I'm looking for ways other than drying to preserve shallots and garlic. I find that a certain percentage of my annual harvest dries up to the point of empty paperlike husks by the following spring. Thought that by drying some and preserving the remainder I might avoid the waste entirely and open up some other culinary avenues as well.
So how do you do it, just put the entire bulbs in the freezer, or do you chop them and put them up in jars of vinegar, or what?
Thanks,
J.
Gently sautee them in oil (olive, grapeseed, whatever), and then freeze the oil/shallot/garlic mixture in small zip-lock bags for use in foods. Shallots go in the oil first, then the garlic only gets a touch of heat - otherwise it goes bitter. Don't put the hot mixture in the bags - it should cool first.
You might be keeping them in the house, which is too warm and dry in the winter. Try the garage. My garlic and multiplier onions last until the garlic shoots are ready in march, and could clearly last longer than that.
I just pulled some Dutch yellow shallots that I planted last fall here in Ohio. The planting stock was pulled not last year, but the year before. I'm amazed how long this variety keeps. They were stored in a room that's not even a true basement that gets fairly warm in summer.
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