The most amazing gazpacho

I just made the most amazing gazpacho. It all started this morning when James and I made plans for dinner. Originally I thought we should eat mango salad or something, but later I thought I should make my authentic gazpacho, it is great for a hot day like today and it's all vegetarian. I went to Kensington Market and got all the ingredients. James was in charge of peeling the garlic, he peeled 6 cloves and I just used the whole thing. OMG, it was so garlicky! I looooved it.

While I was at Kensington Market, I remembered that the other day James asked me if I had eaten cactus (nopales), of course I have (hey, they're on the Mexican national seal), and I even told him that in Mexico people eat the fruit of the cactus (tuna, in Spanish). It's called prickly pear or cactus fig. Well, I found that they sold red prickly pears at the fruit stand on the corner of Augusta and Nassau. I have to confess I had never seen red prickly pears, but they seemed to be really similar to the green ones, so I bought two. They were really good and James really enjoyed them. It's nice to show him some of the (vegetarian) things people eat in Mexico. I told him that next time I'm going to cook chayotes for him! (He has seen them but has never eaten them. As soon as I find them in Chinatown I'm going to buy them and cook them, mmmmh!!)

VH Sauce help

Peter sent this email:
I'm hoping that since you posted asking for people to send you recipes, you might have come across a recipe that would replicate V-H Garlic Sauce.
I'm from Montreal, but have been living in the US for almost 2 years. No matter where I look, I can find NOTHING that comes even close to VH.
It's not imported here, and V-H doesn't seem interested in expanding into the US market ( I offered to sell it for them here )
Anyways, aside from using it for wings, I've always used it mostly for Chicken Fried Rice ( V-H Strong Garlic Sauce ).

OK, I asked around and Joyce got me this:

1. Heat some oil and add some ground up/minced garlic.
2. Salt to taste (for a more asian flavour you can use
oyster sauce or soy sauce instead of the salt).
3. Add honey.
4. Stir it all up and you are done.

Hope this helps!

Going camping? Eat garlic!

Mosquitoes and blackflies are one of the things that make me have second thoughts about going camping.
I found the following information on Algonquin Park's website.

In Algonquin, blackflies are usually out by mid-May (depending on the weather in any given year) and are usually around until late June. The worst time of day for blackflies tends to be the last 2 or 3 hours of sunlight.
Mosquitoes are also abundant, beginning in mid to late-May and usually last longer than blackflies (into July). Mosquitoes are most often a problem in cooler, shady parts of the forest, as well as in the evening, and into the first couple of hours of darkness. They usually become less of a problem through the night (although they do not disappear entirely).

How to Prepare Yourself
...
Eat lots of garlic for at least a week before you come — use it in every meal. Your friends may stay away from you but so will the blackflies! Evidence exists that something in garlic acts as a repellent.

So, it helps to be a garlic freak if you want to go camping. It will help you keep away blackflies and very probably mosquitoes too!

Fleica

JadeMarie sent the following email:
OMG! This is sooo goood :)
I used rib steaks because that's my favourite kind of steak.
I served it with a mixed green salad that had sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, green and red bell peppers and red onions. The dressing was that Lemon Dressing that you published in November 2005.

Recipe: Grilled Steak With Garlic (Fleica)

Time: About 30 minutes

3 or 4 garlic cloves, peeled
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 2- to 3-pound flank steak, or 4 strip steaks or rib-eye steaks, or an equivalent amount of skirt steak
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves, optional.

1. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic with lemon juice and salt to make a paste. Or mince garlic, and stir it with the salt into lemon juice, using the back of a wooden spoon to smash garlic as much as you can.

2. Press pepper into steak, then spread garlic mixture evenly on both sides. Let steak sit while you heat grill or broiler.

3. Build a moderately hot fire in the grill, or heat the broiler, and place the rack about 4 inches from heat source.

4. Brush a little melted butter onto steaks, then place on grill. Brush once or twice more with remaining butter while steaks cook, about 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

Roasted Garlic and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread

Jade Marie sent the link to this recipe:

The roasted garlic adds a wonderful flavor to this bread. We had a family get together and my brother in-law cooked up a beautiful salmon for dinner. I thought this Sun-dried Tomato bread would be a great accompaniment with the salmon and it was. The whole family loved the bread. My father called the next day and said he toasted the bread for breakfast and that it was the best toast he had ever had. Give this recipe a try! You would be disappointed. (Link)

Roast Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Jade Marie sent this recipe from www.FoodFit.com:
This recipe serves: 8
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
For the chicken:
1 whole chicken, 6 to 8 pounds
salt and pepper
1 sprig fresh rosemary, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion, roughly chopped into 1" pieces
2 carrots, roughly chopped into 1" pieces
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped into 1" pieces
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 lemon

For the garlic mashed potatoes:
1 bulb garlic, unpeeled
splash of olive oil
5 large potatoes (Idaho or russet)
1 1/3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions
For the chicken:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Rinse the chicken with cold water, pat dry and season with salt and pepper inside and out.
3. Stuff the cavity with the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and peeled garlic. Also put a few pieces of onion, carrot and celery into the cavity.
4. Scatter the rest of the onions, carrots and celery on the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Squeeze juice from the lemon all over the chicken and add the lemon half to the cavity.
5. Place in the oven. After 15 minutes turn the heat down to 350°F. Roast the chicken for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour, until its golden brown and crisp and the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a sharp knife.
6. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and let rest for about 10 minutes. Remove the skin and discard. Carve the chicken into serving pieces.

"The key to a perfectly garlic-infused mashed potatoes is to first lightly heat the garlic bulb, drizzled with olive oil, in the oven for no more than 15-20 minutes. Once the bulb takes on a golden brown coloration and softened texture, you'll know that the flavor of the roasted garlic within its cloves has reached perfection..."

For the garlic mashed potatoes:
1. Meanwhile, place the garlic bulb in an ovenproof dish and drizzle with olive oil. Once the oven has been turned down to 350°F, place the dish, uncovered, in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the garlic is golden brown and soft.
2. Remove from the oven and let cool.
3. Peel the potatoes and cut them in half. Place them in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender when pricked with a fork, about 30 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. Drain.
4. Bring the stock to a boil, and turn down to a simmer.
5. Squeeze the roasted garlic bulb to release the roasted garlic in each clove. Mash the garlic with a fork and throw the skins away.
6. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or fork, or use a food mill. Add the roasted garlic. Slowly add the stock until the desired consistency is reached.
7. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste and serve alongside the chicken.


This recipe is also dedicated to Clara, since garlic mashed potatoes are her all time favourite!

Famous...for eating. who's really that surprised?

This post taken from Clara's Victory Dance:

Jeremy’s just shared some exciting news! We are pizza trendsetters. If you go to the Pizzaville on Yonge just north of Wellesley (Toronto, Canada) you can get a new kind of slice. Provolone, pepperoni and gourmet garlic. It’s a heretofore unavailable concoction created by Jeremy and I. We get it so often that the last time we ordered it they made two, and sold the second in slices. They went like hotcakes! Or something else that would probably sell better than hotcakes these days. I want to get them to call it the ‘claremy’ so go in there and ask for it by name. The village is soon to have the worst breath in all of downtown! I mean this thing is LOADED with garlic. I firmly believe that that’s why I haven’t gotten a cold n forever though. Healthy and stinky. That can be the slogan for the claremy. It’s delicious seriously go get some. Pizza. Pervs.

Garlic fiddleheads

Kelly posted this recipe on her blog:
I’ve been staring at these wee, strange, expensive (they’re $7.99/lb) veggies for a couple of weeks now, wondering how on earth you were supposed to cook them, and what they tasted like. Knowing that you can only get them for a few weeks each spring, I realized that if I wanted to find out this year, I’d better get cracking. So tonight I bought about a dollar’s worth. Below is the recipe that I winged while making tonight’s dinner:
The recipe (serves one, enough for a mini meal)
1 generous handful fiddleheads (these should be dark green in colour)
1 lovely, organic portobello mushroom
1/2 red pepper
2-3 cloves organic garlic
1 dollop olive oil
organic chicken broth (about 1/8 cup)
dried chili flakes
salt
water

1. Fill a small sauce pan with enough water to boil the fiddleheads. Salt, and allow water to boil vigorously.


2. While the water boils, trim the fiddleheads so that there’s only about a 1/4″ of stem, discard any unfurled fiddleheads (appearantly these taste weedy). Wash the fiddles, brushing away any left over papery chafe.


3. Slip the fiddleheads into the boiling water, and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Any longer will make them tough (or so my veggie book tells me).


4. Slice up the garlic. Pour enough olive oil into a skillet or wok to cover the bottom, add the garlic.


5. Slice up the mushroom. When the oil is sizzling nicely, add to pan. The shrooms will absorb the oil. To keep them from drying out, add a bit of chicken broth (or whatever broth you want. You could also use water) to keep the shrooms from burning and sticking to the pan. I didn't measure, I just poured until I thought I’d added enough.


6. Drain the fiddleheads, and add to the shroom and garlic concoction.


7. Sprinkle with dried chili flakes to taste.


8. When the broth is gone (the shrooms will suck this up too!), you’re done!


9. Eat.

This was so amazingly tasty, that I immediately wished that the store was open so I could run out and buy more tonight. I’ll be getting more tomorrow, that’s for sure. I want to eat my fill of these little babies before they’re no longer available for the year.

Garlic Jars

Buff Stoneware and White Stoneware garlic jars.
Sent by Quail Creek Pottery.
Link.

Lemon-Garlic Broiled Shimp

JadeMarie sent this recipe. It looks super extra delicious;

Ingredients:

2 pounds shrimp
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup melted butter or margarine

Directions:

Peel and devein shrimp and set aside. In a small saucepan, cook garlic in butter/margarine until tender. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Arrange shrimp in a single layer on a baking pan. Pour sauce over shrimp. Broil about 4 inches from heat source for 6 to 8 minutes or until shrimp are pink and tender. Baste once during broiling with sauce in pan. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with crusty bread to absorb sauce.

About 4 servings



Have a happy Victoria Day Weekend, everyone!!

Chicken and garlic

Nina sent the recipe to this delicious-looking and very galicky dish:

The dish is carefully constructed by pounding some chicken fillets (not too carefully), so they spread out.
Careful to not overdo it, so the meat will still be intact and won't have "holes" in it.
Next, you mash up 1 to 2 cloves of garlic, half a tablespoon of butter, salt, pepper and some chopped parsley, zap it in the microwave a little (only a few seconds, you don't want the butter to be all runny, just soft and manageable).
Mix everything up and add the flavoured butter to the centre of the fillet, rolling it up and pinning the edges with toothpicks. Sprinkle a bit of parsley on top, season well and drizzle a bit of oil, and then cook until you reach the desired appearance. I expect it would go nicely with a side of mashed potatoes.
My own sidedish was a grilled butternut squash and sweet potato dish I'm saving for later posting. :)

Sweet, Sweet Garlic

Sweet, Sweet Garlic
Originally uploaded by Octopus's Garden.

Looks delicious!

Maria's Garlic Martini

garlic martini
Originally uploaded by Maria in Toronto.

A few weeks ago we went to the One of a Kind Spring Show with Jay and Jayme. I made an amazing discovery: The Garlic Box. They had a booth at the Show. They have everything garlic and I was so excited it's good I hadn't brought my credit card or I would have bought absolutely everything. I ended up buying a jar of pickled garlic cloves.
I decided to make my very own garlic martini. It is exactly the same as a gin martini, but instead of using olives, or cocktail onions or even a twist of lemon, I used a pickled clove of garlic.

Try it, it was delicious!

Garlic Lime Chicken

Clara was diagnosed with cancer and will have surgery on Wednesday. We are all thinking of her.
She sent this email:

here is a recipe i got from www.thyca.org, the thyroid cancer survivors association....for a few weeks before every radiaactive iodine scan a patient will have to go on a low iodine diet. Luckily garlic can make this prcess more bearable...when i have to go on this diet in a few weeks i will be trying this out...

3-4 fresh limes (their juice)
4 large boneless chicken breasts
6 cloves garlic chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil

Cube chicken into bite size pieces. Begin to saute with olive oil and garlic about 5-6 minutes. Add all lime juice from squeezed fresh limes. Continue to cook till all juice is absorbed, and forms a brown crusty coating (about 20 minutes).

Thanks Clara, we hope everything goes right. I love you.

Question

Larry sent the following question:

How much bottled garlic equals 1 head,etc
thanks
LARRY

Judging by the amount of chopped garlic that fits in one teaspoon, I would say that one teaspoonful of bottled garlic equals 1.5 cloves.

Any other suggestions or ideas?

Garlic bread

Crush garlic
Originally uploaded by Maria in Toronto.

Accordion Guy and The Redhead had me over for dinner last week. They prepared delicious garlic bread for me. Amazingly, it was my first time seeing how garlic bread is prepared.
The first step is to crush the peeled garlic. For one baguette we used 4 cloves of garlic.
Mix the crushed garlic with about half a cup of butter or margarine.
Spread this garlic butter on the diagonally sliced baguette bread.
Put it in the oven and broil for about 10 minutes or until toasted.

Delicious golden toasted garlic bread!

Garlic Chicken

Melissa sent her recipe for garlic chicken:

1 whole chicken - cavity cleaned out
10 heads of garlic - peeled

450F oven for 40 min.

I stuff the cavity of the chicken and then slip pieces of garlic under the skin.

If I make mashed potatoes with the meal the cooked garlic goes with nicely.

Drunken Garlic Pot Roast

Bunky Mikrut was asking for a "real" pot roast recipe (featuring beef), as opposed to the previous one (Garlic Pot Roast) which was made with pork. So this is a recipe sent by JadeMarie, enjoy:

Don't be afraid of all the garlic in this! It gets really mild from the long cooking process and gives the meat a wonderful flavor.

2 1/2 lbs boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of fat
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
24 cloves garlic, minced (about 4 tbsp.)
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 cup hot water
8 ounces lager beer
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
cornstarch (dissolved in water; for gravy)

In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. of the oil and brown roast on both sides, seasoning with salt and pepper; remove to a platter and keep warm.
Add the remaining tbsp of oil to the pan and add the onions, cook until they just start to wilt then add the garlic, then cook until the onions are tender, a few minutes more.
Add the bouillon cubes to the hot water and stir to dissolve; add that to the skillet along with the beer, brown sugar, mustard, and vinegar; stir to mix well.
Pour mixture into the bottom of the crockpot.
Place roast on top of liquid, cutting into pieces if it doesn't lay flat.
Set the crockpot on low and cook for 7-8 hours.
Remove meat from crockpot and pour liquid into a pan on the stove; heat to a boil, and mix a slurry out of the cornstarch and water; thicken pan liquid with slurry to make a gravy.
Serve gravy over meat or with potatoes or noodles.

Garlic Pot Roast

Meagan sent this recipe for Garlic Pot Roast from Canadian Living Magazine:


Garlic Pot Roast (Canadian Living)

Ingredients


1 tsp (5 mL) fennel seeds
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp (20 mL) chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp/5 mL dried)
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
1 tsp (5 mL) dry mustard
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper
1 boneless centre-cut double-loin pork roast (about 2-1/4 lb/1.125 kg)


Preparation

Using mortar and pestle or with bottom of heavy skillet, crush fennel seeds; place in small bowl. Mix in garlic, thyme, oil, dry mustard, salt and pepper to form paste; rub all over roast.

Place roast on rack in roasting pan. Roast in centre of 325°F (160°C) convection oven until meat thermometer inserted in centre registers 160°F (70°C), about 80 minutes. Transfer to cutting board; tent with foil and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Conventional oven: Centre rack at 325°F (160°C) for 2 hours.

Serve With....


Roasted Sweet Potatoes: As an easy accompaniment, toss together 4 sweet potatoes, peeled and halved; 2 heads garlic, tips removed; 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil; a few sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried thyme; and 1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper; cook in pan with pork roast.


UPDATE: Sorry about the mistake. I don't know what happened. Here's the recipe.

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.

Braised short ribs

Mr. Anchovy made these during the weekend:

You need:
1 Dutch oven
Lots of thick cut short ribs.
thyme
summer savory
salt & pepper
beer
several cloves of chopped fresh garlic
worcestershire sauce
indonesian soy sauce
oil
butter
flour

Brown the short ribs thoroughly, a few at a time, in the dutch oven, on the stove top, in oil - then take them out and put them into a bowl.
Deglaze the pot with beer.
Add the short ribs back in.
Add enough beer to almost cover the short ribs
Add lots of thyme and summer savory
Add the garlic
Add several healthy shakes of worcestershire sauce
Add about a tablespoon of Indonesian Soy sauce (optional)
Put the lid on the dutch oven and place in a 350 oven
Cook for about 3 hours
Halfway through, take it out, and mix everything around
When cooking is complete, take the short ribs out of their liquid
Mix together soft butter and flour to form a smooth paste
Add the paste to the sauce and mix together until the paste is well desolved
Cook the sauce on a medium-low heat on the stove top for about 3 minutes to cook the flour.
Meanwhile, make a batch of smashed potatoes, and perhaps some steamed broccoli
Serve, drizzling sauce over the short ribs and potatoes
Feel the love.

Fowl garlic breath

In honour of Garlicster, A Food Year has this beautiful post about garlic:

"Garlic is one of the most inexpensive, healthiest and tastiest things you could put into your mouth. There are many tools dedicated solely for garlic (the garlic press, garlic roaster etc.) and many more ways to use it beyond cooking (ointments, medicine etc.) It can be found in cuisines throughout the world; from Italy to Thailand, and is used in many different ways. The more garlic you eat, the more it becomes a part of your life. It even permeates your body so that you breathe and sweat it! Yes, garlic helps you repel unwanted company while simultaneously encouraging you to brush your teeth and bathe. Garlic doesn't pretty much whatever your heart desires (and it's good for your heart, too!)
I tried to use garlic in as many ways that I could think of without needing a steep cup of ginger tea to soothe my stomach after dinner. Not surprisingly, ginger also pairs with garlic quite nicely. We had it raw, roasted, fried and steeped; which covers a wide variety of garlic's culinary uses. If you wish to continue the garlic adventure, check out Garlicster, the blog dedicated entirely to garlic related content.
It wasn't hard to determine what dishes I was going to make once I decided I was going to do a garlic themed dinner. My first dish was Chicken with Roasted Garlic. The skin is quickly crisped and then the heat is reduced to allow for beautiful caramelization. The natural sugars from the onion and garlic are brought out from the process taking away from the bitterness and leaving behind a delicious flavor.
I placed the chicken on Garlic Risotto with Peas and allowed the drippings to seep into the rice. This was the only dish that was below perfect in tonight's dinner. I had rushed the making of the garlic broth and the flavor was not as pronounced as I had expected. My risotto was also not very creamy, which is the first time I've ever had a bad experience making risotto before. I'm not entirely sure what happened.
On the side were a Whole Roasted Potatoes with Garlic and some Braised Garlic Broccoli. The potatoes are first boiled to soften and then allowed to bake until crisp, giving them a great texture. They are then rolled in raw garlic to give them a nice bite. If you minced your garlic and leave it on the counter while the potatoes are baking the flavor is enhanced. If you wish to diminish the bite of the raw garlic, chop instead of mince it or simply cook it. I think that broccoli and garlic are wonderful together, like garlic and pretty much anything is. The braising allowed the broccoli to soften and absorb the flavor of the garlic.
To help with cleaning up after this meal, a little lemon juice can help to take the smell away. Just rub a cut lemon on your cutting board and on your hands and you're good to go. Of course, garlic is wonderful with lemon as a sauce or dressing instead of a cleanser, so feel free to squeeze some of that juice on your plate before you take it to the counters."

Go visit A Food Year for more delicious recipes, one different recipe each day.

Guest blogging by Wendy: Slow Food Guide to San Francisco

A few weeks ago, Chelsea Green Publishing sent me two books. One of them is about the new trend of "slow food":

Slow food is a growing international movement committed to sustainable agriculture, local food traditions, and the honest pleasures of the table. More than 80,000 members worldwide have fought successfully to protect raw milk cheeses, heritage breeds of American turkeys, and many other outstanding foods that are either threatened or simply deserve to be more widely known and enjoyed.

I thought it was a bit weird that they sent a book about San Francisco all the way to Toronto, but surprise, surprise, Wendy just went to San Francisco last week, so she took the book with her. I am honoured to have her as a guest blogger today:

"The Slow Food Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area" by Sylvan Brackett, Sue Moore, and Wendy Downing with Slow Food USA

I'd never really explored San Francisco before, and it was definitely fun to have a restaurant book in hand when I had the chance to do so. The only problem with the book is that it is highly selective - it would have to be, of course, sponsored as it is by Slow Food, but it's not all that useful for someone who's a stranger to the city and wants to eat lunch near her hotel.

The reviews were beautifully written - not a single complaint there. Unfortunately, they say more about the atmosphere and mode of the restaurants, and less about the actual dishes available to eat. I went to Limon for dinner, and Tartine for lunch, both in the Mission district.

Limon: Here, I actually ate a dish described in the review - the Ceviche Limon. The book reads, "The signature dish, ceviche limon, is a generous sampling of raw fish marinated in lime juice, served with yams and Peruvian corn." Well, sure it is. But I would describe it differently, perhaps this way: "The signature dish, ceviche limon, includes a variety of shellfish as well as halibut, marinated in lime juice. Completing the plate is a sweet slice of yam to offset the acidity, and two types of Peruvian corn - some is soft and joins the fish in the marinade, and some is toasted, to add a welcome crunchy texture." Do it justice, people! It was very good - I preferred it to my main dish, Lomo Saltado, a very traditional dish of beef, tomatoes, onions and potatoes, which was tasty but not extraordinary. And even though it is a ubiquitous Peruvian dish - our waiter said we wouldn't find a Peruvian restaurant without it - it is not mentioned in the review.

Tartine: This is actually in the section of the book devoted to markets, as it is a bakery/cafe. At Tartine, I ate one of the most delicious sandwiches of my life - technically a "pressed sandwich," it was a sampler of three different small grilled cheeses, accompanied by weird but yummy little pickled carrots. My lunch companion had the quiche, which was glowingly mentioned in the Slow Food review - it actually looked a bit overbaked, but she said it was very good. This place proved the point that the experience, even though that was the focus of the review, described in a book is not always accurate. We had no problem getting a table at around 1pm, and the line moved smoothly, both contrary to what was written in the book.

For those devoted to or curious about Slow Food, this is obviously the right book. For Josephine Traveller, like me - you might want to pick up a Zagat's.

Garlic baked cauliflower

As published in A Food Year:

4 cups cauliflower flowerets
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400°.
Place cauliflower in a casserole dish and sprinkle with minced garlic and lemon juice.
Drizzle olive oil over cauliflower and bake until the top is lightly browned. Continue baking until desired tenderness, if necessary.
Remove from the oven and cover with parmesan cheese.
Makes 4 servings

Grilled tomato and garlic soup

Nina published the recipe for grilled tomato and garlic soup. It really looks delicious.

You'll need: tomatoes, garlic, spices and milk.

The above, I think, came to me through the form of Jamie Oliver again. I'm not exactly sure if it had anything directly to do with a specific recipe or not. I have a hard time sticking to recipes, unless they are for baking. I don't want to take any chances with baking, usually. But everything else is fair game.

The above is very very simple, but it will take a little bit of time to prepare. You chop your nice ripe, big and juicy tomatoes and arrange them on a baking tray, adding a lot of garlic cloves. How many really depends on you. I love the rich flavour of grilled garlic! The trick here is to separate the cloves, but not peel them, just give them a bash with something heavy, so they will split, but still retain the peel. Season with salt, pepper and some spices of your choice. It can easily be basil, fresh or dry. It's the best choice for this soup. Alternatively, you can use thyme or oregano. Or be creative.

Grill the tomatoes and garlic on high temperature until the edges are a little sooty. Then scoop everything into your blender, blend well and pour everything in a pot. Slowly bring to a simmer and add milk progressively, not too much at a time, so you can stop at your preferred form and density of soup. Keep tasting the soup, making sure it's well seasoned. It is truly so full of taste, the way soups usually aren't. I accompanied it with a simple wrap (tortilla) with mayonnaise, ham and cucumber, just to have a bit of something to chew on on the side.