By April most of our garlic varieties have started to sprout. And this is when people often ask, What can I do with it?
If you already see green sprouts, the best thing is to eat it straight away – all of it – or break off each clove and plant them. This will provide you with green shoots through winter – treat them like spring onions. Not all varieties grow well in all areas so there is the possibility that the clove you’ve planted won’t fully develop into a big juicy bulb next spring, but it will certainly provide fresh green-garlic flavours.
Most of the time, if I need garlic in July-August I clip the green shoots in the paddock.
If you plan to preserve garlic do it BEFORE it sprouts for best results.
1. Basic pickle
I do a couple of jars this way each year. A pickled clove is not quite the same as ‘fresh garlic’ in flavour but it’s better than imported chemical drenched garlic.
It’s simple to make. You’ll need:
A few whole garlic bulbs, broken up into cloves.
white wine vinegar
sugar
You can leave the skins on (remove if you like, I’m a lazy cook). Pack the cloves into a small jar. Don’t include bruised ones.
Fill the jar with the vinegar and measure as you go. For each cup of vinegar add ½ teaspoon of sugar. When the jar is full, tighten the lid and refrigerate for at least month before use. You don’t have to put it in the fridge! But I do. Slice and peel or mince as needed. If it’s left for longer the skins will dissolve. It will taste vinegary, is crunchy, and keeps the overall garlic flavour.
2. Garlic Honey
Pack peeled cloves into a jar and cover with honey. Or slice like in the photo above. The honey will become liquid and preserve the garlic. It has a strong pong! This is okay if you don’t mind a touch of sweetness and the honey becomes extra medicinal, but it’s not so good for chopping etc. The first time I did this I was very unsure about the liquid nature of the honey. Some friends absolutely swear by this annual kitchen hack as their go-to winter tonic. (A little sip when feeling poorly)
It’s good for salad dressings, I add a whole clove,or more to a tomato Sugo etc when I’d like a little extra sweetness.
This method is also good for Ginger Honey and Turmeric Honey.
3. Crushed Frozen Garlic
This is definitely more work but if you manage your freezer well, it’s a good way of having sort-of fresh garlic during winter. Every year I get an email from someone telling me that they love using their freezer for their ‘winter’ garlic.
Crush lots of garlic, put in ice cube containers to freeze. If you like you can taken them all out once frozen, place on waxed paper in another container and freeze for easier removal when needed.
I’ve tried it but find it difficult because my freezer is full of our meat, loads of stock in various containers, bones for my bone broth, leftover frozen fruit for smoothies and nuts.