Garlic

[Pixie]

Great Garlic Recipes

by Aubrey Vaughn

 

Garlic. The word alone stirs the senses with memories of powerful aromas, zesty flavors and memorable, savory meals. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t enjoy this punchy allium, and you might be surprised at the range of dishes that are improved by it. Breads, sauces, appetizers and entrees — just about everything short of cheesecake takes on a bold, flavorful taste with this versatile kitchen staple.

 

But garlic does more than add flavor: It’s been used for food and medicinal purposes since at least 3000 B.C., renowned for its powerful antiviral and antibacterial properties. As the realm of holistic health has grown, it’s now also recommended to help prevent heart disease (it can lower cholesterol and blood pressure) and even cancer. In The Green Pharmacy, James A. Duke, Ph.D., suggests garlic to treat allergies, athlete’s foot, diabetes, colds, the flu and more.

 

You can easily enjoy the numerous benefits of garlic, for the palate and body, by growing your own this season. Fall is a terrific time to plant garlic, and come summer you’ll be rewarded with large, flavor-packed heads ready for nibbling, cooking and preserving.

 

Garlic is simple to grow. Good soil, full sun and watering every few days are its main requirements, and garlic doesn’t attract many insects — it can even deter them from other crops! If the plant begins to flower, snip the stalk to keep growth energy directed to the bulb instead. You’ll know it’s time to harvest when the tops of the stalks start to brown.

 

Served as an appetizer, spread on bread, or mixed in mashed potatoes, one of the simplest, most useful garlic preparations is roasted garlic. These basic recipes are adapted from Growing and Using Garlic, by Glenn Andrews.

 

 

 

Roasted Garlic

 

1 whole head garlic

1 tsp olive oil

 

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Slice off the top fifth of the garlic head. Place the head on a medium-size square of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Drizzle the olive oil over garlic. Seal the foil securely. (Unless you want your whole house to smell of garlic, don’t crumple the foil too much; this would create cracks through which the aroma could escape.) Bake for 40 minutes, the garlic should be golden brown.

 

 

 

 

Garlic also makes a yummy, easy hummus:

 

Hummus

 

1 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzos)

Water

 

1/4 cup lemon juice

1½ teaspoons garlic, minced (about 3 cloves)

1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste, available at most supermarkets)

Salt to taste

 

Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water to cover by at least 1 inch.

 

Drain. Cover amply again with fresh water. Boil for about an hour, or until very soft. Drain again. Put chickpeas, along with lemon juice, garlic, tahini and salt, in a food processor or blender and run the machine until the hummus is smooth. (You may have to add a little water, one tablespoon at a time, to make the mixture thin enough to process. The consistency you want is similar to mayonnaise.)

 

Serve as a spread or dip for pita chips or triangles of toasted pita bread. Makes about 2 cups.

 

[Pixie]

more garlic recipeeeeeeeeese!! please:D

[Cat]

I LOVE roasted garlic!!!

 

 

I'll have to find ya more recipes...

 

 

**diggin' around in the cookbooks...**

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pixie]

the more the merrier!! i buy garlic by the kilo.

 

 

[TheCG]

Does anyone know how to dry-roast garlic? As in where it becomes nice and crunchy like the stuff they serve with the bread at Johnny Carino's?

[Pixie]

one lady on mother earth news said that you can...well, here is her post.

 

"Another great way to roast garlic is to slice off the top and set them right at the edge of your fireplace while enjoying a nice fire. Roughly 12 inches from the flame to start. If it is too close it will split and ooze pulp, but if you feel it is roasting too slowly, move it a little closer."

 

 

i am not sure about dry roasting?

[Joanna]

We mix minced garlic with soft butter, parmasan & parsly to make a really yummy garlic bread--I'm guestimating at amounts b/c I just eyeball it

 

2 sticks of soft butter (let it sit out at room temp for a few hours--don't microwave it)

approx 1 t minced garlic

3 or 4 T parmasam cheese (freash grated is the best)1-2 T parsly

 

Mix it altogether

 

take a loaf of sliced bread (we perfer sourdough, homemade is best but any type of bread you like is fine)spread garlic butter on BOTH sides of a slice of bread, spread it over the next slice (both sides again) and stack it on top of the first slice, continue spreading & stacking untill you have reconstructed the loaf (or run out of butter or slices-as I remember I can get about one loaf of round sourdough from this) Wrap the whole loaf in Aluminum foil and put it in the oven to bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes (my oven is tempermental so I check to make sure I'm not burning it--you want the butter to melt & soak in good & the loaf to be hot through) I don't say it is the healthiest thing in the world but it sure is TASTY!!! I've made myself hungry writting about it...I might have to make some for dinner!

[Pixie]

oh! that does sound good!! i made garlic butter likethat....but i have never put parmasan chees ein it, i bet it tastes awsome!

[Cat]

I make it that way, but also add in crumbled dried oregano.