What’s Good

Roasted garlic is a very versatile ingredient that also happens to be very easy to make. Roasting it mellows the pungent flavor of uncooked garlic that some people don’t care for and gives it a kind of nutty flavor. Here’s how to make it.

INGREDIENTS:

One bulb of garlic

1 TBSP. olive oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

METHOD:

First, peel off all the loose papery skin off of the garlic bulb. Then slice off a small slice off the top of the bulb of garlic with a serrated knife, so that the tops of the garlic cloves inside are exposed. Place the garlic bulb on a medium-sized sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle the olive oil over the bulb and season with the salt and pepper. Wrap the foil around the garlic bulb to make a nice little bundle, and then stick said bundle into a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 1 hour (60 minutes). About halfway through, the garlic will start to smell really good. Resist the urge to eat the garlic at this point and be patient until it is done When it is done, it should look something like this:

At this point you have a couple options. You need to, of course, get the roasted cloves out of their skins, but what about after that? To get the freshly roasted cloves out of the papery skin, turn the whole bulb upside down (it may be a little greasy from the oil) over a bowl and use either a pair of tongs or your hands (this can be messy though) to squeeze the garlic out over the bowl. Check the bulb to make sure you didn’t miss any roasted goodness, and then contemplate the cloves. You could leave them as-is, whole, and put some more olive oil on top of them and keep them in the refrigerator for while, or you could mash the cloves with a fork (they’re that soft) to make a paste, as I did:

Now comes the fun part- deciding what to do with the stuff. Here are just a few ideas:

-Spread the paste on some toasted French bread slices for a simple yet elegant appetizer.

-Add the paste to some pasta along with milk or some other dairy, butter, and some Parmesan cheese for a quick sauce.

-Puree together the paste with some whipped cream cheese, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and olive oil for a great dip/spread for crackers or vegetables.

-Serve on top of grilled steak…the heat from the steak will melt it slightly and make it really good. Mmmmmm.

-For another dip idea, in a food processor, combine 3/4 of a pound of feta cheese (about 13 oz.), 1/2 cup of milk, 1 TBSP. fresh chopped oregano (or 1 tsp. dried), 1 TBSP. fresh chopped parsley (or 1 tsp. dried), and some freshly ground black pepper. Stir in 1 TBSP. EACH finely chopped red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, green bell pepper, and English (seedless) cucumber. Serve with pita bread, pita chips, and/or raw veggies.

-Stir some of the paste into mashed potatoes for a new twist.

-Add some to prepared risotto for a great flavor boost.

How many uses can YOU think of? That’s half the fun of it

Enjoy!