Butternut Tostada

I found this recipe at The Adventures of Crazy Biker Chick, it doesn't have a lot of garlic, but it sounds delicious.

1 butternut squash (to make 2 cups cooked pulp)
4 tortillas
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp well-rubbed oregano
1 cup shredded cheddar or jack cheese
4 cups shredded lettuce or alfalfa sprouts (ed: definitely use yummy sprouts!)
salsa (see below)
optional - toasted pumpkin seeds

Cut and quarter the butteernut and steam for 20 min. Meanwhile, toast the tortillas over gas burner or on a griddle under just softly crisp.

Remove the squash pulp form the skins. Heat oil in a heavy pan and sprinkle with chili powder, cumin and garlic. Stir and fry until the spices are fragrant. Add squash and oregano, stirring while mixture heats through.

Place squash on tortillas, sprinkle with shredded cheese, and place under broiler until cheese melts. Remove, cover with lettuce or sprouts, and dot with salsa. A handful of toasted pumpkin seeds makes a delicious final touch.

Salsa
3 ripe, red tomatoes
4 green onions
2 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno or yellow hot chili pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 tsp oregano
Dice tomatoes, chop onions, mince garlic and chili; combine all these with herbs and mix well.

Garlic olive oil

I got an email yesterday, from Gina

Hello! Wondered if you could help me with a recipe.
An olive bar near me recently stopped carrying garlic cloves in oil with red
pepper flakes. They were so delicious and I’m sure there was no vinegar. Can you
help!? Thanks! Gina

Well, this is how I would do it, I learned this trick from my father a long time ago:
Chop garlic cloves really really fine. Put them in a bottle. Also put in th bottle some hot pepper flakes like the ones people usually put on pizza.
Fill the bottle with extra virgin olive oil and close tightly. There's no need to refrigerate, since it's oil. In about 2 weeks, you can use your homemade chili-garlic oil. To avoid the risk of botulism, use it right away or keep it in the fridge for up to one week.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/iyh-vsv/food-aliment/garlic-ail_e.html

Any other suggestions from Garlicster readers?

Garlic and Clam Cream Sauce Pasta

Recipe taken from Rhosgobel: Radagast's home

My SO and I found this recipe in an issue of Fine Cooking a few years ago, and since then it's been one of our most frequently-made recipes. The sauce is not as thick as your typical cream sauce (e.g., fettuccine alfredo), and is also quite flavorful thanks to the combination of clams, garlic, herbs, and cheese.

This recipe is quick and easy; my SO and I can make this dish in less than 25 minutes. The slowest step is cooking the pasta, and even that can be done in parallel with making the sauce. Since I made this last week after a long day at work, it's this week's end-of-the-week recipe blogging post.

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 6.5oz cans chopped clams (drained, reserve the liquid for the juice below)
3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed with a garlic press
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2/3 cup clam juice (reserved from the cans above)
1/2 to 2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 pound dry pasta (we often use fusili)

0. Cook the pasta in salted water until it is al dente. When cooked, drain the pasta, but do not rinse with water. Work on the sauce (steps 1-6) while the pasta is cooking, though try to schedule your cooking so the pasta is done somewhat before it needs to be added to the sauce (in step 8).
1. In a large frying pan melt the butter over medium-high heat.
2. Add the clams and fry for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add the garlic and fry for a minute longer, stirring frequently.
4. Add the oregano and red pepper flakes, stir for a few seconds, and then add the clam juice.
5. Cook until the clam juice is reduced in volume by approximately 50% (a few minutes).
6. Add the cream, and cook (simmering) until the sauce is a good consistency to coat the pasta (a moderately-thick sauce), stirring occasionally. It usually takes 2-4 minutes for the sauce to thicken to the right consistency; check the thickness of the sauce by stirring regularly with a spoon. When ready, the sauce should be a good deal thicker than it was just after you added the cream.
7. Once the sauce is thickened, mix in the parsley and cheese.
8. Add the drained pasta, mix well, and serve with grated cheese.

This recipe makes enough for a hearty dinner for the two of us, with very little left over. The original article says that the pasta doesn't reheat well; I've found that it reheats just fine in the microwave, as long as I mix it frequently as I reheat it, and add a little bit of freshly grated cheese once it's hot.

The flavor of the sauce is much more intense if you use fresh parsley, so don't use dried parsley unless you absolutely have to. Parsley is pretty easy to grow; I have a parsley plant in my backyard that I use primarily to make this dish.

The original article encourages flexibility with the sauce's ingredients, and includes five other recipes for similarly flavorful cream sauces.

Weinstein, B., and M. Scarbrough. 2002. "How to Make a Light Creamy Pasta Sauce." Fine Cooking 50: 45-49.

Diablo Sauce

Mr. Anchovy posted a recipe for diablo sauce that could potentially have lots of garlic. Here it is, or follow this link:
Run all your chiles through a food processor.
Toss the chopped up chiles into a big pot with plenty of cider or wine vinegar.
Optional: add in chopped up onions and garlic (this time, I added about 30 cloves of garlic....last time I didn't add any....up to you)
Let it all simmer away for an hour or so.
Add in some white sugar (I use about 2 cups for a good sized pot full of sauce)
Simmer it for another twenty minutes.
Jar it up using standard canning procedures. I always put the filled and sealed jars back into boiling water for about 15 minutes.
Feel the love.