garlic

Roasted Garlic

by Dominique Didier

I typically roast about 3 bulbs at a time and store them in the refrigerator. Once roasted, garlic has a creamy texture and is sweeter and less pungent than when fresh. Roasted garlic is also a good substitute when you want the taste of garlic in a recipe, but you don’t want the overpowering sharpness of fresh garlic. 

Ingredients:

1 or more heads of garlic (I recommend 3)
1 TBSP olive oil (use a little more if you do more than 3 heads of garlic)

  1. Preheat your oven to 400° F

  2. Prepare the garlic. If you’ve tried to cut the top off of these garlic bulbs you already know that the hard neck of this garlic is nearly impossible to cut through. Instead of cutting off the top of your garlic bulb, take a sharp knife and cut around the bottom of the garlic bulb, cutting around the central stem. Once the cut ends of the cloves drop off you can easily pull the central stalk out.

  3. Place your garlic bulbs on a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle with the olive oil. Make sure the cut ends get covered with the olive oil.

  4. Wrap the foil tightly around the garlic bulbs and roast the entire package in the oven for 35 minutes.

  5. Cool and peel the cloves. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator. You can also cover the cloves (whole or mashed) with a little olive oil and freeze them. And what will use this roasted garlic for?

  • Smear on toasted bread for instant garlic bread (add tomato and/or avocado for an amazing sandwich!)

  • Mash with mayonnaise for a quick aoli; or add to your favorite condiment

  • Add to salad dressings

  • Mash into your next batch of guacamole

  • Mix with olive oil and some herbs for dipping bread

  • Add to soups, stews, or casseroles

  • Smash onto a baked potato, or add to your mashed potatoes

Garlic Powder

by Dominique Didier

Homemade garlic powder is easy to make and so much more flavorful than store-bought products, and you can also use a lot less of it.

You will need:

  • Food processor (a good blender might work, but it may not get the cloves as finely chopped)

  • Food dehydrator

  • Parchment paper (or plastic wrap)'

  • Several heads of garlic (I usually do at least 5 or 6)

  1. Peel your garlic cloves.

  2. Place all cloves in the food processor and process until finely chopped. It can be kind of chunky, you’ll grind it into powder later.

  3. Smear your ground-up garlic in a thin layer on parchment paper (or plastic wrap).

  4. Place in your food dehydrator on a tray and dry until you have a dry crispy sheet of garlic. You may have to peel it off the paper and flip it to get the underside fully dry. The dried garlic sheet should turn a nice golden color.

  5. Break up your garlic into pieces and grind in a coffee grinder (or spice grinder if you have one). I have a special coffee grinder that is reserved just for spices.