Garlic

I have been doing a lot of cooking lately but today instead of a recipe I want to talk about garlic. Now I have always loved garlic and known it has health properties that match its wonderful taste. I have put garlic in most every savory dish I have prepared for years but until last month I had always just minced and added it to the dish as it cooked. So what this all is leading to is my discovery of the versatility and smooth, slightly more subtle, flavor of roasted garlic.

Roasted garlic works better blended in sauces, it is spreadable on bread, and its subtlety makes it easier to deal with because it’s not too strong to be eaten in larger pieces which can be easily tossed in to accent any meat. Also roasted garlic is already cooked so if you decide a dish is missing something you can toss it in without adding to cook time.

Best of all it’s easy and stays good for at least two weeks. (I bake 3 bulbs at a time, so they haven’t lasted long enough to go bad)

Process:

1. Peel off extra skin, you want the bulb to stay together but the extra papery outer layers of skin can lead to burning.

2. Cut off tips of each clove, again to avoid burning.

3. Rub bulbs with just enough olive oil to cover.

4. Wrap individual bulbs in foil.

5. Place on cookie sheet or in muffin tin and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes*.



*You should check the bulbs at 30 minutes. I use an older and slightly unreliable oven so cooking varies. After 30 minutes the bulbs are pretty well roasted but not quite tender enough for spreading on bread, especially the center cloves.