GARLIC: LESS IS MORE

 

Only a few cloves of garlic to flavor a simple oil sauce.

Two big wild-caught sole (each almost a pound and a half) called for a really simple preparation. I roasted them whole and served the fish with a refrito de ajo, olive oil with garlic. 

“Refrito” means “refried,” but the preparation is not actually refried. It’s more of a value-added technique—a couple of cloves of sliced garlic infuse the oil with subtle flavor.  A little goes a long way. The golden garlic chips are a bonus. Add parsley or vinegar or pimentón if you like. But a refrito is, basically, just garlic and oil. 

I needed only two or three cloves of garlic for the refrito. In three heads of garlic, I found not a single clove that was usable! They were shrivelled, discolored or hardened and, in one case, actually moldy.  

All of the garlic, both purple and white varieties, was recently purchased. I’m guessing that somewhere on the supply chain, the garlic had been kept in storage too long or subjected to heat and light. In the natural cycle, by late winter, properly stored garlic will begin to germinate, showing a sliver of a green sprout in the center of the cloves. It’s still perfectly usable. But these exemplars were long past sprouting. 

Option: remove germ in garlic.

Some cooks recommend removing the germ, as it, supposedly, is slightly bitter. Other cooks sniff at the idea. A Spanish campesino advised me to always remove the germ if the garlic is to be used raw, as in gazpacho, para que no se repite, so that it doesn’t “repeat,” in other words, so you don’t burp up garlic fumes for the rest of the day.  

How to use refrito? Spoon it, still warm, over grilled, baked or poached fish and shellfish. Spread it on steak or lamb chops, with or without the addition of some red pepper flakes. Add chopped parsley to the refrito and serve with boiled or baked potatoes. Ladle the oil over vegetables—it´s especially good with artichokes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, spinach, chard, green beans. Add diced serrano or ibérico ham to the garlic oil and toss it with cooked artichoke hearts. Add a spoonful of vinegar to the oil and drizzle it over lentils or other legumes. Slather it on wedge salad. Dress cooked rice with it. Toss it with hot, cooked pasta.

Cooked artichoke hearts dressed with refrito de ajo to which diced serrano ham has been added. 

Bright broccoli is dressed with garlic oil, finished with flaky salt.

Add chopped parsley or other fresh herbs to the garlic oil. Spoon it over boiled or baked potatoes.

Garlic oil with ham is the topping for split pea soup. The garlic oil is the perfect last touch for legumes of any sort. 

Roasted sole finished with garlic oil and parsley. Minimalist. (Photo by Sharman Haley.)

Garlic Oil

Refrito de Ajo

Use enough oil so that the garlic floats in the oil. Moderate the temperature so the garlic doesn’t brown too fast. The garlic-infused oil can be strained and saved for another use—homemade mayonnaise, salad dressing, fried potatoes.

Don’t salt the garlic oil, as the salt won’t dissolve in the oil. But, be sure to sprinkle salt over the food after adding the garlic oil. 

3-4 cloves garlic

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Coarse or flaky salt, to serve

Optional additions

1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley or other fresh herbs

1 teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)

2 tablespoons diced serrano ham

Red pepper flakes or a small red chile

Peel the cloves of garlic. Remove green germ in the center of the cloves, if desired. Slice the garlic crosswise, about 1/8-inch thick. 

Remove garlic and oil from the heat when garlic turns golden. The garlic will continue to cook in the hot oil.

Heat the oil on medium-high in a small skillet. Add the sliced garlic and let it become golden. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add optional additions to the hot oil. Immediately pour oil and garlic into a heat-proof bowl. 

Serve the garlic oil hot or room temperature. Spoon it over the prepared food and sprinkle with salt to taste. 

Variations on garlic-olive oil sauces:

Garlic-Pimentón Sauce (Ajada).

Garlic-Oil Dressing for Grilled Foods (Aliño).

Garlic-Parsley-Oil for Fish (Aliño).

Garlic-Herb Sauce (Chimichurri).

BROCCOLI IS TRENDING

“I say it’s spinach and I say to hell with it.” That’s more or less what old man Vega said the first time he tasted broccoli. This was back in the early 70’s when broccoli was unknown in local Spanish markets. In our small garden plot, we were growing just two vegetables, broccoli in the winter and sweet corn in the summer.

Broccoli did very well in our sun-baked huerta (garden). (Sweet corn did not.) I took a basketful of it to Maria who did the cooking at the tapas bar where Vega was a regular. Vega farmed an irrigated plot below the village and regaled us with his tomatoes and peppers. I had visions of becoming a broccoli entrepreneur--Vega would grow it and I would market it.

María had never eaten broccoli before, either. She gamely prepared it, sautéed and mixed with eggs in a tortilla, pretty much the way she made spinach tortilla for the tapa bar. But, for Vega, that was the beginning and the end of the broccoli campaign.

We should have stuck with it! By the 1990s, broccoli began appearing in Spanish markets. Now it’s a cash cow in the agri-business. More than 60 percent of the broccoli grown in Spain, mostly in the province of Murcia (eastern Spain), is exported.  My guess is that the other 39 percent that stays in Spain is being consumed by expats like me, who love this veggie, because I still don’t see Spaniards eating it.

Maybe that’s about to change, with a current PR and marketing campaign (see the article at Foods From Spain). Thirty-five restaurants around Spain are including broccoli on their menus. Top Spanish chef, Rodrigo de la Calle, even cooked broccoli at Madrid Fusión, the big gastronomy event in January.

And if, after all these years, broccoli is trending, can kale be far behind? 

While there aren’t any traditional Spanish recipes for broccoli, recipes for other vegetables, such as cauliflower, can be easily adapted for broccoli. As a side, I like broccoli straight-up, with just extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. I use leftover cooked broccoli scrambled with mushrooms and eggs for a revuelto. Here are two more ways to get broccoli talking Spanish.

Broccoli with a quick sauce of olive oil, garlic, almonds and pimentón.

Broccoli, Mule-Driver’s Style
Brócoli al Ajo Arriero

Before there were trucks and trains, muleteers once transported wool and wheat from inland regions to the seaboard for shipping abroad and carried salt-fish and other imports to the interior. En route, they stopped at rustic wayside inns, where the wine was rough and the food was simple. You can expect to find garlic in any dish prepared “mule-driver’s style.” This simple hot dressing is added to cooked vegetables or salt cod. The almonds in this version are a bit of a refinement. Using smoked pimentón (paprika) gives an extra dimension to the broccoli.

Serves 6 to 8.

1 ¾ pounds broccoli
Salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced crosswise
1 tablespoon slivered almonds
Red pepper flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon sweet pimentón (paprika, smoked or unsmoked)
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Cut broccoli into 2-inch florets. Peel the stem, cut in half lengthwise, and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces.

Cook broccoli in boiling salted water until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain and place in a warm serving bowl.

While broccoli is cooking, heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the sliced garlic and almonds and fry them until they begin to turn golden, about 30 seconds. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Stir in the red pepper flakes and pimentón and immediately the vinegar and 3 tablespoons of water. Add the chopped parsley.

Spoon the garlic and almond dressing over the broccoli. Serve immediately.

Broccoli gratin with garlicky-lemon alioli.

Broccoli with Alioli Gratin
Brócoli Gratinado con Alioli

For the alioli (garlic mayonnaise)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg, at room temperature
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
½  teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Put the garlic and egg in a blender and pulse until garlic is finely chopped. With the motor running, pour in the oil in a slow trickle, allowing it to be absorbed by the egg before adding more. Blend in all the oil. The sauce will emulsify and thicken. Blend in the salt and lemon juice.

The sauce will keep, refrigerated, for up to 2 days. Makes 1 cup of sauce.

For the broccoli gratin.
1 pound broccoli, cut in florets and stems in 2-inch pieces
½ cup alioli
1 tablespoon fine dry bread crumbs
Pimentón (paprika)

Cook the broccoli in boiling salted water until crisp-tender, 4 minutes. Refresh in ice water (this keeps the broccoli bright green) and drain well. Spread the broccoli in a single layer in an oiled oven-safe pan. Pour the alioli over the top of the broccoli. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and a little pimentón.

Place the pan under a preheated broiler until the top is golden, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.