Garlic 101

GARLIC. I love it so much. One of my favorite things in the world is sautéed garlic! What a heavenly aroma. I decided to share with you a few important things that you need to know so that you can enjoy garlic as much as I do.

pic from healthygorilla.com

• For best results, you should not keep your garlic in the refrigerator. It takes away it's strength, and also can promote sprouting, which you do not want. If your garlic cloves have started growing green sprouts on the end-- don't panic. You can still use them if you really want to-- just chop the green sprouts off as they have a bitter taste and will not give you the desired garlic flavor. 

• Everything I've read says that you should store garlic away from heat or light. I also heard a great tip somewhere that it's best to break your garlic bulb into cloves as soon as you bring it home from the store. Don't peel the paper off, just break off the individual cloves so that they get more circulation and last longer without getting moldy. I keep my individual cloves in a dish in my pantry, but someone suggested keeping them in a paper bag? Might work.

• The way you cut your garlic determines how much flavor you get out of it. In my experience, cutting into larger pieces yields a milder taste. And for example, when I make hummus I use my food processor and the garlic gets pretty pulverized, which means I shouldn't use more than 1 clove unless I like it REALLY spicy-garlic flavored! Especially when it sits overnight! Whew!

• Some people use a garlic press to get finely minced garlic. I used to think I needed one too, until I learned this knife trick: Take a clove of unpeeled garlic and crush it with the side of your large knife, using the heel of your hand. This makes the paper easy to take away, and next you can quickly and easily mince your garlic up into small pieces. Smells great, too! Add a pinch of salt to quickly make into a paste.

  

Here's a very helpful video that demonstrates this beautifully.

• You may know that garlic has medicinal properties. All the better reason to serve it often, and fresh and raw is better if you want all the healing qualities it has to offer. Here is some quick information about garlic as a natural medicine.

For a great recipe using (lots of) garlic, try Camille's delicious Lemon-Herb Zucchini Fettuccine:

  5-6 cloves of garlic!! Awesome.

Or, try making your own hummus!

                Up next at Our Sweet Lemons... Kathryn's Cake Pops!