no matter who plows my garden spot, they never seem to miss the garlic, it always gets plowed up. Sigh. So I'm not growing garlic this year. I was going to get some containers to grow it in, and didn't manage to accomplish that with everything else going on.

I bought some at MagicLand last week, though, they are my local farmer's market, and they grow everything they sell. Garlic is, I think, $1.44 a pound, it's a big and hard necked variety and very good.

At the grocery store I can get heads of "fresh" garlic 3/$1 but they are seldom actually fresh, they are usually dried out and have green sprouts...

Annie

Katie - the problem I am having is deciding which ones to order from Karen. They are a couple hours east of me, so everything they grow will do well here. I just don't have room for the 100++ varieties. Maybe it's time to start clearing out the hosta collection!

Annie - I might have to try the pickled garlic recipe from Karen.

Teresa

Annie - I see that Karen has about 105 varieties listed. I suppose after the harvest, they have removed some varieties from what they are selling. We've had a crazy weather year....snow in May and tons of rain since. If Karen got that kind of weather I'm sure some varieties suffered.

I am never going to be able to make up my mind.

Teresa

Well I finally got around to it!

I loved the soup, but couldn't finish a full bowl. For me it would have been perfect as a small appetizer-sized serving. DW loved the puree but had a harder time wtih the crab mixture. While I can't entirely recommend it, I definitely say it's worth a shot for interest's sake. I'm thinking about what else I could do with this. Perhaps simply leave out the crab? As such I'd see it as a great early course of a multi-course meal.

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