What type of person are you? Do you prefer onions, garlic, leeks or shallots? or a combination of all or any? And do you have them in stew, as a side veg....what? And do your friends talk to you next day?

They say drink milk before garlic or eat parsley afterwards to get rid of smell, any truth in this?

And asparagus.......what's that all about?

What a refreshingly new and different topic to discuss!
I like all of the above mentioned, leeks are nice as they are not as strong as onions. Garlic is nice in moderation, but only for the person eating it! Spring onions are nice in salads & stir fry's as they are not as overpowering. Not too sure about the shallotts - I am sure I have had them - are they just big spring onions?

Originally posted by BoppinBruce
What type of person are you? Do you prefer onions, garlic, leeks or shallots? or a combination of all or any? And do you have them in stew, as a side veg....what? And do your friends talk to you next day?

They say drink milk before garlic or eat parsley afterwards to get rid of smell, any truth in this?

And asparagus.......what's that all about?

I love garlic and tend to use a lot of it in my cooking. People don't often know but you can tone down the intense flavours of garlic by roasting it for a while. For instance, you can make a fantastic soup using only butter, garlic, frozen garden peas, double cream and chicken stock if you fry the garlic for about 5-6 mins in it's skin. Really makes it go lovely and sweet. Try it!

Eat parsley (curly - flat leaf is way too strong to chew as is) to rid yourself of the smell or a couple of caraway seeds (also renowned for their ability to remove the smell of alcohol if Joyce is to be believed).

Shallots - much stronger than white onions and great for Coq au Vin because they flavour the sauce and again sweeten when cooked.

Red onion - I eat very little, it upsets my tummy but I would if I could.

Leeks - organically grown ones are much stronger and have far more taste. Fantastic if sweated down!

Mmmm, this set me to thinking......

Braised leeks to accomany liver and onions. Delicious.

But then for a bit of sophistication, try layers of sliced onion and potato cooked in gruyere cheese and double cream. (Just don't think about the calories though!). Luvverly grub.

Boeuf Bourguignon with shallots. Classic french dish.

Got to be onions in the end. More versatile.

This has got me hungry....now where did I leave that handy little garlic crusher?

Who needs Delia and her Canaries or Wazza on a Saturday Morning when we have the forum.......................any more ideas please.

Lamb with 100 cloves of garlic is nice.

Leeks are lovely sliced fresh into salad

I love those big watery spanish onions.

Not really used shallots much, just small onions?

And of course chewing chives and wild garlic - yum.

I absolutely adore onions and garlic in allsorts of foods so i usually stink! LOL
The weird thing is I can never smell garlic on myself or other people? Even when I apparently reek of it I cant smell it!
Also I dont think Ive EVER sliced an onion and not gone teporerally blind!

Love em all mate!
Currently growing all in me garden too (with exception of leeks-never tried to grow them:confused: )

roasted garlicks & shallots around the joint :P mmmmmm

Asparagus?

Has anyone suffered asparagus wee? It stinks! :gag: Apparently it doesn't effect us all! Sorry, to lower the tone of such a fine topic. :) ( I was in bavaria a while ago during the asparagus season - hence my familiarity with the stuff!)

As for garlic, leeks, onions and shallots, they are all beautiful and should be cherished.:thumbsup:

Originally posted by themonkey
Asparagus?

Has anyone suffered asparagus wee? It stinks! :gag: Apparently it doesn't effect us all! Sorry, to lower the tone of such a fine topic. :) ( I was in bavaria a while ago during the asparagus season - hence my familiarity with the stuff!)

As for garlic, leeks, onions and shallots, they are all beautiful and should be cherished.:thumbsup:

Whilst having not suffered this plight myself Monkey (and I do consume a lot of asparagus) I have heard that it can happen. The best way to eat asparagus has to be steamed, with a little butter, some rock salt and cracked black pepper.

English asparagus is currently in season and is arguably the best in the world. Do get some while you can! It's much larger, fatter and tastier than its Peruvian counterpart.

Mmm, love them all although unfortunately I have to eat them in moderation because they do nasty things to my stomach - garlic is the worst offender, and I always try to cook it long & slow before eating, to mellow it out as much as possible (some salad dressings specify raw, crushed garlic: that does me right in, so I always cook it very gently beforehand, or stick it in the microwave for 20 seconds).

I've just planted some shallots at our allotment: they're definitely not just little onions, Anthony Bourdain (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0747553556/sumptionorg-21) says of them:

Shallots. You almost never see this item in a home kitchen, but out in the world they're an essential ingredient. Shallots are one of the things - a basic prep item in every mise-en-place - which make restaurant food taste different from your food. In my kitchen we use nearly 20 pounds a day. You should always have some around for sauces, dressings and sauté items
A friend showed me this most wonderful recipe for shallot confiture (http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=177181) - it's a bit like a cross between pickled onions and onion marmalade, but with much more kick and flavour than either, and is amazing with cheese or cold meats. Once my shallots are ready for digging up, my kitchen's going to be full of the stuff!

I love them all. Wouldn't half miss them if they suddenly disappeared. Cooking wouldn't be the same.

Aren't onions just great - you can use them in all sorts of recipes. Versatile little objects. And if they make you cry lots you know it's a good onion.

Handy hint - to get rid of that onion smell on your hands after chopping one up ... rub lemon juice on your hands ( though avoid any little cuts on your hands or it stings abit).

Asparagus? Doesn't impress me much

Originally posted by samc
Asparagus? Doesn't impress me much

Why not?? It's awesome!

Originally posted by JonJParr
Why not?? It's awesome!
Hear hear! Asparagus rocks!

Originally posted by JonJParr
Why not?? It's awesome!


I don't know really - I find it dull as a veg in it's own right but never known what to do with it as part of lots of ingredients.

Originally posted by samc
I don't know really - I find it dull as a veg in it's own right but never known what to do with it as part of lots of ingredients.

I'm not a big fan of asparagus either, it's ok, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it, I just find it has a weird taste and a couple of spears is more than enough. It's ok in quiche or something but I couldn't eat it on it's own. I guess it's just personal taste, I love avocado but I know a lot of people think they're horrible.