Thursday, November 06, 2008

Roasted Garlic


top-and-tailed raw garlic bulbs, drizzled with olive oil

[ts]
We received a lot of little, little garlic bulbs from our aunt some time ago. Now, we love garlic and use it very liberally, but there was no way we were going to peel all those little, little garlic cloves. In fact, knowing our laziness, the same aunt recently pre-peeled garlic for us!

Thanks "Twa Ee"! (Big/First Aunt)

To use up these bulbs, we roasted them! A simple top-and-tail action, and they were ready. No peeling required.


where garlic bulbs go to roast

[ts]
We placed the garlic bulbs on a piece of foil, drizzled a little olive oil and closed up the foil into a little packet. Into the oven it went (350F-ish?) for about 45 minutes? I don't even remember. I believe I fell asleep watching TV and the smell of roasted garlic woke me up.



There they are.

Now, just one more thing to do: SQUEEZE!


Squeeeeeze!

[ts]
The next day, I placed the squeezed-out pulp in small plastic bags, making indentations for portioning purposes, and placed those babies into the freezer. (No real reason for doing this the next day, except that it was already late at night and I was sleepy.)



We can now have roasted garlic goodness whenever we want.

18 comments:

  1. Brilliant! I was cooking for a locavore banquet, and the local garlic was as you described. If I had thought of this, for sure I would have roasted them instead of spending 45 minutes peeling what yielded to about a cup of garlic

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  2. Such a good thing to have on hand, you can add that lovely flavor to everything now

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  3. Packaging and freezing the roasted garlic is a great idea that I will shamelessly mooch. I love roasted garlic, but it does take time. Rick Bayless has a cheater method that roasts it in the microwave, but even he'll tell you it's not quite the same.

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  4. Haha, I on the other hand find peeling garlic therapeutic (when there's time to spare :). I love roasted garlic. I really should have some on hand whenever I need/want it!

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  5. I can just imagine the aroma in your kitchen! What other people might consider repulsive, we foodies find inviting right?

    I usually spread roasted garlic on french bread, top it with mozzarella cheese and fried eggplant. Then I pop it to oven for cheese to melt and bread to toast. Yummy open-faced sandwich! Your post made me realize I can do loads of garlic at a time and always have it handy. Thanks!

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  6. I love the idea of pre-roasting large amounts, and that garlic looks so appetizing!

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  7. Well, that is a great idea for those little cloves.

    I've got to admit, I've never thought of freezing roasted garlic... but that's a great plan!

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  8. wow, what a great idea! Me too, I hate peeling garlic =P The aroma of the roasted garlic must have been heavenly!

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  9. You can also put them in saran wrap and twist them to make roasted garlic ice cubes and just snip away what you need.

    This stuff is better than butter.

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  10. Ooh, I know! Roasted garlic, caramelized onion, grilled cheese sandwich. God, I'm hungry.

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  11. Can there be a better way to wake up than to the smell of roasting garlic?? Very clever to package and freeze the roasted garlic in portions :)

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  12. Wow, I've never thought of freezing roasted garlic in little indented serving sizes, and this is coming from a guy who has a zillion cup and half-cup sized tupperware containers of various stocks in his freezer. What a great idea, and I can smell it from here!

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  13. I'm with PeterMarcus, I never thought of freezing my roasted garlic, yet I have jars of water that I used to reconstitute sundried tomatoes, just in case!

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  14. Julia:
    Yes, these local ones are so small!

    Ben:
    Haha, I guess we do have it pretty sweet, aunt-wise. =)

    kat said...
    Such a good thing to have on hand, you can add that lovely flavor to everything now

    November 6, 2008 5:59 AM


    Fearless Kitchen:
    Mooch away! It's easy to do a whole lot instead of just 1 or 2 bulbs.

    Manggy:
    Wow, really? Maybe you can take the garlic-peeling duties away from our aunt.

    lalaine:
    noobcook:
    Haha, yeah, the smell woke me up! =)

    hanne:
    Lo:
    Jeanne:
    PeterMarcus:
    We should start this freezing roasted garlic trend!

    Wandering Chopsticks:
    Ooooh. Yes. That would be a worthy vehicle for the roasted garlic.

    Peter M:
    Oh, saran wrap! Seems easier.

    Vicki:
    Then we have done our jobs. ;)

    Pam:
    Wow, the water used to reconsitute sundried tomatoes, eh?

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  15. Yum Yum! Roast garlic is always a pleasure to have. Saving up for later is always wise.

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  16. Mmmm, I love roasted garlic but it takes a long time for just one bulb. Doing a bunch all together and freezing it is a great idea, thanks!

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