Roasted garlic with a charcoal grill

Aricthered sent a comment about the roasted garlic recipes we've posted:

"Using whole heads of garlic I remove the skin, wrap them in tin foil and place the foil wrapped garlic heads arround the coals under the grill. No seasings or oils are used on the garlic and we squeeze the garlig heads on to bread just as in the other recipe".

Thanks, perfect timing for barbecue season!

Garlic after-smell

Lina sent this question:

I love garlic but my breathe and/or my pores really let everyone know it after eating it.

Do you have an answer as to how I can prevent everyone knowing when I eat garlic?

Thanks in advance,

Linda

I really have no idea how to do it short of having everyone in your party/house/family eat garlic with you. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Baked or Fried Potato Skins with Aioli Sauce Dip

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, JadeMarie sent this recipe:

An old Irish saying goes that "Only two things in this world are too serious to be jested on, potatoes and matrimony." This recipe is a perfect appetizer for a St. Patrick's Day party, very easy to make, and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients
2 - 6 medium potatoes
3 tbsp. melted butter (for baked skins)
coarse salt
oil for deep frying (fried skins)

Aioli Sauce Dip
cooked pulp of 2 med. potatoes
8 cloves garlic, crushed
1 c. virgin olive oil
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. lemon juice

Scrub potatoes, rinse well and pat dry. Pierce the skins several time with a
fork. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until tender (or microwave on HIGH for 8 minutes). Let stand 4 minutes to cool slightly, cut in half, then scoop out flesh (set aside to use for the dip) This will leave an approximately 1/2 inch thick potato shell. Take a sharp knife, and cut shells into eight equal sections.
For baked skins, brush inside and outside with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt. Place on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil and bake at 475 degrees for 10-15 minutes until crisp.
For fried skins, heat oil and fry skins until crisp. Drain on paper towels.

To prepare the sauce:
Combine potato pulp, garlic and half the oil in a blender and blend until smooth. Add egg yolk and slowly add the remaining oil and the lemon juice.
If sauce seems too thick, add a teaspoon or two of water. Serve sauce in a dip bowl surrounded by potato skins.


And, of course, GREEN BEER!

Garlicky Bread Soup

JadeMarie sent a delicious recipe for Garlicky Bread Soup:
Garlicky Bread Soup
By Cait Johnson, author of Witch in the Kitchen (Inner Traditions, 2001).

Simple Solution
More people I know have succumbed to colds and flus this March than in the middle of winter. That's where a bowl of this soothing, restorative soup can come in handy: garlic is a known immune-booster, and this recipe--based on soups beloved by wise peasants in the Mediterranean--delivers health-promoting nourishment with every luscious bite. It's also inexpensive and simple to make.

Even if you're feeling in top form, Garlicky Bread Soup is a tasty and beneficial way to keep the winds of March at bay. Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
16 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 quarts water
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly into rounds
1/2 cup sherry
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
4 thick slices of good-quality bread
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add onions and saute, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and saute 5 minutes more.

2. Add water and herbs, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer soup for 15 minutes. Add potatoes and carrots and simmer for another 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Add sherry and continue to simmer an additional 5 minutes.

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place a bread slice in the bottom of each soup bowl, ladle the soup over the bread, and serve hot, garnished with the cheese, if desired.

Serves 4.

Spanish Pork Chops

Recipe sent by IWANT.


Ingredients.....

4 pork chops (any cut you like and trim all the fat off them)
3 large cans of chopped tomatoes or the equivalent of your own if you do them. STRAIN them! Get out all the juice as you don't need it. Simmering these will produce more juice.
2 chopped onions
two or three cloves of minced fresh garlic (depends on your tastes)
2 tablespoons approx. of Italian spice mixture or use oregano, basil and thyme (about a couple of teaspoons each) I actually just throw it in so the measurements for the spices are approx.

- You will need a deep pan for this. A regular frying pan won't do it, it will overflow when it starts to simmer. I have a large pot/pan. As large around as a large frying pan but about 3 inches high.

- pour the tomatoes in the pan. Then mix in the onions, then the spices including the garlic. If you wish to saute the garlic first be my guest but watch it doesn't burn.

- now, you have everything in the pan but the chops. Time to get your hands dirty. Moosh aside the tomatoe mixture a bit and being putting the chops in there. 4 will fit nicely. Once they are in, pull a bit of that tomato mixture over top of them and try to cover them in it the best you can. When it starts to simmer it will bubble up so don't worry if it isn't perfect.

- put it on medium heat and simmer them for 1 & a 1/2 hours. Check them now and then but they really do cook themselves with little running back and forth. Just make sure they are not boiling at a heavy rate. I usually end up turning them down to about 2 or 3 later on.

- now that that is done, wash and scrub 4 potatoes and pop them in the oven for the same amount of time.

These chops will literally fall off the bone they are so tender. This recipe also produces lots of sauce so there is plenty for each chop and the potatoes. These make great leftovers too.

Garlic Burgers

Andrea sent this email with her Garlic Burgers recipe:

Flavor up your hamburgers with a clove of garlic in each patty! When I was out of my usual seasoning that I love, I decided to season with garlic instead. This is my favorite way to cook hamburgers now and works well on a George Foreman Grill.

Garlic is the only seasoning I add because I put ketchup, onions, mayo on my hamburgers. Just spread a clove of pressed garlic on some ground chuck which you're going to form into a patty, fold over the ground beef to hide the garlic and shape into a patty. Grill till done. As the hamburger cooks the juices spread the garlic taste--so each bite will taste delicious.

Sounds really good, and I do have the George Foreman Grill. I may just have to make them soon.