Garlic

[DrG]

I love the stuff. This past weekend a long-time friend came to visit. He brought me these, which he grew. Nice! I have been enjoying his home-grown garlic for years. It is vastly superior to that bleached out stuff at the local chain.

Here, it is currently too darn hot to run an oven for long, but if you have never tried roasting garlic...try doing so. Just pop a whole head in a 375-400 F oven for ~30-45 min (hard to over roast but the larger heads need more time). If you want to get fancy, first trim the top and wrap in aluminum foil.

The stuff comes out as this incredibly rich, spreadable, paste - you, literally, squeeze it out of the cloves. It loses the bite and gains in savory like you wouldn't believe. As my basil gets big, I see some pesto being made soon - with pine nuts, Reggiano and premium olive oil - absolutely fantastic!

[T3sl4co1l]

Typically drizzle olive oil on it, after cutting the top off.  Lubricates the cloves, makes them richer.

Or butter I suppose would do well too, mmm...

Tim

[DrG]

Typically drizzle olive oil on it, after cutting the top off.  Lubricates the cloves, makes them richer.

Or butter I suppose would do well too, mmm...

Tim

Yep, that is a typical recipe exactly, e.g., https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-roast-garlic-in-the-oven-5341

Even though I am a huge fan of olive oil, I don't do that. Nor cutting the top off or removing skin - I just stick it the oven and it comes out moist and tasty. Hey, however you get there, just get there because it is good stuff!

[John B]

An EEV forum would be the ideal place to discuss a DIY black garlic oven project.......

[DrG]

An EEV forum would be the ideal place to discuss a DIY black garlic oven project.......

When it first became popular, or when I first heard about black garlic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_garlic , I bought some and played around with it a bit. It is an interesting taste and nothing like garlic IMO. It was good in soup, especially a light broth type soup.

I did think about building a little environmental chamber with RH and temp control to try making some, but I never did. I would love to see and herear about anyone who did.

[coppercone2]

mortar and pestle aoli is a great use of garlic, simply crush garlic in a mortar and pestle with some olive oil and salt until it looks like mayonaise. its decent on firm tomato slices

[Just_another_Dave]

mortar and pestle aoli is a great use of garlic, simply crush garlic in a mortar and pestle with some olive oil and salt until it looks like mayonaise. its decent on firm tomato slices

In case someone is interested in making traditional alioli (without egg) as coppercone2 suggested, a Spanish YouTuber made a video of the process: https://youtu.be/3IeTZjsQ_kY

I have to say that I tried to make it once and failed to get that texture, probably because I didn’t use enough garlic

[andy3055]

Try the garlic curry: https://www.islandsmile.org/srilankan-garlic-curry/

[Microdoser]

mortar and pestle aoli is a great use of garlic, simply crush garlic in a mortar and pestle with some olive oil and salt until it looks like mayonaise. its decent on firm tomato slices

In case someone is interested in making traditional alioli (without egg) as coppercone2 suggested, a Spanish YouTuber made a video of the process: https://youtu.be/3IeTZjsQ_kY

I have to say that I tried to make it once and failed to get that texture, probably because I didn’t use enough garlic

I *just* know enough Spanish to follow that, and also get the joke about vampires

Looks fantastic, I'll have to try that with some of the garlic I have from the allotment, even if it does take half an hour of pounding with the pestle.

[Just_another_Dave]

mortar and pestle aoli is a great use of garlic, simply crush garlic in a mortar and pestle with some olive oil and salt until it looks like mayonaise. its decent on firm tomato slices

In case someone is interested in making traditional alioli (without egg) as coppercone2 suggested, a Spanish YouTuber made a video of the process: https://youtu.be/3IeTZjsQ_kY

I have to say that I tried to make it once and failed to get that texture, probably because I didn’t use enough garlic

I *just* know enough Spanish to follow that, and also get the joke about vampires

Looks fantastic, I'll have to try that with some of the garlic I have from the allotment, even if it does take half an hour of pounding with the pestle.

It’s quite strong hahaha, but it’s a great sauce for arroz negro. I also like to put it in bread

[Microdoser]

mortar and pestle aoli is a great use of garlic, simply crush garlic in a mortar and pestle with some olive oil and salt until it looks like mayonaise. its decent on firm tomato slices

In case someone is interested in making traditional alioli (without egg) as coppercone2 suggested, a Spanish YouTuber made a video of the process: https://youtu.be/3IeTZjsQ_kY

I have to say that I tried to make it once and failed to get that texture, probably because I didn’t use enough garlic

I *just* know enough Spanish to follow that, and also get the joke about vampires

Looks fantastic, I'll have to try that with some of the garlic I have from the allotment, even if it does take half an hour of pounding with the pestle.

It’s quite strong hahaha, but it’s a great sauce for arroz negro. I also like to put it in bread

I might make some up, then mix it into some home made mayonnaise

[david77]

Garlic is fantastic. I love fresh bread with garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Hungry now...

[andy3055]

Well, garlic is supposed to have other effects also... 

[Kjelt]

Remember the cooking jail scene from Goodfellas where the guy is using a shaving blade to cut the garlic so thin it  dissolves in the sauce ?
Use a pro microplane grater the finest one and it saves you a lot of time. Watch out for your fingers though these are ultra sharp.
Been using these for the past 15 years they last and last

https://www.microplane.com/professional-series-coarse-grater

[Neilm]

I often use garlic with mushrooms - melt some butter, taragon and chop the mushrooms. A bit of garlic in there (and sherry if you are feeling boozy) and leave it simmering on a low heat.

[coppercone2]

Remember the cooking jail scene from Goodfellas where the guy is using a shaving blade to cut the garlic so thin it  dissolves in the sauce ?
Use a pro microplane grater the finest one and it saves you a lot of time. Watch out for your fingers though these are ultra sharp.
Been using these for the past 15 years they last and last

https://www.microplane.com/professional-series-coarse-grater

I tried to use it with a microplane and its my preferred method now. You can plane it over a open faced cheese sandwich and broil it.

[Halcyon]

I love the stuff. This past weekend a long-time friend came to visit. He brought me these, which he grew. Nice! I have been enjoying his home-grown garlic for years. It is vastly superior to that bleached out stuff at the local chain.

I have to agree. Although here in upside-down land, we're lucky enough to have non-bleached, garlic that is identical to what you showed us, in just about every supermarket.

The key is to buy locally grown produce (and I'm sure countries like the US, NZ and UK will have similar quality standards), instead of that crap they manufacture in China. I've noticed there has been a shift in consumer buying habits and what supermarkets are stocking these days. Rarely do I see fresh produce that has been grown or produced in China any more. You really have to go looking for it to find it and rightfully so, the price difference is negligible but you're getting a much better, fresher, un-adulterated product. Even the stuff you buy in a tube or a jar is usually 100% grown and made here.

Some of the big brands source their stuff from all over the place, but food packaging laws mandate they they must disclose that. Regardless if you're buying fresh or processed foods, every item in a supermarket in Australia has the country of origin on it (and "origin" doesn't mean where it was simply "put together").

[T3sl4co1l]

Speaking of garlic, saw this in the last head I finished off.



(waxy breakdown, it's fine)

Tim

[andy3055]

I live close to the so called " garlic capital of the world " and I still come across garlic from  China!

[aduinstat]

I keep a jar of the minced stuff in my fridge. It's OK.

I subscribe to one of those meal kits, and they seem almost afraid of garlic. I think they really need to include more than one clove.