Comfort Food, by Kate Jacobs
When I first heard of this book, I thought it was a cooking book, because of the title. But it is a novel, by the same author of The Friday Night Knitting Club. I didn't have a chance to read that book but some of my knitting friends said it was good, so I was glad to have the opportunity to read her next novel.
It is the story of Gus Simpson, the most famous cooking celebrity in the Food Channel. Gus is going through some changes in life and is forced to evaluate who she is and what she has done so far with her life, including her family and her professional life.
It is nice and agreeable read. Jacobs's style is best-selling type, easy to read and entertaining to follow. It has a lot of pop-cultural references and I wonder if she based any of her characters on real people, not that I would know who they are, but sometimes insiders recognize someone they know in this type of books.
The book has really good character development and an easy to follow story. It is in the chick-lit style but I believe it appeals to a wider demographic, from mothers and grandmothers to young women.
I have to confess that I developed a fondness for the characters and I even shed a couple of tears when I was reading their story. I read the whole book in less than a week and I kept looking forward to reading, I wanted to know what would happen to these people.
I really recommend this book as an easy, agreeable read.
Although it talks a lot about food (and a lot about Spanish food, which I looooooove!!) it has no recipes.
Kate Jacobs has a website and a blog.
Labels: book
Derlea garlic products do not disappoint
Last week I got a batch of Derlea garlic products, including Minced Garlic, Garlic & Ginger Puree, Roasted Garlic "Crunch" and Roasted Garlic Puree.
I have to admit that I didn't know what to expect, although I had seen some of the jars at Sobey's on Front St., I had never got them always preferring fresh garlic. But as loyal readers know, I've had problems keeping the garlic, mainly I think my apartment is too humid or something, and it sometimes sprouts or gets soft.
These jarred garlic products came to solve the problem. The minced garlic is just your regular minced garlic but in a quite convenient format. It retails for approximately $2.25 and is worth it if you have the "sprouting garlic" problems I've talked about.
The garlic and ginger puree is good, and convenient for cooking soups or oriental foods. But the roasted garlic..... oh my god, it is fenomenal. The roasted garlic puree was delicious over baked potato wedges (sorry I couldn't take a picture because I accidentally left my camera, and my lunchbag! at work). I just cut the potatoes in wedges (without peeling them), put them in the oven, sprinkled them with a bit of olive oil and roasted garlic puree. They were delicious. I really recommend it.
The roasted garlic crunch was a bit of a mystery, with the name "crunch" I didn't quite understand what it meant. Well, it is basically dehydrated garlic, great to toss over salads, pasta or pizza. I had it over pasta in lieu of parmesan cheese (since as my loyal readers know, I can't have any dairy products), and it added an extra delicious flavour to it. All in all, delicious garlic goodness.
Also, some readers asked me recently how to substitute jarred garlic products for fresh garlic in recipes. Well, The Derlea Foods website actually shows conversion measurements for those interested, for example, 1/2 teaspoon of chopped or minced garlic is equivalent to 1 clove of fresh garlic (more info here).
I still think I'll like to try the garlic with jalapeno product, I've seen it at Sobey's.
(Picture shamefully borrowed from Derlea Foods website).
Labels: garlic, vegetarian
He said beer, she said wine, by Sam Calagione and Marnie Old
I've been super busy lately and haven't had much time to blog at all. But I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to talk about a great book I got recently: He said beer, she said wine, by Sam Calagione and Marnie Old.
I was really looking forward to this book, especially because it's published by DK which is one of my favourite publishers. I recently wrote about another book that they published, Morimoto. Well, they did not disappoint this time. The book has great pictures and a good amount of text as well, and is a great fun read.
Sam Calagione is the beer guy and Marnie Old is the wine woman. At the beginning of the book they explain who they are and why they are defending beer/wine. Then follows a short history of wine and beer, how they started to be part of culture, and who were the peoples drinking them. They also defend their choice of drink.
I particularly liked the story of wine, how it is produced, the difference between red and white. since I've been trying to learn a bit more about all of it (I am getting there, my readers may remember that I rate Educating Peter by Lettie Teague. Well, I can now distinguish some types of wines, and I now go beyond only knowing that there's red and white). It is very useful to have a reference about wine flavours and what it all means. I especially like the "travel guide" approach, which is not surprising since DK makes so many travel guides. The same approach comes a bit later with an explanation and "guide" to beer.
Later the Food Debate section comes, which explains food pairing for both wine and beer. There are sections for pairings with cheese, veggies, sandwiches, pizza and pasta, spicy food, shellfish, fish, poultry, meat and desserts. Quite interesting to learn about how beer can be paired with some food that are usually associated with wine, and viceversa. The only problem is that I believe it may be difficult to get half of the beers and wines in the book here in Ontario. We are at the mercy of the LCBO, and if they do not bring those wines, I believe we have little choice. Now I know how to do substitutions with yarns, so a similar approach may be useful for the beers and wines presented in the book. Nevertheless it is super interesting and worth a read.
At the end of the book there are a few recipes with suggested pairings of both beer and wine, the idea is to have a few friends or family over and see which drink is preferred with the foods. Lots of fun, indeed.
All in all, this is a great book that I totally enjoyed reading and having. It is a great reference and includes user-friendly and fun information for learning about both beer and wine.
Oh, one extra thing, the retail price for Canada is $28.
Labels: beer, book, wine
Chickpea and spinach curry
Since I don't eat any dairy products or milk ingredients at all, I have been a bit concerned about my calcium intake. What else can I do to consume more calcium. I did some research and it happens that spinach is a really good source of calcium, so I decided to try new spinach recipes, containing garlic, of course. I made up this recipe today. The recipe is vegan.
Chop one whole onion and three cloves of garlic and sautee them in two teaspoons vegetable oil.
When onion is transparent, add three teaspoons of soy sauce, three teaspoons curry powder, the juice of half a lemon and one tablespoon chopped ginger (I used the one that you buy in a jar and is already chopped). Stir well and cook for about five more minutes.
Add one can of chickpeas semi-drained, and one can chopped tomatoes. Let cook for about 10 minutes to absorb all the flavours.
Finally add one bag baby spinach and stir just until wilted (not more than 2 minutes).
Serve with rice, I used basmati and it was delicious!
Labels: curry, garlic, vegetarian
Pasta with white mushroom sauce
This recipe is vegetarian and vegan.
As many of my readers know, I am allergic to all dairy ingredients. This time I decided to make my own pasta with white sauce, taking special care of not adding any dairy (most people will use cream for a mushroom white sauce), and of course, very garlicky!
Ingredients for 3-4 servings:
Olive oil
One cup shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Crushed red pepper, if desired
All the sherry left in the bottle (OK, I used all the sherry left in the bottle because I didn't have much left, I suggest about 1/2 a cup)
4 to 5 cups chopped mix mushrooms, I used cremini, oyster, shiitake and portobello
Cooked pasta (enough for the number of persons), I used multi-coloured fussilli
Sautee shallots and garlic in the olive oil until brown, be careful not to burn them.
Add the mushrooms and sautee until cooked (about 4 minutes).
Add all the sherry left in the bottle (OK, about 1/2 a cup). Add a teaspoon white flour for thickening the sauce. Also, add salt and pepper to taste and crushed red pepper, if desired. Stir until flour is disolved. Simmer for about 4 minutes making sure it does not dry out.
Serve over cooked pasta.
Delicious!
Labels: garlic, pasta, vegetarian
The real pasta primavera
This dish is so garlicky it's dangerous! This is the authentic pasta primavera from Italy. There's a huge snowstorm in Toronto, so I decided to channel spring by making spaghettini primavera, primavera means spring in Italian and in Spanish. And you don't have to cook anything (except the pasta, raw pasta is not good to eat, you guys!) There's a bit of chopping involved, though.
Ingredients per person:
One cup fresh tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup fresh basil
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
One portion of spaghettini (I used about one inch roundful per person).
Cook the pasta in boiling water, but make sure it's al dente. You don't want soft spaghettini for this. I used Catelli Bistro Sundried Tomato and Basil spaghettini. But you can use just regular pasta. Spaghettini is recommended because it is thin. Capelli D'Angelo also works really good with this recipe.
Finely chop the tomatoes, garlic cloves and basil.
When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain and immediately (don't let the pasta cool), toss with the olive oil and the chopped tomatoes, basil and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately. I did not sprinkle with parmesan because, as my regular readers know, I'm allergic to milk products, but everyone else can do this to enjoy this delicious spaghettini primavera.
Labels: garlic, pasta, vegetarian
Almost-vegan Thanksgiving dinner
As loyal readers know, it's been discovered that the milk protein makes me really sick. So now I am on a restricted diet in which I can't have any milk products including butter, cream and cheese. Thanksgiving is a difficult time since almost everything involves a ton of butter. We decided I would cook Thanksgiving dinner for us. I made a delicious vegan carrot soup with a hint of ginger and curry.
This is one of the most delicious soups I ever made.
First I chopped onion and garlic and fried it in olive oil, then I added the carrots and potatoes.
Then I added two cups of vegetable bouillon, salt and pepper, one teaspoon curry powder and half a cup of chopped fresh ginger. I let it boil for about 30 minutes and then I pureed it in the blender. It was so delicious.
I also made an applesauce cranberry Jello (that's the only non-vegan thing in the whole menu). I made my own applesauce, with no sugar added.
As a main dish I made baked butternut squash in cashew sauce. It was more difficult than I thought to chop the squash (it was really really difficult). It took about 45 minutes in the oven to be ready.
And as a side I made a "stuffing" with fried onions, garlic and celery and bread crumbs. I baked it for 20 minutes as a roast.
Our vegetarian almost vegan Thanksgiving menu was delicious, but it took so long to make that when I asked James what he was thankful for all he could come up with was "I am thankful that dinner is finally ready". Hah!
Labels: vegetarian
Sincronizadas
This is a delicious and easy Mexican breakfast. All you need for one person is two flour tortillas, cheese and ham.
Heat up the tortillas, add the cheese and the ham to one tortilla, cover with the other tortilla in a sandwich-like manner. Heat until the cheese is melted turning constantly to make sure the tortillas do not burn.
Cut in four triangular pieces. Enjoy your breakfast!
Blue Garlic?
Recently I had an email about green garlic and posted asking my readers if they knew what it caused it and if it had happened to them (here is the link).
Here are some of the responses left in the comments:
I've had it happen when using a first pressed extra vigin olive oil. This oil was a very dark and rich green color so I just assumed it acted like a dye with the white of the garlic.
Julie
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I had that happen last week when I made a garlic/ginger/lime marinade for a pork roast. Didn't use any olive oil though...
sheena
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Garlic turns green or blue green when exposed to acids... it doesn't affect the flavor a bit, but you should consider it for cosmetic purposes when cooking.
beth
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I had my garlic turn greenish-blue when I cooked chicken with 40 cloves...
Vicki
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i was searching re this very thing! glad to see i'm not the only one concerned. making snapper that required roasting tomatoes and garlic in the oven. garlic was good when slicing. when i got it out of the oven, it was green like it was spoiled. i'm going to go enjoy my dinner now that i see it's caused by acids such as tomato juice!
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Now Nancy sent me the following email:
I pickled some kielbasa and the garlic I put in has turned blue. Do you think it is safe to eat or has something gone wrong?
We know from previous responses that garlic turns blueish green, so I would advise Nancy not to be concerned, if the shade of blue her garlic turn was a bit greenish.
Any opinions from Garlicster readers?
Labels: garlic
Morimoto
I was really excited to receive my pre-release copy of Morimoto, published by DK, DK is one of my favourite publishers, their Eye Witness travel guides are just amazing. I was expecting beautiful pictures and I was not disappointed.
So who is Chef Morimoto and why should I get his book? Masaharu Morimoto is the regular iron chef Japanese in the Iron Chef and Iron Chef America shows. I always have fun watching these shows on the Food Network, and I was curious to see what a book by him could provide.
The book starts with a 2-3 page biography of Chef Morimoto and his career as a chef, this biography was written by JJ Goode (a long-time food writer). It is then divided in several chapters:
- Sashimi and Sushi: Including a description of how to cut fish, clean octopus and clean clams
- Rice, Noodles, Breads and Soups: With several recipes for rice dishes, including my beloved sticky rice in lotus leaves
- Fish and shellfish: With recipes for lobster, crab, shrimp, etc.
- Duck, Chicken, Pork, Beef and Lamb: This is the chapter that seems to be the most "fusion", since it includes a lot of recipes that seem French-ish, and stuff with hot fiery chiles
- Vegetables, Tofu and Eggs: A chapter that I was especially interested in, because of its vegetarian content. It includes a recipe for tempura vegetables. Sadly, a lot of veggie and tofu recipes include some type of meat, or cheese
- A special chapter called Recipes to Contemplate: Which includes an abalone croquette. Curiously, there is a typo on the title and it says "albalone" (page 211).
- Desserts: There is a tofu cheesecake that looks delicious (my readers will have to try it for me and let me know what they think, since I cannot eat any cheese)
- Stocks, Oils, Spices and Sauces: Recipes for different sauces and stocks that are needed for the various recipes in the book
There is not a lot about specific garlic content, there is a Grilled Steak with Garlic-Soy Jus that looks delicious, the garlic-soy jus includes 6 garlic cloves!, fresh ginger, sugar, veal reduction (recipe included in the book), soy sauce, mirin (fortified wine made from glutionous rice and used solely for cooking, according to the glossary), sesame oil and onion. The truth is that it looks delicious! There is a lamb carpaccio that includes "shiso buds" or garlic flowers as garnish, this is such an original way of garnishing that I'm looking forward to trying it. Garlic is included in some other recipes, but not very prominently. It doesn't matter, the recipes are so delicious this is a book worth having. The thing that I liked the most is that it has a kind of "guide" in each chapter describing how to use the ingredients, like how to cook the rice, what dashi is, how tofu is made, etc. All the explanations and most of the recipes are accompanied by step-by-step photos illustrating the process.
This is definitely a book worth getting for reference and as a cook book. The only "but" for me is the same as always, the price is $40 USD but it is $50 CAD. At today's conversion rate it should be about $42 CAD. A 25% markup is too much for us Canadians. I recommend ordering from an American bookstore, like
Barnes & Noble, they give you a discount and even with the shipping it's well worth it. (Sorry Canadian retailers, it's not my fault, it's just common sense).
The amazing photography is by
Quentin Bacon.
Labels: book
Biga Bread with Garlic
Pacific College Mom sent us another delicious recipe:
This is an adaptation of a one originally appearing in Sunset magazine. It is my absolute favorite bread, chewy and hearty. It takes a little longer to make, but it’s definitely worth the effort!
¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 Cup cool tap water
1 teasp sugar or honey
¼ Cup Biga (recipe follows)
2 Tblsp milk
1 Tblsp finely chopped garlic (or rosemary)
¾ teasp regular salt (optional, I omit it)
3 – 3 1/4 Cups flour
½ teasp coarse salt
In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over water and sugar or honey, let yeast dissolve. Add biga, milk, garlic, regular salt, and 2 Cups of flour. Mix well, and then knead in ¾ Cup more flour to create slightly sticky dough. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours until doubled.
Punch down dough and knead briefly. On a floured board, shape dough into a smooth ball. Place on a well floured baking sheet. Cover with plastic and let rise again about an hour, or until springy when lightly touched.
At least 30 minutes before baking, place baking stone or a large baking sheet in the oven and heat oven to 400 degrees. With a sharp knife or razor slash top of dough, sprinkle cut with coarse salt. Mist the dough and walls of oven with spray bottle filled with water. Slide dough onto hot stone or baking pan, bake for about 35 minutes, or until bread is deep golden brown. Cool on rack.
Biga
¼ teasp yeast
½ Cup cool water
1 Cup flour
Sprinkle yeast over water, let dissolve. Add flour, mix well. Cover and chill 24 hours before using. Can be stored in the fridge up to 2 weeks. Makes 1 cup.
Labels: bread, garlic
Chicken with Double Garlic Black Bean Sauce
Pacific College Mom sent us this delicious recipe. It looks so delicious, I think I'm going to make it this weekend. After all, I'm going to St. Lawrence Market tomorrow to stock up for the long weekend.
Happy Canada Day, everyone!
1 Tablespoon Aji-Mirin (sweet rice wine)
4 Teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
5 Teaspoons cornstarch, divided
1 Teaspoon sesame oil
2 large chicken breast halves, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 Tablespoon Garlic Black Bean sauce
1 Teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 Clove minced garlic
½ Cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 Pound fresh asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Stalk celery, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 small onion, diced
3 Tablespoons water (I use water from the pasta)
4 servings (large handful) angel hair pasta
A.) Make a marinade of wine, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons cornstarch and the sesame oil. Add chicken pieces and toss well to coat. Chill for 30 minutes while preparing the veggies.
B.) Mix together black bean sauce with ginger, minced garlic, broth, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, oyster sauce, and remaining 3 teaspoons cornstarch, set aside.
C.) Prepare pasta in salted water, if desired.
D.) Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add chicken with marinade and stir-fry for 3 minutes, or until the chicken is opaque, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan.
E.) Heat 1 tablespoon oil to wok and stir-fry veggies for about 2 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons water to the pan, cover, and cook for another minute.
F.) Return chicken to the wok, add sauce mixture, and cook until sauce thickens. Serve over the pasta.
And for our American readers, Happy Fourth of July too!
Labels: chicken, garlic
Roasted garlic and parsley potatoes
Now that spring is here, the Farmers' Market on the North side of St. Lawrence Market is filling up with better and better delicious goodness. On Saturday I went and bought a lot of veggies. Among the things I bought were potatoes and garlic.
Since I was going to grill some other veggies, I decided to make my special roasted potatoes with garlic and parsley.
Ingredients:
One pint baby potatoes, halved
3 teaspoons olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
Sea salt
Parsley flakes
Prepare a "pocket" with foil and place the halved baby potatoes and the slivered/sliced garlic.
Spread it with the olive oil, sea salt and dehydrated parsley flakes.
Fold the "pocket" and bring it to the barbecue. Grill on high heat for about 20 minutes.
It's that easy. The potatoes were crunchy and garlicky and oily and delicious!
And remember dear Garlicster readers, eating local, is healthier and uses less fuel. Help your local farmers, it is always good to know the person who is growing your food.
Labels: garlic, potatoes
I've been so busy
I've been super busy lately and haven't had much time to post. Don't worry my dear Garlicster readers, I have not abandoned the blog.
So, I recently received Educating Peter by Lettie Teague. I like the subtitle in this book "How I taught a Famous Movie Critic the Difference Between Cabernet and Merlot or How Anybody Can Become an (Almost) Instant Wine Expert".
I am excited about starting to read this book, because I am also a bit of a neophyte with respect to wine. OK, I'm not that bad, at least I know that there is red wine, white wine, rosé wine and sparkly wine. Oh, and let's not forget Portuguese green wine. I want to go for a Niagara winery tour soon, just for fun, but it wouldn't hurt to know what is going on.
So it may not have much to do with garlic, but it is quite interesting. I'll look up for garlic pairings, maybe we'll get some information on what wine to drink with delicious garlic, mmmh.
The book is published by Simon & Schuster and is $25 USD. The publication date was March 13, 2007 so it's quite recent.
So I'm going to start reading it and I'll give an update to my readers as soon as have some comments to make. Maybe I'll become an (almost) wine expert soon!
Kheema, by Vijay
Published at Lorence's Kitchen
Ingredients:
½" peeled & finely chopped fresh ginger
6 cloves of garlic, minced (6 of 'em! oh yeah!)
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 pounds of ground meat (lamb or a decent beef, like sirloin)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons of garam masala (if you can't find it locally, order it from Penzey's)
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
A few mustard seeds (I usually use about ½ teaspoon or so...)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Optional veggies (that I don't think are optional at all)
1 cup of cut green beans
1 can of pigeon peas (gandules), drained. (I think it's about a 14.5 ounces can)
Cubed potatoes, ½"cubes (I use 3 regular sized russets, about 2 cups or so)
I usually don't have fresh ginger on hand, but I always have a tube of ginger paste in the fridge. Fortunately for me, my local grocery store carries it, so look around! It's probably hiding out there somewhere. Also useful for this dish is a small can of whole tomatoes (in tomato juice) instead of fresh - I keep a couple of cans in the cupboard at all times for just such an emergency... chop up the entire can and add the juice, too.
The directions:
Add the oil to a large (did I say large? I meant LARGE) skillet and sauté the onion until soft and transparent.
Add the ginger and garlic and sauté for another minute or so.
Add the ground meat and brown it for 10 minutes. Break it up so it is in fine pieces.
Add the spices, tomatoes, and "optional" veggies, stir it all around...
Cook, covered, on low heat for about 40 minutes
The finished product:
I serve this with basmati rice that I flavor with a bit of cumin, cilantro and some whole garlic cloves. The cloves boil and steam to a tender softness that allows them to be spread on some bread...
Enjoy, and think good things for Vijay.
Lorence
Labels: garlic
Peanr and apple and spinach saute with garlic
This recipe works out wonderfully for a vegetarian diet, to make it vegan, substitute the butter for margarine.
Ingredients:
Two apples,
two pears,
one head of garlic,
one packet of dry roasted peanuts,
the juice of one lemon,
one tablespoon of butter,
two packages of spinach.
Melt the butter and add the pressed garlic until lightly browned.
Add the chopped apples and saute until tender, then add the chopped pears and the peanuts and keep sauteing. Be careful because pears are softer than apples and you don't want them to get to be mushy.
Add the spinach and saute until wilted.
Finally sprinkle the juice of half a lemon.
Serve over cooked wild rice.
This is a lot like the "bowls" from Fresh on Bloor and on Spadina, but with the advantage that it is homemade. Very nutritious and delicious.
Labels: garlic, vegetarian
Green garlic
Sorry about the lack of updating, I've been swamped.
Michael sent the following email:
The other night I made some garlic bread. Instead of using butter, I decided to drizzle olive oil on the baguette. I then crushed a few cloves of garlic and spread on the bread and then added a little bit of salt. I placed the bread in the toaster oven and twenty minutes later when I went to take a look at the garlic bread, I was shocked. The garlic turned green! This has never happened in all my years of cooking. The cloves looked good when I crushed it so I can't understand what could have happened. Have you ever heard of anything like this?
I'm pretty sure it was the olive oil that turned the garlic green. I have seen it turn onion green so yeah. I think that's what happened.
Any other opinions about the issue?
Labels: garlic, olive oil
Garlic trivia
A while ago (almost two years ago now, wow!), I asked how everyone keeps their garlic. I had an incident in which my garlic sprouted in my kitchen. A lot of people responded to my questions:
Roger said:
garlic should be stored in a paper bag.
eLisa wrote:
Well I don't really know about garlic in specific, but I do know about onions. You keep onions in a brown paper bag in the low humidity side of your crisper and they stay firm and do not sprout for a really long time. I use my onions within a month, so I don't know how much longer than that that they would keep. Perhaps garlic is similar? I just buy new garlic whenever mine gets soft or sprouts and never thought about trying to keep it in the frig cause I heard it was a no-no like you did. I am going to try the brown paper bag thing now that you've got me thinking about it!
Arthur:
If your garlic sprouted that quickly, then it was ready to sprout. I worked in the Caribbean and bought garlic by the case. Sometimes it would all sprout in a couple of weeks, other times I could keep it for months. The only advice that I can give you is to buy high quality bulbs, keep them cool and in the dark, and don't use any sprouts. I'm sure that a garlic farmer could give you much better advice.
Patrick sent this email:
I have tried various ways of keeping garlic and I still feel the best way is to store it in the fridge where it stays dark and cool. I keep it in one of the veg. draws with my onions(which I keep in a plastic bag) and this seems to keep the garlic fresh and it lasts the longest. Like you I have kept my garlic stored in the dark , but in a a cabinet and it too, started to blossum. I think the cool temp. is what helps keep it fresh the longest. Hope we hear about other ideas!
Fritz said:
I have seen small ceramic crocks that were sold as storage for garlic, claiming to keep it fresh longer. When I buy garlic it is alot like buying bananas. The state that the garlic is in at the time of purchase will tell me alot about how long it has till it is compromised. I try to find it in the best posssible state and then use it up as soon as possible.
Annie left this comment:
I keep fresh garlic flavorful by peeling the buds clean, then packing the cloves tightly in a small jar, then cover with olive oil...they stay firm. I keep them in the fridge, although have been meaning to try storing it in the pantry to see just how long it will keep.
Simple suggested:
I keep my garlic in a ceramic crock on the kitchen counter so it's always nearby. I can purchase 4-5 head and still come to the end of 3 weeks without it being compromised. Garlic needs to be in a dry, dark environment for best storage, but you should carefully choose only the best at the store to prolong your garlic's "shelf life."
Eric also said:
Not unlike the other garlic aficionados, we keep our garlic in a little ceramic crock with dime-sized holes all over its circumference. Whenever we maked chili, spaghetti or any other dish that we feel could use some, it's right there.
Last week, Dan raised the question again:
As my wife and I were cooking Saturday night, I mentioned that I didn't think it was necessary to put garlic in the refrigerator. She thought I was probably right, but that she'd always kept it there "just because". I thought you might have some insight either way.
BTW - I'm glad you don't think Brian is old at 45. I'll be 43 in a couple of weeks, and I'm starting to feel the mileage on the odometer.
After my consultations, I think the most popular method is to keep the garlic in a sort of "cookie jar" ceramic container, screw the cap tightly and not let any light see the garlic.
I still keep it in the fridge, but I have to say that it softens a bit, I'm pretty sure that is not how it is supposed to be.
Does anyone have any more suggestions?
Labels: garlic
Garlic and tomato paste
Brian writes:
"I eat two cloves of Garlic a day and one can of Tomatoe Paste every day and feel fantstic at 45 years old! Brian"
Sounds like good advice. Garlic is delicious and I looooooove tomatoes. Love them, love them, love them. Then again, Brian, you're not that old at 45!
Labels: garlic
Garlic for Valentine's Day
It is romantic, and it has garlic. Make sure that both you and your partner eat lots of it. Both romantic and smelly!
Recipe shamelessly stolen from Suite 101
Baked Oysters With Garlic
12 fresh oysters, shucked and rinsed well
3 tablespoons butter + 1 teaspoon for greasing casserole dish
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry unseasoned breadcrumbs
1-2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Butter a small casserole dish, or for individual servings use ramekin dishes. Set aside.
In a small skillet, melt the butter. Add garlic and breadcrumbs and saute over medium heat until mixture is golden and slightly crumbly. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley. Spoon mixture over oysters and sprinkle with parmesan.
Bake oysters in the preheated oven until bubbly and lightly browned - about 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Makes 2 servings, 6 oysters each.
Labels: garlic
Puttanesca Sauce
I received the following email from Javier:
I have tasted a Puttanesca spaghetti at a restaurant that has become my favorite. The sauce has a very strong garlic flavor in it.
I have prepared different dishes with "AMORE" garlic paste, and like it a lot, I consider that it imparts a different garlic flavor to foods than minced garlic, and both complement each other very well.
But returning to that puttanesca sauce, this time I purchased one litter of the product, which was given to me still hot. When I opened the container, I could find one chunck of tomato that tasted very strongly to garlic. I'm sure it's some kind of garlic marinating that is done to the tomatoes, perhaps for several weeks before preparing the sauce. It was the tomatoes that had the strong garlic flavor which I'm looking for, and not the rest of the liquids in the sauce.
Perhaps you have an idea as to how to marinate the tomatoes.
Javier
I know that if you fry garlic in olive oil, being really careful not to burn them, you get garlic flavoured olive oil that is great to use as seafood salad dressing. I wonder if maybe sauteeing the tomatoes in olive oil and lots of garlic would make a difference.
Does anyone have any suggestions??
Labels: garlic
Green beans with garlic and green onions
Ingredients:
1.5 cups of green beans cooked,
3 bunches of green onions
3 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup vegetable buillon (I used Knorr)
Chop the green onions and garlic, place them in a pot and pour the vegetable buillon over them. Boil for about 5 minutes. Incorporate the cooked green beans and boil until almost all of the liquid had been reduced.
Serve with rice.
Labels: garlic
Creamy White Bean Soup with Kale, Garlic and Sausage
This recipe was sent by Lorence, I shamefully stole all his pictures. You can see the original on this link. Also he's got lots of recipes on his website, be sure not to miss it!
This is another of our cool weather favourites. The textures, aromas and tastes in this dish all combine to create a refreshing melange that's warming and incredibly flavourful. And it was a great way to use kale, which around here, is usually inexpensive and plentiful. I saw this recipe in Redbook Magazine's February 2000 issue. I didn't really notice the recipe at first & it wasn't really the kind of recipe I would normally have paid much attention to, but the photo...Oh the photo looked delicious. I saw that picture and I wanted a bowl of whatever it was! A few weeks later, I made the recipe and we've been hooked since. I wish I still had the original magazine so I could post that photo, but all I have left is a photocopy. I'll try to take a shot next time I make it (probably in a couple of weeks).
The remarkable thing with this recipe is that I don't change a thing (Well, ok, sometimes I use a bit more smoked sausage...). The recipe calls for 3 cloves of garlic. Finally! Why, oh, why would a recipe call for only 1 clove of garlic?!? What good is that? I love garlic, so I use a lot of it, and this recipe calls it right - 3 cloves. 3 LARGE cloves. Yum.
Creamy White Bean Soup with Kale, Garlic and Sausage
Ingredients;
8 ounces of Kielbasa, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 19 ounce cans of Cannelini beans, rinsed & drained
(great northern work, too, if that's all you can find)
2 14.5 ounce cans of chicken broth
4 cups of chopped kale
Directions:
1. Brown the sausage in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. I brown it until the bottom of the pan starts to turn brown with the cooked fat.
2. Remove the sausage from the pan to a bowl.
3. Add the oil to the pan and add the garlic. Cook the garlic for about 30 seconds. Don't let it brown! (it will turn bitter if it browns!)
4. Add some broth to the pan to deglaze it, scraping up as much of the browned bottom of the pan as possible, adding more broth as needed. Then add the rest of the broth.
5. Bring the broth to a boil.
6. Add the beans & reduce the heat to bring the beans and broth to a simmer.
7. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
8. Remove 1 cup of soup, including some beans, to a blender and puree the mixture until smooth.
9. Stir the puree back into the soup.
10. Add the sausage back into the soup.
11. Add the kale to the soup and simmer util the kale is just tender, then serve.
This makes 6 1/2 cups, and goes great with a nice crusty bread.
Enjoy,
Lorence
Labels: garlic, soup
Chicken Breasts with Tomato Butter
This recipe was posted on Lorence's Kitchen (link to the recipe). Take a look at his blog, he has some delicious recipes, not all featuring garlic but they are just so good!
(The picture was also shamefully stolen from his blog)
I knew I was going to have to make something quick last night since we were heading to my son's school Christmas show, so I dug this recipe out a couple of nights ago for the small bit of night-before prep it requires. That prep is simply making a sweetly pungent tomato butter that tops a simple sauteed chicken breast. The dish itself was a fast cook, since all that's done is just pan sauteeing the chicken until done. The seasoned flour on the chicken makes for a nice thin yet crispy crust. The R.O.I. on that little prep was huge!
Chicken Breasts with Tomato Butter
The Ingredients
4 Table spoons of butter at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon of finely minced garlic1 teaspoon of tomato paste1 teaspoon of chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup of flourSalt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless thicken breasts(try not to get the monstrously large., hormone laden type - they're too thick to be pan sautéed.
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
The Directions:
Combine 3 Tablespoons of the butter with the garlic, tomato paste and parsley.
Scrape the mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap and use the wrap to help form the butter into a cylinder. Wrap the cylinder tightly and chill.
Combine flour, ½ tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture.
In a large frying pan, melt remaining 1 Tablespoon of butter in the olive oil over medium-high heat.Add the chicken and reduce the heat to medium.
Cook, turning once, until chicken is just done, about 10 minutes.Serve immediately, topping the hot chicken with slices of the butter.
Some variations to explore:
For the butter:
Use Shallots instead of garlic
Use sun-dried tomoato instead of tomato paste
Add chopped black olives to the butter
Substitute fresh basil for the parsley
For the chicken: (don't do too much here...the chicken should be kept simple)
Add some cayenne tot he dredging flour for a bit of extra kick
Try Penzey's Shallot Salt in the dredging flour instead of your usual salt
This recipe came from "First for Women" magazine, sometime in the early-mid1990's. I have several recipes from this magazine but I can't find a single one online. I'll post a few more as I make them.
Enjoy!
Lorence
Labels: chicken, garlic
Hungarian Chicken Paprikash with Pierogi
Christine says:
You have to try this recipe. It is absolutely delicious!
4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in bite sized pieces
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions diced fine
2 Tablespoons garlic minced
1/4 cup sweet hungarian paprika
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 - 12oz can of chicken stock
1 16 oz container of sour cream
3 Tablespoons of flour mixed with 1/4 cup of ice cold water to make paste
Saute minced onions in evoo until golden (do not burn) , add chicken breasts and brown. Add all seasonings and chicken stock except sour cream and flour mixture. Cover and simmer for 1 hour on low heat. Add sour cream, bring back to boil. Wisk flour mixture until smooth and add to pan, continue to wisk until mixture is completely mixed and will thicken. Immediately remove from heat and put in serving bowl.
Make frozen pierogi(I baked mine in the oven with a little of butter).
Put chicken mixture over pierogi and enjoy!
Labels: chicken, garlic
Roasted Creamy Alfredo Sauce
FC OZ sent the following recipe:
3 whole bulbs of garlic
1/2 lb. cooked boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2” dice
3/4 cup of corn kernels
1 can ( 4 oz.) chopped green chilis (for more heat, use chopped canned jalapenos!)
1 green bell pepper, seeded, and cut into 1/2” dice
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2” dice
2 cups of diced corn tortillas(1/2” dice)
1/2 cup shredded reduced fat Mexican four cheese(available in local markets)
1 jar (16.4 oz.) Creamy Alfredo Sauce
Remove the outer layers of the garlic bulbs and cut off the stems. Brush with oil, wrap in tin foil, and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove the garlic from the foil and squeeze out the roasted garlic from the cut end of the bulbs. With the flat part of a knife spread the roasted garlic into a paste. Heat the Creamy Alfredo Sauce to a low simmer and whisk in the garlic paste. Place the sauce and all of the other ingredients other than the cheese into a two quart baking dish (8”X8”X2”), mix the ingredients in the dish thoroughly. Top with the cheese. Place the baking dish in a 350 degree preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest five minutes.
I guess you can figure out what to do from here.
Labels: garlic
Chicken Parm Soup
Recipe sent by Christine Goldstein
I saw a variation of this recipe on Rachael Ray. I added some more spices to make it taste more like my parm. Was a BIG HIT!
1 bag frozen ice glazed chicken tenders
(chop them into bite sized pieces before cooking)
1 lg onion
2 Tablespoons garlic
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons italian seasoning
1 box of chicken broth
1 can of crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
sliced garlic bread
mozzerella cheese
slice onions in small slices. Brown onions in olive oil until carmelized. Add chicken. Brown in pan until cooked completely. Add seasonings, broth, tomatoes. Cook on low heat min of 15 minutes. (I simmered for a couple of hours)
Place slice of garlic bread in bottom of bowl. Scoop soup on top of bread, place mozzerella on top of soup to melt.
Enjoy!
EDIT:
After a few questions, here is what Christine replied:
One 28 oz can of crushed tomatos, use about 4 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces. 4 cups of chicken stock.
Labels: garlic
Huitlacoche enchiladas
This recipe does not have a lot of garlic, but I thought it was interesting to post.
Huitlacoche, or corn smut is the mushroom (fungus) that grows on corn (or maize). Some people think it's gross because it's black, but it's really delicious. It tastes like a combination of mushroom and corn. Here is the whole Wikipedia article on corn smut (link).
There are two steps in making the enchiladas. The first is the huitlacoche filling.
Go to Kensington Market and get a can of huitlacoche at Perola's.
You will also need onion, garlic, serrano chiles, corn oil and salt. The challenge here is actually figuring out the amounts, since I just chopped the ingredients and made the filling without measuring. I used about 3/4 of an onion, 4 cloves of garlic and 3 chiles.
Place the onion, garlic and serrano chiles in the food processor and chop.
Saute the onion+garlic+chile combination with a pinch of salt on medium heat and about 2 teaspoons of oil.
When the onion is brown, add the contents of the can of huitlacoche and saute for about 10 minutes at reduced heat. The huitlacoche is black, do not be turned off by that.
Do not add more salt since the canned huitlacoche is usually already salted.
Set aside and proceed to make the sauce.
The ingredients for the green sauce are:
Tomatillos, onion, garlic, cilantro, serrano chile and the "secret" ingredient, a teaspoon of Knorr vegetable broth. Again I don't have specific amounts, I just calculated according to what I had.
Chop all the ingredients in the food processor until smooth. This is a really good green salsa and you can keep some of it for later use on quesadillas or tacos.
For the enchiladas you need to cook the salsa, I used about 2 teaspoons of corn oil and cooked it in a pot simmering for about 12 minutes.
To make enchiladas, the tortillas have to be fried. I calculated 3 enchiladas per person, so I fried 6 tortillas. This has to be done at the last minute because you don't want the tortillas to be cold and soggy when your guests eat.
To serve the enchiladas, just after frying the tortilla, fill each one with some hot huitlacoche filling, fold them and cover them in sauce. Serve with sour cream on top. I also served a side of sliced avocado.
Here's a link to my previous enchilada recipe, another vegetarian meal that I prepared back in May, corn enchiladas.
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