July in the Market Garden means it is Shallot and Garlic harvesting time. In the past week, we harvested more shallots than I can count -- so much so that I had to set half of them up at my neighbor's farm for curing.
Over the past couple of years, I've been shifting our alliums (the word for all things garlic & onions) to grow less garlic and more shallots. Garlic is easy to find and everyone grows it. And, if you know me at all, I love to grow the less-commonly found items in our region.
What's fun with garlic and shallots is that you plant them in the fall, bury them in compost and mulch and then the next year they pop up ready to go! Also, with garlic, one single clove becomes an entire bulb and with (most) shallots, one bulb becomes 8-10 or more shallots! It's a great way to increase your return in the garden.
I have 3 styles of shallots this year:
Dutch Red Shallots: these are the common shallots that you find in most markets and grocery stores. They are simple to grow and a larger size for ease of use in the kitchen. They also cure to store for quite a while.
French Grey Shallots: these are considered the creme-de-la-creme of shallots and the 'true' orginal shallot. They are smaller, but simply melt in the pan
French Torpedo Shallots: these are large hunkers of shallots and only grow one per plant. They are known for their long shape and are best used fresher than the others.
Shallots, Onions and Garlic can absolutely be used fresh from the ground. However, if you want them to develop that papery outer layer thus enabling them to be stored longer, you need to first cure them. We set up screens and wooden slats on sawhorses with fans blowing on everything in a shady spot. Once the green tops turn yellow, we snip them and the roots off, allow them to cure a few more days and Voila! It is quite a process. Some people also make braids or chains of their garlic or shallots to dry and cure that way.
The next question, of course, is how to best use shallots?
Shallots are the milder cousin to garlic and onions and thus are more useable raw in salads, slaws or your tuesday taco.
When slowly cooked or roasted, shallots become meltingly sweet. Toss them with oil, sprinkle them with salt, and cook the shallots in a hot oven until they are soft. Or, simply toss them in the pan when roasting a chicken.
Shallots are wonderful to slice thin and fry, to do a quick pickle, or roast whole. The options are limitless! Here’s a great complication of recipes using shallots: