
One thing you can always find in my refrigerator – a jar of roasted garlic, covered in rich, fragrant olive oil.
I use it almost every day. The oil coats my skillet when I scramble eggs, sauté onions and brown chicken breasts. It adds a gentle garlicky flavor, yet there's no chance of coming across a bitter bite of strong, raw garlic.
Eating roasted garlic is a completely different experience from eating it raw. Just like if you took a big bite out of a fresh onion, eating a whole raw garlic clove could almost take your head off. But if you cook the onion, say in a pot roast, it becomes buttery, sweet and mild, and you can eat the whole thing. Same with cooked garlic. It becomes mild and tender.
The soft cloves can be mashed for salad dressings, stirred into mashed potatoes and are the key ingredient for my favorite - garlic toast. My friend, Dianne Hughes, serves the tender cloves with a little of the oil, spread over a log of goat cheese. She serves this with crackers and waits for the raves.
Jennifer Cauble, another dear friend and great cook, makes the best crunchy garlic toast I've ever eaten. You're going to love this recipe.
Roasted Garlic
I buy peeled cloves – makes this so easy. The size of the baking dish will depend on how many cloves you are roasting. I add olive oil until the cloves are covered and then add a little more to make sure I have a good supply on hand.
Peeled raw garlic cloves
Olive oil
Preheat oven to 350º. Place garlic cloves in a baking dish and cover with olive oil.
Bake until cloves are soft and beginning to be a light golden brown, 15 – 30 minutes, depending on amount of cloves.
When cool, pack into canning jars and store in the refrigerator up to 2 months. If you use up the oil quicker than the cloves, you can add more olive oil to the jar. The roasted cloves will flavor the new oil.
If you need a quick hostess gift, transfer roasted cloves and oil into a clean jar and tie on a ribbon. People love getting this unique and useful treat.
Jennifer's Crunchy Garlic Toast
Jennifer tried browning the toast under the broiler, but it kept burning. She finds baking at a high temp is perfect for melting the butter and gently browning the toast.
1 stick butter at room temperature
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 - 3 tablespoons mashed roasted garlic
1 sliced baguette *
Preheat oven to 400º. In a medium bowl, stir together butter, Parmesan cheese, and garlic, mashing the garlic with a fork. Spread on one side of each slice of bread, and lay them on a baking sheet, butter side up. Bake 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
*Jennifer uses Central Market's baguette but says you can use any bread – even hot dog buns. Bread can be spread with butter mixture and frozen, well wrapped, up to one month. To use, place frozen pieces on baking sheet and continue as above.
- Judie Byrd