All against the vampires
April 27, 2023 9:56 AM   Subscribe

We bought a whole box of fresh garlic for 6 dollars. YEAH. Garlic is good.

Now what to do with them? The box was a bit larger than expected. In advance, we planned to make toum, and chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. But those won't even make a visible reduction in our box, it's that big. So now we will have to eat garlic everything for a month, and perhaps interesting gifts?
posted by mumimor to Food & Drink (32 answers total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
mmm.... peel it, roast it, puree it, then turn it into garlic jam or jelly. Then make another batch without roasting but with some hot peppers in it.
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:08 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


garlic confit
pickled garlic
roasted garlic mixed with butter to make a compound
posted by Julnyes at 10:08 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


Garlic elixir!
posted by knile at 10:11 AM on April 27, 2023


roast and spread on toast! (as others have said, but differently)
posted by Glinn at 10:13 AM on April 27, 2023


If it helps, you can freeze garlic cloves for future use. Otherwise, I'd take the opportunity to make a big batch or two of mojo de ajo, and share w friends and neighbors.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 10:19 AM on April 27, 2023 [2 favorites]


Honey fermented garlic.
posted by gauche at 10:20 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


This delicious-looking recipe for garlic bread beans uses ~100 cloves.
posted by quadrilaterals at 10:24 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


Definitely roast, then make this delicious green angel hair pasta. Also you can make a big batch of homemade garlic bread and freeze it (and thank yourself later).
posted by Empidonax at 10:29 AM on April 27, 2023


Infuse some vodka?

Puree a bunch, freeze in a mini ice cube tray, then store the cubes in a Ziploc or container in the freezer for later use (maybe more versatile in recipes than freezing the whole cloves).
posted by staggernation at 10:32 AM on April 27, 2023


Save some to plant! Growing garlic is easy and you can keep the same line going indefinitely.
posted by AbelMelveny at 10:34 AM on April 27, 2023 [2 favorites]


If the cloves are unpeeled and uncut, you can plant some for garlic greens/scapes.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 10:35 AM on April 27, 2023 [2 favorites]


Garlic confit but then aliquot it into an ice cube tray and freeze. Then you have nice small portions of garlicky goodness to add to stuff and it will keep indefinitely (unlike the confit in the fridge).
posted by SaltySalticid at 10:54 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


Blend it with ginger root & any water needed. Keeps well in the fridge & freezer, and fantastic as a base.

San Francisco-style Vietnamese Garlic Noodles. 10-20 cloves per person.
posted by CrystalDave at 11:38 AM on April 27, 2023


In addition to or as an alternative to garlic-ginger paste:

Process:
1. Peel a bunch of cloves.
2. Toss them in a food processor with the big blade, add a little water, and chop it into nubbly bits.
3. Use one of those little cookie dough scoops to put several mounds on parchment paper and freeze for a few hours, then put the garlic nubbins into containers now that they won't stick together. (Alternative: put the prepped garlic into small-cube ice trays instead of using the scoop.)

Even frozen, it's easy to slice portions in half for smaller dishes.
posted by maudlin at 11:41 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: These are some great ideas! Keep them coming...
posted by mumimor at 11:46 AM on April 27, 2023


Garlic infused olive oil is very easy to make. Also I strongly second pureeing and freezing in small portions for future cooking.
posted by thatquietgirl at 12:02 PM on April 27, 2023


Share it!
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:07 PM on April 27, 2023


whole roasted garlic cloves are an excellent pizza topping.

the same in mashed or whipped potatoes is yummy.
posted by mmascolino at 12:07 PM on April 27, 2023


Fuk it buy some naan bread slice the garlic raw lengthwise fold it in the naan like a taco and enjoy.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:22 PM on April 27, 2023


My other favorite is get Taiwanese cabbage and stir fry with salt, spray of oil and one metric shit tonne of aforementioned lengthwise sliced garlic, so yummy!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:24 PM on April 27, 2023




Pickled garlic is probably best for using it up. It may turn blue, this is fine.

If you freeze garlic cloves, peel them first, or just smash them to peel and freeze the mince.
posted by momus_window at 12:37 PM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


[Black] [garlic] (It's just aged garlic, but if you like words like "aged" and "garlic" (and "umami" and "Maillard reaction") then it's what you want.
posted by meemzi at 12:37 PM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


Soup
posted by sammyo at 12:49 PM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


toum
posted by away for regrooving at 2:34 PM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


We like to puree it and then freeze it flattened out in ziplocs for easy storage. For extra credit, use something to press a grid of lines into it before freezing so that you can break off nice regular squares.
posted by sapere aude at 3:27 PM on April 27, 2023 [2 favorites]


Around here every fish and chip shop has malt vinegar bottles stuffed with thinly sliced garlic. I’m pretty sure it’s just left in there at room temperature although I could be wrong - trying to search for a recipe is proving impossible. It’s my preferred condiment with fries and any fried seafood, also great with cold boiled shrimp, baked salmon, roasted mushrooms, and to brighten up chowders. If I were to try making it at home I’d buy a bottle of malt vinegar, pry off the plastic cap, dump out like a third, stuff enough thinly sliced garlic in there to fill it back up, and leave it in the fridge indefinitely.
posted by Mizu at 5:18 PM on April 27, 2023


n-thing plant some!

In a similar vein, you can germinate them to harvest garlic stems (when they're 6-9" tall). They have a delicate flavour and a delightful crunch. Lightly saute in butter, maybe with some mushrooms cut lengthwise and/ or sliced shallots.

Or stir-fry. They cook quickly so maybe add near-er the end.

I think the stems are sometimes also called scapes?
posted by porpoise at 6:23 PM on April 27, 2023


P E S T O

I adore pesto, but it is a PAIN to make in small amounts. If you take an afternoon and make a heap in small jars (Kerr makes squat half-pints) with generous olive-oil pour on top to keep them safe from oxidizing, you’ll have pesto for pasta salads and soups and toast and and and for ages. (They’d also make great summer gifts for friends and family within driving/walking distance of your refrigerator.)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 6:41 PM on April 27, 2023


Garlic chili crisp
posted by mezzanayne at 9:40 PM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]


I genuinely thought with this many comments that this creamy garlic soup would already have been posted -

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2006/08/a-44-clove-ticket-to-a-happier-place/

It's amazing.

You can never make too much, a friend made a cauldron's worth, and it was still about the first thing to go at a potluck.

And making sure your garlic peeling game is on point is a good idea too.
posted by Elysum at 12:35 AM on April 28, 2023


Ottolenghi's Garlic tart
posted by dizziest at 6:24 AM on April 28, 2023


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