The Versatility of Shallots

I like vegetables, I always have. I remember eating broccoli, brussels sprouts, and asparagus when I was a little kid. I still like those today and many more, but some vegetables are more versatile than others, and I tend to use those the most. You would probably be surprised to learn that one of my favorite vegetables as far as versatility, is the shallot. My shallot of choice being those of wonderful freshness and perfection from Melissa’s Produce. Today’s blog post is a salute to that humble allium (essentially a type of onion, only milder, and growing in clusters like garlic), and all of the ways in which it can be used. The only thing I have yet to try is to pickle them, but that’s ahead!

To get to each recipe, click on the name of the dish below each picture. Every one of them is delicious. You cannot go wrong with shallots.

Spinach Soufflé with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Flounder with Champagne Grapes

Warm New Potato Salad with Vinegar and Mustard

Italian Goddess Pasta Salad

Wild Mushroom Sauce

Fresh Green Beans with Bacon and Shallots

Pork Tenderloin with Sautéed Korean Pears & Brandy Cream Sauce

Cosmo Salad

Baked Eggs in Ham Cups

Ham with Parsley Sauce

Mrs. Plagemann’s Savory Pickled Grapes

Mustard Seed-Crusted Salmon with Mustard Cream Sauce

Mustard-Roasted Salmon with Lingonberry Sauce

Jim's Steak Diane

Beef Gravy

Petit Basque with Roasted Garlic, Shallots, and Gemelli

The Best of Both Worlds Creamy Bacon Coleslaw

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Growing Garlic

In the past I've written about the benefit of growing herbs, the experience of growing horseradish, and the thrill of growing vegetables and savoring that first, amazingly fresh bite, not to mention the various uses such as turning cucumbers into pickles and chilled soups.  Now I want to talk to you about garlic.  My guess is this is something you've never considered.  I hadn't thought about it much in the past either, until one day one of the garlic pods in the kitchen basket sprouted -- a very healthy sprout -- and I just couldn't bear to cut it up or throw it away.  So I marched it outside that fall afternoon and shoved it into the ground.  After that initial shoving, that is seriously all of the time I spent on it, and the last time I thought about it until shoots started coming up in the spring.  The heat killed them off and I thought that was that, until they returned with a vengeance.  Okay, I'll water them, I said to myself, and I did.  The other day the tops died back, so I thought I'd dig them up and see what was underneath. These are pretty small, but the aroma is just intoxicating. Not only that, but when I cut them, juices ran.  Juices! That's when I realized just how desiccated the pods I've been buying in the store really are. I left some pods in the ground for next year when they should gain a bit of size, and the next pod to sprout in the kitchen basket will join them. This was so easy that I just cannot  encourage you enough to give it a try.  A bit of empty space or an empty plant pot is all you need.  You have nothing to lose, and every aromatic thing to gain.

Now to find just the right recipe to do these cloves justice.

An excellent book on growing vegetables in containers (for those of you who don't have a lot of space) is this one:

This post is linked to:

Seasonal Sunday, Metamorphosis Monday, This Week in My Garden, Outdoor Wednesdays and Tuesday Garden Party