Hubby and I were shopping in our local asian market, and I bought a package of what looked like giant chives with little buds on the ends. The bundle looked pretty, and I was pretty sure they were garlic chives, but figured whatever they were they'd be good, and I'd use them in place of chives or scalions.
Searching online, I found this blog entry and confirmed that what I bought was indeed garlic chive buds.
http://thaifoodandtravel.com/blog/garlic-chives/
When I opened the package tonight, I saw that the stems are more solid than chives (not hollow). I'd describe them as a cross between chives and very, very skinny scallions with no whites (and with a garlic flavor).
Tonight I decided to roast some eggplant,
My standard recipe: I slice eggplant (or other veggies) and toss in a ziploc bag with canola oil and ranch dressing powder (I make my own with dried buttermilk powder, onion powder, parsley, garlic, dehydrated onion, dried chives, seasoning salt, salt, and dry mustard). I pour the veggies into a foil lined roasting pan, and bake at 450 degrees until the edges are carmelized and tender.
So tonight I added the tops of the garlic chives (just the bud and about two inches of the green).
It's impossible to describe just how wonderful this tasted. The little garlic buds tasted like sweet, miniature roasted garlic heads (but each head is only the size of a sunflower seed).
Yum, Yum, Yum.
I'll use the stems in a stir fry, but I want to run out and get more of the ones with the buds. I think I'm addicted to them. I love fresh garlic, but I hate peeling it. I think i'm going to try the garlic chives in place of garlic in all sorts of recipes. I bet it would be awesome in a shimp scampi-style stir fry.
