It’s true. When baked at a moderate temperature for an hour or less, fresh garlic becomes relatively tame, and actually achieves a gentle, almost buttery texture and flavor.
And this time of year especially, when the garlic is juicy-fresh and richly flavored, I consider it an offering all unto itself when placed in the vicinity of French bread, or as a savory ingredient in dishes such as mashed potatoes, stir-fries and vegetable sautes.
Well, like many cooks who have fallen head over heels in love with the process, I’ve worked out a couple of variations on the roasted garlic theme.
For years I was content with the basic whole head approach, which renders cloves with the most mild and tender disposition. But squeezing these individual cloves from their rigid exteriors isn’t such a neat trick. So one time I decided to cut the heads in half right through their plumpest part, then roast each half in puddles of extra-virgin olive oil, cut sides down.
Well … the cloves not only were easy to remove from the head (all you do is squeeze and out they pop!), but the mingling of caramelized garlic juices with hot olive oil was a heavenly match.
Roasting halved heads, or even more extreme, individual peeled cloves, produces more intense results because it develops a rich and caramelized character. So naturally, these are the two ways I tend to employ in my own kitchen, rather than plain ol’ whole roasted heads.
In either case, you can do the roasting weeks ahead, so the garlic will be on hand for all those wonderful dishes in which it can be used.
Or, do what I do and freeze your roasted garlic, which extends its usefulness by months and months. During the hot days of summer, one of my favorite instant flavorings is roasted garlic – fresh from the freezer.
Whether it’s the halved heads, or handfuls of garlic cloves, after roasting, I pack the garlic into quart-sized zip-lock bags, press each bag nice and flat so they’ll stack neatly, and freeze. Then, when I need a quick savory nosh or meal, I’ll pull a bag from the freezer and throw it in a pan of warm water where it will thaw in fewer than 20 minutes.
The roasted cloves can be tossed into your summer salads, tucked into hamburgers before grilling or spiked on toothpicks with chunks of cheese for a quick appetizer.
If you turn the mixture into the wonderful gooey garlic paste, it can be served in a pretty little bowl alongside crostini or slices of baguette for a speedy appetizer. Or whisked into creamy pasta sauces. Or stirred into mashed potatoes. Or used as a wonderful soup base. You get the picture.
As delightful and delicious as whole roasted heads of garlic are, well, they’re a bit messy, if you’re serving them as an appetizer.
Trying to wrangle the tender morsels of garlic out of their sturdy skins can lead to disaster. A far more graceful approach than forcing diners to squirt a tender clove of garlic from the grasp of its outer peel is to offer heads that are basically pre-snipped.
The roasted cloves can literally be squeezed out from the head. And since you bake the halves cut side down, in little puddles of olive oil, there’s more browning and caramelizing going on, which makes them deliciously rich in flavor and texture.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the heads by cutting them in half horizontally (through the plumpest portion), keeping each half intact (some of the cloves may try to escape, just snuggle them back into the head).
Place the heads, cut side down, in a baking pan, layered with a bit of olive oil. Be sure and leave about 1/2-inch of breathing room around each half. Bake the garlic, uncovered, for 25 to 40 minutes, depending on the size and age of the heads, until the cloves are a rich golden brown on the bottom.
Garlic juices will be oozing and browning around the edges of each clove. After the garlic has roasted and cooled, squeeze and pry the cloves from the head into a small bowl.
To make a paste: Partially mash the cloves with a fork (leave visible chunks, or even a few whole cloves, just like you would make a rough-textured guacamole), adding some of the oil (and cooked-on caramelized juice) from the pan.
Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator, for 2 to 3 weeks, or freeze for up to 5 or 6 months.
This is a fabulous way to use up the large quantities of peeled cloves sold at the big box stores, such as Costco and Sam’s Club.
The finished preparation is a bit stronger in flavor than what you get from halved and roasted heads, and when turned into a paste, won’t be quite as creamy.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Over a medium-hot burner, heat 1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil. Add 1 pound peeled garlic cloves (approximately 3 cups of cloves), and about 1/2 teaspoon salt and about 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Let the cloves steep and simmer in the oil until they just begin to change color, about 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a roasting dish and continue roasting in the preheated oven until the cloves are golden brown, yet still soft, about 30 minutes. Let cool.
Note: You could skip the stove-top step, but your total roasting time will be increased by about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or freeze for up to 5 or 6 months.
These are great additions to toss into salads, mashed potatoes or even meat loaves.
Oven-roasted garlic clove paste
Spoon roasted cloves into a small bowl and coarsely mash with a fork, adding some of the oil from the pan to reach the desired consistency. Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 weeks, or freeze for up to 5 or 6 months.
Simple appetizer of roasted garlic cloves with cheese
As a simple make-ahead appetizer, roasted garlic cloves are marvelous. Up to several days before your party, roast a large quantity of peeled garlic cloves (as described in “Oven-Roasted Garlic – Individual Cloves”); don’t mash them with a fork, as described in the last step of this recipe.
A few hours before your guests arrive, simply skewer each clove with a toothpick, then anchor the pointy ends of each pick in small cubes of cheese. My favorites include havarti, mozzarella, extra-aged gouda and Jarlsburg.
First of all, you don’t really need to do anything to a batch of roasted garlic to make it fit for company. But for an extra bit of flavor without a lot of extra work, here’s a tasty alternative.
And just like plain, unadulterated roasted garlic, this one’s a wonderful mixture to have on hand for simple appetizers with crostini, toasted pita bread or thin slices of baguette.
1cup roasted garlic paste (prepare as described above)
1tablespoon Ponzu (citrus-seasoned soy sauce made by Kikkoman)
Dash of Tabasco sauce
Additional olive oil if necessary
Gently stir together the roasted garlic, the Ponzu and a dash of Tabasco. Don’t stir too vigorously; it’s nice to leave some chunks of unadulterated roasted garlic. Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 5 or 6 months.
1/4cup Roasted Garlic Paste (prepare as described above)
1/3cup red or white wine vinegar
1/2cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
In small bowl, whisk together the Roasted Garlic Paste with the vinegar. Whisk in the olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 1 cup of vinaigrette
2pounds ground chuck
About 1/2 teaspoon salt and healthy pinch of freshly ground black pepper
About 1/3 cup roasted garlic paste (prepare as described above)
4good quality crusty hamburger buns or 8 slices of a crusty bread
Various condiments: lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mayonnaise, guacamole, ketchup, pickles
Combine the ground meat with the salt, pepper, and roasted garlic paste. Form the mixture into 4 patties. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to grill.
Meanwhile, preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Grill the burners over a hot fire until medium (with no pink remaining) doneness.
Serve immediately on the buns, with condiments on the side.
Makes 4 servings.
3-4ripe Haas avocados
Juice of 1 lime
2tablespoons Roasted Garlic Paste (prepare as described above)
1tablespoon finely chopped sweet onion
1tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1teaspoon salt
Halve each avocado, remove the pits and peel. Coarsely chop the flesh with a fork, then add the lime juice, Roasted Garlic Paste, sweet onion, cilantro, and salt, and continue mashing until it is smooth-but-lumpy. Adjust seasonings, adding additional salt and lime juice to taste.
Makes about 2 cups of guacamole.
9ounces fresh linguine
8ounces sea scallops
1/2cup flour
1tablespoon olive oil
About 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4cup roasted garlic paste (prepare as described above)
2teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
8-10sun-dried tomatoes, drained from oil and diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Parmesan, Romano, or asiago cheese, freshly grated
Prepare the pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.
Dredge the scallops in the flour, shaking off any excess. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet. Place the scallops in the skillet and saute until they begin to brown, turning once. Remove the scallops to a dish. Add the broth to the skillet, deglazing the pan by scraping and stirring up any cooked-on bits of food; simmer until the liquid is reduced and thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the Roasted Garlic Paste, thyme, sun-dried tomatoes, and the browned scallops. Heat thoroughly, about 3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
When ready to serve, add the cooked pasta and the basil. Serve with one of the greshly grated cheeses.
Makes 2 to 3 servings.
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contact her by e-mail at janrd@proaxis.com.
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