Garlic

THIS RECIPE BEGAN AS A MARINADE for poached chicken, but it was so delicious we now sell it as a dip. Poured over a wedge of soft Brie cheese or served in a flat-bottomed bowl alongside bread, it makes an easy starter to any meal. A mix of golden and Thompson seedless raisins provides a sweet contrast. See photograph on page 237.

THE MUCH-MALIGNED BRUSSELS SPROUT can be the hit of the dinner table with just a few added ingredients. A sprinkling of garlic bread crumbs on top gives a nice crunch.

THIS RECIPE IS AKIN TO A HOMEMADE ROTISSERIE CHICKEN without the hassle. Use the lime marinade below as a base recipe; feel free to add more fresh herbs, other citrus fruit, shallots, or ginger.

WHILE MOST PEOPLE KNOW TURKEY ONLY as sliced cold cuts or a whole roasted bird for Thanksgiving dinner, turkey tenderloins are a versatile, tender cut. The citrus-herb marinade is crucial to both the flavor and the texture of the dish because it helps tenderize the meat and boosts the flavor. Serve this dish with Sausage-Oyster Stuffing, Wild Mushroom Stuffing, or Apple-Pecan Stuffing with Dried Cherries (pages 167–71), and you can enjoy the flavors of Thanksgiving all year long.

This is a great all-purpose vinaigrette that can dress a salad as easily as it can be poured on grilled vegetables or served as a dipping sauce for bread.

WHEN COLD WEATHER SETTLES IN, it’s time for this rich soup. Bacon adds even deeper flavor to the classic Italian white beans and sage combination. Using nitrate-free bacon is the best option, for both flavor and health reasons, and it’s becoming more widely available.

WHY THEY’RE LIGHT Keep summer barbecue sides light and fresh: This no-fuss pasta salad is dressed simply with garlic oil and fresh herbs. Vegetables cooked on the grill need no adornment other than a light coat of olive oil. If using wooden skewers to grill onions, soak the skewers in water for thirty minutes before grilling.

This dish of Lidia’s is what I make for supper when I return home tired and hungry after traveling. I like it very plain, with lots of parsley, but you could spice it up by adding a pinch of dried chile flakes or chopped anchovy, and serving it with grated cheese.

I like an uncomplicated tomato sauce that tastes of sweet, flavorful tomatoes, garlic, and chile. It makes a delicious pasta sauce by itself, or it can be garnished with fresh herbs and cheese, and it can be the base of many other sauces.

Homemade mayonnaise is so superior to store-bought that it is well worth the effort. Some people are intimidated by the thought of making a mayonnaise, but it is a skill easily mastered. A mayonnaise made with garlic, or aïoli, is one of my favorite sauces for almost everything. In the fall and winter months, garlic cloves may have a green sprouting germ in the center. Cut each clove in half lengthwise before pounding, and remove the bitter germ.

Garlic vinaigrette is the dressing I make most often. The quantities that follow are only an approximate guide because garlics, vinegars, and oils vary so much in strength and intensity. The first step in making a vinaigrette is to macerate garlic in vinegar and salt. The vinegar softens the raw taste of the garlic, and the salt tames the sharp edge of the vinegar. Sometimes I like to mix different kinds of vinegar; a few drops of balsamic vinegar can temper a wine vinegar that’s too strong. Taste for balance and adjust by adding more salt or vinegar; it should be neither too salty nor too acidic. The mixture should taste delicious by itself.

I couldn’t cook without garlic. I use it raw and cooked in all manner of dishes. Many varieties of garlic are available, each with its own individual flavor, some with white skins and some with red skins. In the spring, you can also find immature or green garlic. It looks a lot like a leek and its flavor is a little milder and subtler than that of mature garlic. Green garlic tastes great and can be used in all its phases of development. As green garlic starts to mature, the bulb of cloves begins to form, but the skin will still be moist and tender. To prepare green garlic, trim off the root end and remove any damaged or dried outer layers. Use all the white parts of the plant and the tender, light green parts of the stalk. Mature garlic starts coming to market in summer. Look for firm, tight heads of garlic that are hard and heavy. Garlic has a definite season and eventually starts to sprout; the germ inside each clove starts to turn green and grow. When it has been in storage too long, it may become oxidized, turning yellow with an unpleasant odor. If the clove has started to sprout, cut it in half and remove the green germ from the center. Do not use cloves that have begun to turn yellow. I find the easiest way to peel garlic is to press down on the head with the heel of my palm to separate it into individual cloves. Use a sharp paring knife to cut off the tip and butt end of a clove and peel off the skin. I prefer not to smash garlic unless I am going to use it right away. Garlic begins to oxidize immediately and should not remain exposed to the air once it has been smashed or cut. Chopped or pounded garlic can be kept a short time under a bit of oil.

Garlic purée is delicious stirred into mashed potatoes or a soufflé base. It makes a tasty compound butter with a bit of salt and will make a gravy taste sublime.

Semolina, coarsely ground durum wheat, turns simple, homemade chicken broth into a more substantial, silky textured soup.

Fava beans are a harbinger of spring. Like other kinds of beans, they form in pods, but they are also covered in a tough, rather bitter skin. The earliest harvests offer beans that are tiny, brilliant green, and so tender they don’t need to be peeled. When not eaten raw, straight from the pod, these are best cooked briefly with a little water and oil or butter. As the season progresses, the beans continue to mature, and they become larger and starchier. At this point they can be popped out of their pods, skinned, and cooked into a luscious, bright green purée that I adore slathering on crisp croutons or serving alongside roasted meats. Still later in the season the beans turn yellow and dry out and are too mature to use this way. Fava beans do require a bit of preparation, but their delicate taste and splash of color are well worth the effort. Popping the beans from their thick soft pods is an enjoyable group project that even little children can join. An easy way to pop the beans out of the pod is to grasp one with both hands; bend the pod back against your thumbs and press out, snapping the beans out of the pod. After the beans are shelled the opaque outer skin of the bean needs to be removed. (Although in Mediterranean cooking the skins are sometimes left on, this increases the cooking time and results in a different taste.) To do so, plunge the beans into boiling water and leave them until the skin is easy to remove. This will take less than a minute, so check one right away. (If you cook the beans too long they will get mashed when you try to slip them out of their skins.) Drain the beans and put them in a bowl of icy cold water. When they are cool, drain them, and pop out the beans, using a fingernail to slit the skin and squeezing the bean out with the fingers of the other hand. Don’t cook the skinned beans too quickly; medium-low heat is best. Stir them occasionally as they are cooking, and, if you notice that they are drying out, add a bit of water. They are done when they can be crushed into a smooth paste when pressed with a spoon. All kinds of beans, fresh or dried, can be flavored and made into tasty purées. I love cannellini bean purée, fresh cranberry bean purée, and refried pinto beans, too. Another favorite hors d’oeuvre is chickpeas with olive oil and hot pepper puréed and served with flatbread or crackers.

Salsa verde, the classic green sauce of Italy, is a sauce of olive oil and chopped parsley flavored with lemon zest, garlic, and capers. It adds lively freshness to almost any simple dish. Flat-leaved Italian parsley is preferable, but curly parsley is good, too. Fresh parsley—the fresher the better—is the majority herb, but almost any other fresh, tender herb can enhance a salsa verde: tarragon, chervil, and chives are good choices. Use a sharp knife when you chop parsley (and other herbs). A sharp knife slices cleanly through the leaves, preserving both flavor and color, while a dull knife mashes and bruises them. The zest is the thin yellow outer layer of the lemon’s skin; avoid grating any of the bitter white part (called the pith) beneath. The zest brightens the flavor of the sauce, so don’t be shy with it; you may need more than one lemon’s worth. Don’t hesitate to experiment. I make salsa verde more or less thick depending on what I am using it for. I tend to use less oil when it’s for roasted meats and grilled vegetables and more for fish.

Velvety, luscious, garlicky mayonnaise—what the French call aïoli (pronounced eye-oh-lee)—is another sauce I use all the time: on sandwiches; with vegetables, both raw and cooked; with meat and fish; as the binder for chicken salad and egg salad; and as a base for sauces such as tartar sauce. Most children, even very young ones, love aïoli and will happily use it as a dip for bite after bite of bread, carrots, potatoes, and even vegetables they might otherwise refuse. Two or three small cloves of garlic per egg yolk, pounded with a mortar and pestle, make a fairly pungent garlic mayonnaise—depending on the garlic. The strength of garlic’s flavor can vary a lot, depending on freshness, season, and variety. I always pound the garlic in a mortar and pestle and reserve half of it, so I can add it later if the aïoli needs it. (You can always add more garlic, but you can’t subtract it.) It’s important to pound the garlic to a very smooth purée so the sauce will be garlicky through and through, not just a mayonnaise with bits of garlic in it. One egg yolk will absorb up to one cup of oil, but you can add less if you don’t need that much mayonnaise. Whisk the oil in drop by drop at first, adding more as you go. It is much easier to whisk when the bowl is steadied. To help hold it still, set it on top of a coiled dish towel. Adding a small amount of water to the egg yolk before you incorporate the oil helps prevent the sauce from separating or “breaking.” If mayonnaise does separate, stop adding oil, but don’t despair. Just crack a fresh egg, separate the yolk into a new bowl, add a little water as before, and slowly whisk in first the broken sauce and then the rest of the oil. Make aïoli half an hour ahead of time, to give the flavors a chance to marry. As with anything made with raw eggs, if you’re not going to serve mayonnaise within an hour, refrigerate it. Aïoli tastes best the day it’s made.