News from the SVGM - August 12th

Susquehanna Valley Growers' Market
August 12th, 2011

In this week's email:

• News From The Market
  
• Seasonal Recipe
  
• On The Website

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News From The Market
Garlic season is upon us at the Growers' Market! There are plenty of varieties to choose from, each with differences in size, in flavor, in the white-and-purple patterning on their skin. Some are best when raw; others when sauteed; and others turn exceptionally sweet when roasted. So sweet, in fact, that you can even pick up a fine, jelly-style Garlic Glaze from White Frost Farm. It's ideal for dressing roast or grilled pork, a sweet-savory addition that's perfect with leaner cuts like pork tenderloin.

It's all garlic recipes this week: Chicken and 40 Cloves is the classic all-garlic-all-the-time dish, and one of the very few recipes where you can never have too much garlic. The "40 cloves" may seem a bit excessive, but once you have all that slow-cooked garlic and flavorful, garlic-infused olive oil, don't be surprised if you wish you'd doubled it. For a somewhat less insistent, but still richly-flavored dish, consider Potato Soup with Roasted Garlic. Right now, the potatoes are freshly dug, and the garlic cured and full of flavor, but it continues to be a fine, seasonal recipe for months with these long-keeping vegetables.

Pass the newsletter along! If you've received a copy from a friend, and would like to get one each week during the market season, send an email to: svgmarket@gmail.com

Susquehanna Valley Growers' Market
August 12th, 2011
2pm - 6pm
Ard's Farm Market
4803 Old Turnpike Rd, Lewisburg
(Between Lewisburg and Mifflinburg, on PA 45)
Visit our website at http://growersmarket.blogspot.com/
Check us out on Facebook

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Seasonal Recipe
Chicken and 40 Cloves
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer (Scribner, 1997)
Serves 4 to 6

Forty cloves of garlic seems like an awful lot, but really, it isn't. At least, not when left whole and gently roasted in olive oil, which turns its pungent spiciness into a deep, rich sweetness, and its crisp texture to meltingly soft. Once cooked this way, any extra garlic can be used to season other recipes, too. It's great in a fresh tomato sauce for pasta, spread for a sandwich, or in the recipe for Potato and Roasted Garlic Soup, on our website.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, about 4 lbs., cut into pieces
  
• 1 cup chicken stock
  
• 1 cup white wine
  
• ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for browning the chicken
  
• 3 large heads garlic, or as much as you like
  
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, or savory
  
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Rub the chicken pieces with the herbs, salt and pepper. Rest for at least an hour or two in the refrigerator, if you have the time. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Separate the garlic cloves, but don't peel; the finished garlic will easily squeeze out from its papery skin.
   
   
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the chicken pieces on all sides, doing so in batches to avoid crowding. Arrange the pieces, along with any juices, in an large ovenproof casserole with a lid. (If you don't have a lid, cover very tightly with foil.) Add the garlic cloves, stock, wine, and olive oil. Cover, and cook in the oven until the chicken is fully cooked through, about an hour or more.
   
   
3. Serve the chicken immediately, or keep warm while turning the pan juices into a gravy. (A few mashed cloves of garlic make an excellent thickener.) Serve with plenty of fresh bread, to enjoy the roasted garlic.

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On The Website
Simple, but always delicious, a pot of Potato Soup with Roasted Garlic can be an easy soup to start a meal, or the very centerpiece. Leave it simple, or garnish with chopped fresh tomatoes or cooked fresh greens, with fresh bread to clean up the bottom of the bowl.

And, of course, where would we be without Roasted Garlic? It's so simple, but so sweet, rich, and useful, that not having a recipe would be a real shame.