Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Watercress and Garlic


I have been out twice this week harvesting watercress. I am not sure why it is, but the spicy taste of wild watercress catches me by surprise each spring. Last night I added it to a little red cabbage and bacon for a tangy green delight over quinoa.My garlic in the garden is coming along nicely. But my harvested garlic is showing signs of age. The little green sprouts are now like Howard Hughes' fingernails ... easy to call this garlic "long in the tooth." So I decided to gather up about fifteen heads or so and slice them for the dehydrator.

First I sliced them in half
then I pulled out the sprout and sliced each half in threeI had a plate full when I was done and laid them out on the trays. I have never dehydrated garlic before. I read temperatures from 90 degrees to 400 degrees (yikes !!!). I settled on 125 for 12 hours in the dehydrator.the dried chips will be sealed away for later use ... maybe some home-made garlic salt?

3 comments:

Doctor Mom said...

Your watercress harvesting is intriguing. I'd love to know more. Is this a wild patch? What does it look like the rest of the year? How long is the season? Another post, please!

Leslie said...

Doctor Mom, I am not really an expert, but yes this is a wild patch that runs from St. Patrick's Day to Father's Day. After mid June the cress starts to taste bitter. Hope this helps.

flowering tree said...

This is very fantastic blog and your watercress harvesting is intriguing and i really like this post..
Thanks for the sharing ..