Garlic lovers......unite!!!

[ChrisL]

Who else likes/loves garlic? How do you eat it?

I seem to crave garlic in waves. I got a great cookbook quite some time ago, and it listed a recipe for aioli that was NOT the typical garlic mayonaise. Instead it was fresh garlic mashed in a mortar and pestle, fresh lemon juice, olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Make a paste and spread it on bread, etc. Essentially the recipe is humus without the chick peas or the tahini.

So spicy, even "hot", tangy and delicious. Another wacky garlic combination I've relished at times: eating fresh garlic cloves in conjunction with some good chocolate.

And, if you've ever grown garlic, eating garlic scapes (the early green shoot that grows from the garlic plant) steamed, sauteed, etc is great. More mild than the cloves. Kind of like chive flavored asparagus spears.

Chris L

[sensei_kyle]

Love garlic. I typically use garlic powder for convenience, but sometimes I'll splurge and use fresh. Whatever the recipe calls for I usually double it.

One of my favorite ways to eat it is pickled -- a jar of pickled garlic gloves. Just eat the whole clove raw. Marzetta's (salad type folks) have a pickled garlic with red pepper flakes, which is how I was introduced to it. We had a jar of this stuff by the computer at the dojo, and every Judo class just before grappling we'd go over and enjoy a few cloves. I have some habanero pickled garlic (made by The Original Pickled Garlik Company) and some homemade pickled garlic with dill one of my grappling buddies brought me in the fridge right now.

[joke1176]

oh man, I can eat that stuff raw, and by the handful. I don't out of respect for my fellow man though.


I do like the raw better than powdered, but I still use it in a pinch. As far as pickled goes...yes please!

[bbqncigars]

Munchie to die for: thin slices of large cloves, very lightly browned in butter (EVOO also good) and drained on paper towel. Salt to taste and ENJOY!! I just wish real garlic grew as big as the 'elephant garlic' does.

Wayne

[sensei_kyle]

oh man, I can eat that stuff raw, and by the handful. I don't out of respect for my fellow man though.

Yeah. Last time I chowed down on pickled garlic I was nearly exiled to the couch for a couple of days. The wife says I sweat garlic while I sleep and she hates it.

[xman]

Not only yummy, garlic is apparently an aphrodesiac! The best news is that if both you and your SO eat it, you'll not notice any unpleasantness. I never so anyhow. If my wife smells of garlic to me, well then she just smells delicious.

X

[netsurfr]

Love the stuff too! My wife and I always have fresh garlic cloves available to cook with. We always use 2 to 3 times as much as the recipe requires.
Love to slice it thin and brown it in olive oil and season it with a little salt. Love to take a whole garlic bulb or three and bake it in the oven with a little olive oil in aluminum foil. Sometimes do it on the outside grill.
I noticed that when I was in Seoul, Korea they love to fry it or eat it raw. I got a real surprise when I chomped down on my first clove of raw garlic.

[wescap34]

If you have not already you definately need to go to the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Last weekend in July each year. If can be done with garlic they do it!

[ChrisL]

Not only yummy, garlic is apparently an aphrodesiac! The best news is that if both you and your SO eat it, you'll not notice any unpleasantness. I never so anyhow. If my wife smells of garlic to me, well then she just smells delicious.

X

Exactly, X. Thankfully my wife really digs garlic too so when we eat it together, we don't even notice that either of us have just eaten a bunch.

Unfortunately, I'm in sales, so out of the courtesy to my clients and prospective clients, I have to refrain on weekdays. On weekends though, when I go on a garlic jag, lookout world, I'm going to breath all over ya!

Actually, my experience has been that fresh garlic is not as "offensive" as powdered for some reason in that I don't think it lingers on the breath quite as much.

Chris L

Thanks for the tip about frying it crisp in butter for a snack, guys. I bet those crisp little nibblins would be killer sprinkled on top of a salad!

[holli4pirating]

I'm a big fan of garlic. About two weeks ago I made the following dish for my girlfriend, and now it's all she ever wants me to cook.

I started off by throwing about 3/4 or 1 pound of ground beef into a pan with about 1/2 or 3/4 a head of finely chopped garlic, an italian herb blend, some basil, and a dash of salt. I used pure olive oil instead of extra virgin, because I didn't want the strong flavor. I find that cooking the garlic with the meat, instead of cooking them separately, gives the meat and the oil a nice flavor. I like my beef in rather small pieces, but that's up to you.

As the beef is cooking, bring the water to a boil, but wait until the beef is finished cooking before you throw the pasta in. At that time, I like to leave my beef over a low flame so more flavor is pulled out of the garlic and herbs. Here, there is also some room to tailor the dish to your liking. I'll get to that later.

When the pasta is cooked as you like it, strain it and put it into a large pot (same one is fine). I like to throw the "sauce" into the large pot with the pasta, mix it evenly, and let it sit over a low flame so the pasta now has a chance to pick up the flavor. Then, devour when ready.

As for making the dish to your liking, there are two main variations that I like. One is steaming up some broccoli and adding it into the beef and garlic; alternately, you could use some extra garlic and oil in the "sauce," pour some onto steamed broccoli and serve it on the side. The other is adding in a red sauce to the beef/garlic/oil; I find that makes the meal seem a little fuller. Either of these alterations can be made at the time noted above. Personally, I like to use a smaller pasta, like elbows or small spirals because they seem to pick up the garlic quite well.

The plain version, with no broccoli or red sauce, has been dubbed "garlic beef" by my girlfriend, and just the thought of it lights up her face.