Garlic-
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.
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.
There are many varieties of garlic, the most popular are white garlic, pink garlic, and giant or elephant garlic.
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.)
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
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.
Drizzle led the garlic with olive oil and wrap that sucker up.
Put the wrapped garlic into a preheated 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes.
This 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.
Got bacon and collards? Why not try this Kickin’ Collard Greens recipe? Though it was good, I recommend leaving out the red pepper flakes until the end and let folks season to taste themselves. I love spicy food, but the red pepper flakes against the smoky bacon flavor of the collards was a bit overpowering for me. I’ll try this one again as the rest of the flavors made for fine comfort food! Remember to have chicken broth on hand for this one!
Included is a link to 11 different chicken flavor combos from our friends at Food and Wine magazine, along with an interesting and flavorful roasted veggie combo.
You can make this one using a pumpkin OR a squash, pick your “bowl” and go to town! This recipe can be quite flexible. Use veggie broth if you want to keep it vegetarian. Parmesan cheese is quite yummy with this combo.
