Garlic Flavor Without The Garlic

[Porthos]

I'm thinking of trying something but before I do I thought I would solicit information from my fellow eGulleters.

I want to have the flavor of garlic without the garlic being in the final dish for some sauted zucchini. My thought is to cook up garlic in the oil I want to saute with, then strain the oil back into the pan and add the zucchini. Will this approach give me the undernote of garlic I am looking for?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

It should. If you use fairly large pieces of garlic, you shouldn't need to strain the oil at all (just pick them out) but you'll still get the effect you're after.

Barring this, I'd try a sunlight extraction of garlic cloves into the oil, which in my experience produces a really pleasant, subtle garlic note.

[Shel_B]

What you suggest would work, and Panaderia's suggestions are good as well. You could also put some garlic cloves in oil (lightly crushed or not) and heat it on the stove. You'd get a somewhat similar result as the sunlight extraction, but a lot quicker. Hope this helps.

.... Shel

[OliverB]

you can also buy garlic juice or even a spray. I had the spray for a while but did not like it. Fresh extracted/pressed would be better I think.

[nickrey]

The oil from garlic confit has the same effect.

Or how about garlic powder? Or wrapping the garlic in muslin cloth and removing it before serving?

[annabelle]

I second the garlic powder.

[Plantes Vertes]

You can also achieve a light garlic flavour by seasoning the pan with garlic before cooking the courgettes; just semi-crush a garlic clove and rub the juice over the cooking surface.

[SobaAddict70]

I'm thinking of trying something but before I do I thought I would solicit information from my fellow eGulleters.

I want to have the flavor of garlic without the garlic being in the final dish for some sauted zucchini. My thought is to cook up garlic in the oil I want to saute with, then strain the oil back into the pan and add the zucchini. Will this approach give me the undernote of garlic I am looking for?

add oil (or fat or whatever it is you're using to sauté the zucchini) to a cold pan, along with a lightly crushed or smashed garlic clove. make sure the oil is at room temperature.

warm the oil over medium heat. as you're doing this, the garlic will infuse the oil with its flavor and aroma. cook the garlic for about a minute or until it turns pale gold. remove the garlic clove, then add your zucchini and proceed as normal. discard the garlic.

[Paul Bacino]

I'd just put in one whole clove...un crushed...cook with it and then remove it

[RobertCollins]

You could infuse the garlic into what ever oil you want {I do it in Olive} by simply putting garlic in a pan and covering the heads or cloves a bit in the oil and simmering about 30 minutes or so. Then filter off into a container for use as you need. Warning: I've done this for years and have stored what I make in a container in a cabinet. I have read that its to high a pH and I could get botulism from it. Decide for your self. What I like about this infused oil is how deadly strong the garlic is. I would usually saute off the Zucs in olive oil and towards the end add only a bit of this and taste as I added. Good side. I can't wait for summer.

Oh yes, brush onto eggplant slices and grill. Wow...

[huiray]

It depends on what sort of "garlic flavor" or "garlic profile" you want. Using either intact garlic (completely unbroken) cloves, or sliced/cut cloves, or smashed cloves, or finely minced cloves AND the length of time the preparation is left around exposed to air will alter the taste & smell profile, due to the cascade of chemical reactions involving sulfur-containing compounds that result from either the initial enzymatic reaction that starts when the cell walls are ruptured or oxidation or both. Your resulting extract will vary depending on what you do. Here's one useful citation to consider: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/3/716S.long (e.g. look at the middle section on chemical constituents in extracts) The first page of this one (unless you have ACS access) is also useful. Other sources have discussions on the alteration of the flavor profile depending on how you process the garlic.

Edited March 23, 2013 by huiray (log)

[mkayahara]

Why do you not want the garlic in the final dish? If it's a textural thing, you can always bash it into a past in a mortar and pestle, or grate it finely on a microplane, so that it won't be noticeable.

[Porthos]

Thank you all. And now here is my sheepish grin. I found that we had a bottle of garlic-infused olive oil that my sweet wife had picked and I had completed forgotten about.

Matthew, no garlic left in this particular dish is just a textual thing. There's a specific "look and feel" I'm going after: zucchini sauteed in olive oil with the essence of garlic, salted and lightly peppered. Also, this will be eaten at a rennaissance feast using one's fingers and I didn't like the idea of garlic bits still clinging to the coined zucchini. I use whole cloves in the potatoes I prepare and I do sent those out with the potatoes. It's just this one idea for no garlic in the finished dish.