A brand new year and a cold winter ahead are two great reasons to start loading up on nutritious foods. Unfortunately, not every food that is good for us is equally as delicious. Garlic, however, is a superstar ingredient that gives us a nutritional punch and adds wonderful flavour to many recipes. The health benefits of garlic include improved circulation and digestion, plus it’s a good combatant of cold and flu.
Composition: Garlic is an allium in the same family as onions, chives, shallots and leeks. It’s cultivated for the distinct flavour of its bulb. Garlic is high in vitamins B6 and C, and contains several minerals including magnesium, potassium and calcium. Garlic also contains essential oils, glucose and fructose.
Selecting: Since garlic is available year round, there isn’t a distinct season when it looks its best. When selecting garlic, choose plump, firm bulbs with tight cloves. Bulbs that appear drier, where the skin easily falls off, are likely old. If you slice open your garlic clove and notice that there is a green stem inside, this indicates that your garlic is sprouting and past its prime. It is still okay to use the clove, but some find this green stem to be bitter and pungent. Simply remove the green stem prior to cooking. In the spring and summer months, you can look for locally grown garlic at your farmers’ market. This variety is usually much firmer and tends to be slightly milder in flavour.
Handling: When garlic is chopped, the release of sugars and oils can make for a sticky exterior, and this sometimes makes it difficult to work with. If you don’t like handling garlic, a garlic press is an excellent solution. They are a bit of a nuisance to clean, but they quickly produce evenly minced garlic.
Check out assistant food editor, Irene Ngo’s video for an easy way to peel and mince garlic.
Garlic Do’s:
Roast: Roasting garlic is one of the most delicious ways to enjoy it. This process mellows the pungency of the bulb and releases the sugars, giving it a rich caramel flavour. For the ultimate in roasted garlic try our chicken with roasted garlic. Garlic can also be roasted whole. To do so, slice off the top of the head of garlic and drizzle it with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and wrap with foil. Bake at 350F for approximately 40 min. Once the roasted garlic has cooled, simply squeeze the bottom of the head of garlic and the roasted cloves will pop out.
Enjoy it raw: Many people are afraid of raw garlic due to the fact it’s often overdone in recipes. However, with the right balance of acidity and seasonings, the addition of raw garlic can be fragrant and pleasant, such as in our homemade salsa verde.
Garlic Don’ts:
Burn it:Burnt garlic has a very distinct, bitter and unpleasant taste. To prevent burning your garlic when cooking in a frying pan, always add it towards the end of your process. When grilling with it over an open flame, garlic can act as a great addition to a marinade but will easily burn on the grill, so remove any morsels prior to grilling.
Overdo it: While many of us enjoy garlic, it is also an ingredient that is often overdone. Some say that if you can taste the garlic, there is too much in the recipe. While I disagree with this, I would say that garlic should not be the overpowering flavour in your dish. Too much garlic will overwhelm and mask other flavours. Add garlic in moderation, because there is no turning back once it’s added.
And one more thing: If you have worked with garlic and noticed that your ivory-coloured garlic is suddenly a blue-green colour, you aren’t alone. When garlic is minced (in it’s raw form) and comes into contact with an acid (lemon juice, vinegar), the acid begins to break down the garlic, therefore changing its composition. This altered composition reacts with the garlic’s amino acids and a blue-green colour results. This colour change is harmless, except to the appearance of your dish.
Delicioso 