Garlic: Tips and Troubleshooting, Selecting, Storing, Recipes, Safety

[Megan Blocker]

ive got a favorite garlic recipe form Jeff smiths cooking with wine..

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Ahhh, yes, have made it often! I love the pictures that accompany this recipe!

Forty clove Garlic Chicken

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Ina Garten has a similar recipe in her new book (Barefoot in Paris) - it is one of my faves and is to die for. I never have cognac on hand, but often sub in bourbon - and it's really, really good. It also keeps beautifully - I live alone, and I usually make a big vat of this on Sunday and eat it all week.

Of course, there's sometimes nothing better than a classic spaghtti aglio olio.

Edited September 12, 2005 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Susan in FL]

Is Bagna Cauda already in your repertoire? If not, and you're interested in seeing the recipe I use, let me know.

[lcdm]

ive got a favorite garlic recipe form Jeff smiths cooking with wine..its called garlic chicken with garlic garlic..it  uses no less than 40 cloves of garlic..which when i was first making it i thought might be too much..however it was delicious....i highly reccomend it ...yuuuuuuuummmmmmmy.....

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Wow, I haven't made that in such a long time. I know what we are having for Sunday dinner.

I also like roasted garlic - Slice the top off a head of garlic, pour on some olive oil and enclose in AL foil. Roast for about 45 min. Spread on some crusty bread.

Garlic shrimp is great - olive oil, chopped garlic, shrimp, salt, pepper & parsley. Serve with bread to soke up the garlic oil.

[KarenS]

I love garlic. Sometimes I forget about the affects though. I went to the movies with my friend a day after roasted chicken with garlic and lemon, "Karen you REEK of garlic"- whispered loudly during the movie.

I remember when my best friends sister got married- she asked us not to eat garlic for the week before!

[Octaveman]

I had THIS dish last night...Baked chicken with herbs, garlic and shallots. Damn it was good and the aroma that filled the house was awesome.

The other night, I grilled some flank steak that was marinated in garlic(minced), lemon juice, oil, white wine and rosemary and sauteed bell peppers with about 20 cloves of garlic for pepper steak steak sandwiches a la the Gilroy Garlic Festival sandwiches of the same name. I miss the fest already.

It cracks me up when I see a recipe name like Garlicky Holy Guacamole and it has only one measly clove of garlic. Other recipes too that claim to be garlicky have only one maybe two cloves. It also cracks me up when the crowd watching Emeril cook goes WOO HOO!!! and clap their butts off when he throws in a couple of tablespoons of garlic into a dish. So what...a couple of cloves...that's nothing in my mind. The dish above called for 8 cloves but I doubled it and the number of shallots too. I also made a traditional gravy with the drippings. You guys should try it, it was very flavorful.

Every time I go to the Gilroy Garlic Festival which is just about every year, I take home a couple of boxes of garlic from HERE. They sell fresh garlic online and while I'm not sure exactly how many bulbs are in a 5 lb. box it may be worth the purchase rather than the dried up grocery store stuff. I do most of my garlic buying at Costco these days though.

I'd like to try Jeff Smith's garlic chicken. Can someone post the recipe? Thanks.

BTW, HERE is the offical Garlic Festival Baked Garlic recipe. Same as Icdm's recipe but it add's Oregano or thyme to top the bulb with. I also like to sprinkle a small amount of salt on the top too.

Cheers,

Bob

[jvictor930]

ive got a favorite garlic recipe form Jeff smiths cooking with wine..its called garlic chicken with garlic garlic..it  uses no less than 40 cloves of garlic..which when i was first making it i thought might be too much..however it was delicious....i highly reccomend it ...yuuuuuuuummmmmmmy.....

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My Fiancee and I are such garlic fans, we made this dish together literally a few hours after we got engaged!!!

[annanstee]

I will never forget my first day in 3rd year- I had eaten an obscene amount of roasted garlic the night before- spread on bagel crisps with chevre and chutneys. I had such stomach pains that I could barely sit up straight in my classes. Good times.

My tolerance has since increased a thousand fold, and I automatically treble the amount called for in any recipe.

[shelora]

I have made this dish ....Lotsa Garlic Linguine and Broccoli Pasta but only once and with plain everyday linguini ...  a bit too overpowering for me .

I made the recipe yesterday with your thought on it being too overpowering. I cooked off the 2 T. of raw minced garlic - it mellowed it right out along with lemon juice - it was really good. Since it was a vegetarian recipe, I couldn't resist adding a bit of chicken stock to the mix!

I also omitted the sesame seeds.

It was excellent. Thanks for the recipe.

Yes Susan in FL, thanks for reminding me about the bagna cauda. Served warm, right?

One thing that really stands out from my Saturday garlic extravaganza was the lack of odour on my hands. You'd think after peeled 171 cloves that there would be some sort of smell. I find that odd. Do you think a new strain of garlic has been developed? I seem to remember a time when garlic had a strong smell.

What do you think??

[edsel]

I made Poulet aux 40 Gousses d'Ail from Richard Olney's Simple French Food last night. I hadn't even seen this thread. I had a nice fresh chicken from a local CSA farmer and thought the forty-cloves-of garlic thing would be fun.<br>

His recipe is a bit different from the two previously linked. You put a cut-up chicken in a casserole with olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs, bouquet garni, and four heads worth of unpeeled garlic cloves. The chicken goes in raw and gets tossed with the other ingredients. The casserole is sealed with a strip of dough and the whole thing goes into a 350° F oven for 1 3/4 hours. I didn't bother sealing with the dough since the lid of my casserole fits tightly.

<br>I think the chicken would be more tender with a shorter cooking time. It was tasty, though!

[eje]

One thing that really stands out from my Saturday garlic extravaganza was the lack of odour on my hands. You'd think after peeled 171 cloves that there would be some sort of smell. I find that odd. Do you think a new strain of garlic has been developed? I seem to remember a time when garlic had a strong smell.

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I know I don't really notice the smell of garlic that much anymore.

I know some people at work who are concerned about eating garlic, onions or curry for lunch or even the night before. I just think that is silly. I much prefer the smell of garlic or onions to some of the hair products or perfumes I smell on other commuters in the morning.

As far as commercial strains being milder, I guess it wouldn't surprise me. I grew "Persian Star" garlic from Seeds of Change last year, and it has a much stronger flavor and smell than most grocery store garlic. We tried some before letting it dry for a couple weeks and it nearly blew our heads off.

-Erik

PS. Just about time to plant your garlic cloves, if you want to get it in this fall!

[Chris Amirault]

Two quick thoughts:

Can you overdose on garlic? Myself and the Mr., both felt slightly nauseous and a little crampy the next day, but quickly recovered around noon.

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This was discussed at length here in the garlic whooped my ass thread. Much confusion ensued!

Garlic is being harvested in these parts and selling from $1.50 to $3.00 a head.

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What? How in the world does that happen? Is this heirloom garlic? Or what? I know that China has flooded the US garlic market with inexpensive product, driving up the prices for California garlic, but that is shocking to me.

[judiu]

Garlic is being harvested in these parts and selling from $1.50 to $3.00 a head. Being on a tight budget, I have opted for the grocery store garlic that hails from either California or China - 3 heads for .99cents. So I filled two plastic bags and have begun to cook.

Saturday we invited a few friends over dinner. I dove in and hand peeled 171 cloves for three dishes: 15 cloves for a batch of skordailia (a Greek dip redolent with garlic, a mashed potato and crushed blanched almonds), four heads thinly sliced for a garlic soup and the piece de resistance, a 100 clove beef, slow cooked with a bottle of red wine. Mercy. All for the pursuit of research and development. The skordalia was a stunning example of raw garlic's intensity. The soup a delicate slightly sweet rendition and the beef dish reduced the 100 whole cloves into a thick and rich paste. Can you overdose on garlic? Myself and the Mr., both felt slightly nauseous and a little crampy the next day, but quickly recovered around noon.

I plan on taking a few days off before I take up the cause again. The skordalia may again get the green light slathered all over a slow roasting lamb.

What sort of exquisite dishes do you make with tons of garlic that I just can't miss?

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Can I beg for the beef recipe, pretty please with garlic on it?

[shelora]

Can I beg for the beef recipe, pretty please with garlic on it?

Hello,

I will gladly give you the recipe. Except I guess I can't print here since its from a cookbook - copyright laws and all that. I could certainly revise it, but its probably safer to PM it to you.

Would that be okay? Besides peeling the garlic and cutting the beef into cubes, a chimp could make this dish!

s

...And the book is, The Olive and the Caper by Susanna Hoffman, published by Workman Press.

s

Edited September 14, 2005 by shelora (log)

[shelora]

What? How in the world does that happen? Is this heirloom garlic? Or what? I know that China has flooded the US garlic market with inexpensive product, driving up the prices for California garlic, but that is shocking to me.

Heirloom. Organic. You know. Precious. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the concept of preserving

old varieties, but on my budget I can't buy great wreaths of the stuff and can only support the subsistance farmer in dribs and drabs.

I've bought one or two for an isolated taste test, but beyond that, its too rich for my tastes.

[Raoul Duke]

Is Bagna Cauda already in your repertoire?  If not, and you're interested in seeing the recipe I use, let me know.

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I had this at the Stinking Rose in SF on Labor Day weekend and loved it. I'd be up to seeing your recipe. Raoul

[lcdm]

Octaveman,

Just search on Jeff Smith Garlic Chicken or 40 clove chicken. You'll find the recipe.

Shelora,

If you have a small plot of soil you can grow your own. You plant the cloves (bulbs) in the fall and in the summer you'll have all the garlic you want. My dad did this one year, we had tons of garlic. None of that supermarket with the green sprout in the middle of the clove, for us that season.

[Susan in FL]

I had this at the Stinking Rose in SF on Labor Day weekend and loved it.  I'd be up to seeing your recipe.  Raoul

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I'll let you know when I have it posted in RecipeGullet! Hopefully, that would be tomorrow.

[laurenmilan]

My Fiancee and I are such garlic fans, we made this dish together literally a few hours after we got engaged!!! 

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Yep, I just saw this thread for the first time & these good people are giving me lots more yummy garlicky ideas. Garlicpalooza!

[Megan Blocker]

For all those garlic lovers out there, Mark Bittman's column from today's Times is all about dishes made with abundant amounts of garlic!

Supposedly these spring from his interest in Christopher Ranch's peeled, packaged cloves. However, you can always peel your own - just blanch those babies in some boiling water and peel away! ;-)

Link to the article: click!

[Carlovski]

I sometimes make a fairly plain dal with red lentils (Mainly as they don't need soaking and cook pretty quickly) but pour on a tarka made with a finely sliced small onion, copious amounts of garlic and chilli.

Spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli I end to make extremely antisocial by using at least 4 cloves of garlic (And lots of chilli).

I've never tried skordalia - sounds right up my street. I might try it with some garlic from the Isle of Wight - one of the farmers is normally at the farmers market near me.

[shelora]

For all those garlic lovers out there, Mark Bittman's column from today's Times is all about dishes made with abundant amounts of garlic!

I do adore that man!

I'm on my second batch of skordalia and this time I'm using it as a throw-in to pasta along with - isn't this a coincidence - a roasted red pepper puree from Bittman's book, The Minimalist Cooks at Home.

I also paid a visit to an old friend - the classic roasted whole bulb of garlic spread on good bread with a slice of cambazola cheese. It was a nice visit, but really that skordalia rules!

Shelora,

If you have a small plot of soil you can grow your own. You plant the cloves (bulbs) in the fall and in the summer you'll have all the garlic you want. My dad did this one year, we had tons of garlic. None of that supermarket with the green sprout in the middle of the clove, for us that season.

I have just been gifted with a head of "old bulb" Yugoslavian garlic from a friend. I'm to plant it just before the October new moon.

Edited September 21, 2005 by shelora (log)

[Megan Blocker]

This article from today's Times made me think of this thread! It's about a man's lifelong, passionate craving for all things garlicky: click!

[spoon]

ok, i started this post because I had a question to ask, but I think WebMD has answered it. It's pretty stark so I thought I would share.

Background - I wanted to make a garlic in oil preserve, basically to flavour my oil. I put cloves cut in two into an oil bottle, filled and put it on my fridge. When I went back a week later and opened the bottle, all sorts of bubbles started coming out. I thought something might be up at that point and have been afraid to try it before I checked out if it would kill me.

turns out it probably would...

clipped from: http://my.webmd.com/content/article/6/1680_53320.htm

Foodborne botulism has often been from home-canned foods with low acid content, such as asparagus, green beans, beets and corn. However, outbreaks of botulism from more unusual sources such as chopped garlic in oil, chile peppers, tomatoes, improperly handled baked potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil, and home-canned or fermented fish. Persons who do home canning should follow strict hygienic procedures to reduce contamination of foods. Oils infused with garlic or herbs should be refrigerated. Potatoes which have been baked while wrapped in aluminum foil should be kept hot until served or refrigerated. Because the botulism toxin is destroyed by high temperatures, persons who eat home-canned foods should consider boiling the food for 10 minutes before eating it to ensure safety. Instructions on safe home canning can be obtained from county extension services or from the US Department of Agriculture.

Edited October 12, 2005 by spoon (log)

[Patrick S]

Interesting tidbit on botulinum toxin: it is by far the most poisonous of all known poisons. The rat LD50 for pure botulinum toxin (the unit dose per body weight which kills half the subjects) is 5-50 ng/kg, while that for arsenic is about 700 mg/kg. Since 700mg divided by 50ng equals 14,000,000, botulinum toxin is about 14,000,000 times more potent a poison than aresenic.

[Jesse A]

On the subject of storing food in oil: I've had goad cheese rounds marinating in olive oil with minced fresh herbs. The recipe (Chez Panisse Cafe) says to store them in a cool place for up to a week; they've been in my pantry since Monday and I'm going to roll 'em in bread crumbs and bake them on Thursday. Am I going to die?