Pickle and Roasted Garlic Flower Toasts

Pickle and Roasted Garlic Flower Toasts

Vegetarian Dishes Spring

Garlic flower is a Quebec treasure! Although it's an accessible ingredient grown in abundance, too few people know about this bulb. Just like its cousin, the clove, garlic flower perfectly enhances any dish. Get your pots and pans ready, it's high time to give this local food the place it deserves in your kitchen!

Recipe created by Simon Laborde,
Executive Chef of Les Enfants Terribles restaurant

Preparation time 20 minutes

Cooking time 10 minutes

Serving 4 to 6

Ingredients

Seaweed Butter

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons Quebec seaweed flakes
1 teaspoon Gorria chili powder (Espelette or crushed chili, your choice)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions (or chives, your choice)
Zest of half a lemon

Homemade Pickles

1/4 tasse de vinaigre de cidre
1 tasse de concombres du Québec, lavés et coupés en rondelles de 4 mm
3/4 tasse d’eau
1 grosse gousse d’ail
6 branches d’aneth frais sans les feuilles (réserver les feuilles pour la garniture)
1 cuillère à thé de sel kasher

Garniture

1 loaf of bread Country-style, unsliced
A dozen garlic scapes
Camelina seeds, optional

Instructions

Seaweed Butter

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients with a spatula until smooth. Set aside.

Homemade Pickle

In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, water, salt, garlic, and dill. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
Let the mixture cool slightly and pour over the cucumber slices. Seal the jars and refrigerate.

Toasts

In a pot of lightly salted boiling water, blanch the garlic scapes for one minute, then plunge them into ice water. Lightly oil the garlic scapes and grill on the barbecue (or in a ridged cast-iron skillet) for up to one minute per side.
Meanwhile, cut the country bread into thick slices and grill them on the barbecue. Before spreading, let the bread cool slightly for a few seconds.
Spread the seaweed butter generously on the bread slices.
Add the whole or chopped toasted garlic flowers, to taste, along with the sliced pickles.
If desired, sprinkle the toasts with camelina seeds.

Notes/Alternatives

For his seaweed selection, Simon Laborde used two varieties: Dulse and Sea Lettuce from the company Océan de Saveurs.
We recommend preparing this the day before or a few days in advance. For a more pronounced seaweed flavor, add a few flakes to your pickles at the end of the preparation.