Ingredient: Garlic

 

 
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Garlic-

  • Description

Garlic grows in a bulb containing many separate cloves.  The cloves are covered in a paper thin skin that is removed and discarded before use.

  • Preparation

Garlic can be used both cooked and raw.  It can be roasted or sauteed.  If there is a green sprout in the center of your garlic clove, simply remove it and continue.

Garlic has a very strong odor due to sulfur compounds, but that is what makes it so good for us.  Eating garlic with fresh parsley may reduce any mouth odor, or better yet, share garlic with the people around you and it won’t matter!  A tip for removing the garlic smell from hands or cutting boards is a fresh lemon.  Simply cut a lemon in half and rub it all over the area, then wash with soap and water as usual. 

A fun and helpful tool to use in the kitchen is a garlic press, worth the investment, in our opinion.

  • Varieties

There are many varieties of garlic, the most popular are white garlic, pink garlic, and giant or elephant garlic.

  • Storage

Garlic stores very well and likes the dark.  It will remain plump on your counter top for a couple of months, but if you place it in the refrigerator it will keep for up to 7 months! (Jess keeps her bulbs in a cool dark area in news paper, unless it’s the summer garlic with long stems, in which case the stems are loosely braided and the garlic hung by the stems in the pantry closet. Bulbs are then snipped off as needed.) 

  • Nutrition

Vitamin C, selenium, potassium, and calcium

Garlic has been valued as a health protector for thousands of years, and for good reason!  Modern medicine has shown that garlic has a powerful effect at boosting the immune system, aids in cardiovascular health, and fighting cancer.

 

 How to Roast Garlic Heads- Originally posted by Sarah – January 20, 2015
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Cook it slowly til it’s brown and sweet…..

That’s right my Springdell friends, today we caramelize.  Cut the whole head of garlic and make sure each clove is exposed, take off most of the papery outside at this time.

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Drizzle led the garlic with olive oil and wrap that sucker up.  

imagePut the wrapped garlic into a preheated 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes. 

imageThis is a little piece of heaven.  You literally squeeze the garlic out and put it in just about anything.  I have made roasted garlic dips,in even added it into the chili I made Sunday night.

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Spring Garlic is a different beast from the garlic above. These are the smaller garlic bulbs thinned out of the farmer’s row to make room for the hardiest bulbs to grow larger.  

Spring garlic, is incredibly sweet and tender it is compared to the larger bulbs that come later. Don’t get me wrong, mature garlic bulbs are amazing as well, but there’s something about the taste of spring garlic that is not easily duplicated, hence when they come along I’ll preserve what I can.
I start by cleaning the garlic and separating the whites and light greens from the darker tougher parts. The stalks up top will end up flavoring stocks and soups, while the chopped bits on the bottom will be used in place of minced garlic or scallions.
These will be frozen in a single layer on parchment before being placed into a container back in the freezer. This keeps them from sticking together when the time comes to spoon a few out. Use these interchangeably with chives, chive flowers, and scallions.

Recipes Using Garlic

Baingan Bharta

by (updated 2318 days ago)
Ingredients: Cilantro / Eggplant / Garlic / Lime / Onion / Peppers / Tomatoes

Baingan Bharta is a dish that involves grilled and mashed eggplant with yummy spices. You can choose the spice level that works for you by varying the amount of hot peppers used, and whether or not you choose to include the seeds. If you’re short on time, grill the eggplant ahead of time and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook up the rest of the dish. If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, I found this dish is even more delicious the next day. Thanks to NYT Cooking for this adaptation, who adapted it from chef Julie Sahni!