Bulk Garlic Recipes

August 20, 2007 4:29 PM

What are some good recipes that use up a lot of garlic? Bonus points if they keep well or can be frozen, because I'm talking about 2 pounds of peeled cloves, here.

I made skordalia already and will do some baba ganouj and hummus.

Also, does anybody know how to prevent garlicky farts? Because I got those once from eating a lot of garlic (like, half an elephant bulb) and it made my next workday a study in mortification. Relentless waves of farts. That smell like garlic. Only with some fart mixed in. Not cute.

posted by Ambrosia Voyeur to food & drink (30 comments total)

Already peeled cloves limits your choices somewhat (i.e. no roasted garlic, no "chicken with 4834 cloves" type recipes that rely on skin-on garlic).

I'd recommend putting it in a food processor with an equal amount of peeled ginger to make a ginger-garlic paste, the foundation of much South Asian and SE Asian food. You could go through a cup of that easily when making dinner.

I like to make a pasta sauce that involves quickly cooking lots of sliced garlic in olive oil (not enough to color it) then adding good canned tomatoes and some salt and saffron and simmering with chicken.
posted by rxrfrx at 4:37 PM on August 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

What about just roasting the garlic? Usually its done with the garlic still in its shell but you can probably do it with peeled garlic.

Afterwards you could make it into a kind of paste and serve it over bread, or mix it into other things like soup, onto chicken before baking, etc.

Also you can probably pickle it.

Lots of ideas, here.
posted by modernsquid at 4:46 PM on August 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

This link has some ideas for preserving garlic, one of which is pickling it, which is what I googled to find it. I bought pickled garlic cloves at a farmer's market once and they were outstanding. I used them in salads and as garnish for finger foods.
posted by padraigin at 4:47 PM on August 20, 2007

By which I mean this link, of course.
posted by padraigin at 4:48 PM on August 20, 2007

Pickled Garlic - and who cares if they are the source of mortifying stinky garlicy farts - it's worth it.
posted by Sassyfras at 4:49 PM on August 20, 2007

Oh, you know what you should do, is make garlic butter. Four cloves, minced, per stick of melted butter. You sautée the garlic in the butter until it's a pretty golden-brown. Then you can spread it on stuff. Butter keeps really well in the freezer, too, so I'd bet you could re-freeze it.

I like taking a big bowl of popcorn, putting in half a stick of butter melted together with two cloves of minced garlic, adding a quarter-cup of parmesan cheese, and EATING THE HELL OUT OF IT. I believe that recipe came from a Moosewood cookbook. It's delicious.

For the record: you cannot escape the gas. Stinkier humans than you have tried.
posted by Greg Nog at 4:56 PM on August 20, 2007 [3 favorites]

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
posted by occhiblu at 5:11 PM on August 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

(In trying to determine if the San Francisco restaurant The Stinking Rose had a cookbook, and if it was online (they do and it's not), I found Garlicster, which has bunches of recipes.)
posted by occhiblu at 5:14 PM on August 20, 2007

mince it and cover it in good olive oil, so you have a paste. then divide it into small jars, keep one in your fridge to cook with, and freeze the rest.
posted by thinkingwoman at 5:23 PM on August 20, 2007

I always see warnings about storing garlic in oil, due to bacterial contamination risks, so I'm going to go ahead and post one just so that it's covered.
posted by occhiblu at 5:29 PM on August 20, 2007

Garlic and Saffron Soup

10-12 cloves garlic
8 cups chicken stock
3-4 sprigs each of thyme, parsley, tarragon
1 pinch saffron
1 tbsp olive oil

Pour a small amount of boiling water on the saffron. Pour stock into pot, add all other ingredients. Bring to a simmer, covered. After about 45 minutes, when the garlic cloves are falling apart, take it off the heat for 15 minutes then strain out all the solids. Return to heat to bring up to serving temperature if necessary.

Serve with finely chopped parsley and a bit of good grated parmesan cheese.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 5:31 PM on August 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

You can prepare some garlic confit, which is a handy ingredient to have around and keeps for up to a month (in the oil, in the fridge). And, hey, you also end up with garlic-infused oil.
posted by sad_otter at 7:04 PM on August 20, 2007

sad_otter, please see occhiblu's comment above. There's a risk of botulism.
posted by solongxenon at 7:24 PM on August 20, 2007

You can probably find some good ideas from defenders of garlic on this thread. "Chicken Stone" is a good place to start.

Also, you can always make this delightful garlic spread.
posted by Deathalicious at 7:28 PM on August 20, 2007

i've had a garlic soup that's basically like french onion soup except garlic not onion. something similar to this recipe

drizzle the egg yolks into the soup instead of putting the eggs on the plates, then top the individual servings with thick bread and cheese. toast and serve.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:37 PM on August 20, 2007

Curry sauce base:

http://www.curryhouse.co.uk/rsc/sauce.htm

You can freeze it.
posted by galaksit at 9:30 PM on August 20, 2007

Pesto. It freezes brilliantly well.
posted by dejah420 at 9:54 PM on August 20, 2007

When I was little my mom and I, about once a month, would sit for hours to peel and mash up garlic (I'm talking pounds of garlic here). She used a plastic mortar and wooden pestle (I think commonly found in Korean markets). She kept the mashed garlic in spaghetti jars in the fridge (with a plastic wrap between the jar lip and the lid) and would use it everywhere. She did not use any oil and I did not die from botulism.
posted by like_neon at 2:22 AM on August 21, 2007

Let me see...
Food Thread (Check)
Recipes (Check)
Did someone mentions storage? (Check)

ZOMG! BOTULISM!


According to this FDA page, there are around 30-40 foodborne botulism cases in the US each year. According to the National Safety Council (pdf) there are around 4500 deaths by choking in the US each year. By my calculations, that means that you are about 100 times more likely to choke on your garlic oil than you are to get botulism from it.

ZOMG! DON'T EAT ANYTHING! GET ME A GLUCOSE IV, STAT!
posted by Jakey at 3:27 AM on August 21, 2007 [3 favorites]

I would second the idea to make pesto. You can freeze it forever and you can always eat it. You just need a shitload of basil, a couple of jars of pine nuts and a bunch of olive oil. Oh yeah and parmesan.
posted by creasy boy at 3:45 AM on August 21, 2007

Have a big party and make a metric ton of bagna cauda. God's Own fondue/dip/spread.
posted by enrevanche at 4:01 AM on August 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

Grind it all up in a food processor and make chili garlic sauce. The kind that Asian restaurants always have sitting in containers with tiny scoop-spoons, or squirt bottles.
posted by Xere at 4:28 AM on August 21, 2007

Never mind, rxrfrx beat me to it. =)
posted by Xere at 4:30 AM on August 21, 2007

Roasted Garlic Soup with Parmesan Cheese and Roasted Garlic Chicken
posted by heartquake at 5:45 AM on August 21, 2007

Alton Brown did a garlic episode and has a very tasty recipe for 40 Clove Chicken involving peeled garlic.
posted by artifarce at 5:50 AM on August 21, 2007

Have to put in a good word for Skordalia one of the traditional Greek dips. The link has the traditional recipe, although some may add mayo or yoghurt to make it a bit thinner. It's good with anything fried, especially fish.

Caution: breath will be murderous for at least 24 hours after consumption. May induce catatonia from low blood pressure.
posted by costas at 5:55 AM on August 21, 2007

Garlic farts are the best.
No special recipes from me- anything tastes good cooked with butter and garlic.
In case you want to save it, last year I tried drying, pickling and freezing. I was very disappointed with drying.
I was unimpressed with pickling (use wine or vinegar, not oil) or freezing whole cloves.
I loved what happened when I froze pressed garlic. I saved it in little baggies. Any time you need some, just break off a piece the size you need and put it in whatever you're cooking. Very easy and as good as fresh squeezed.
posted by MtDewd at 6:01 AM on August 21, 2007

There have been a couple mentions of garlic soup....Julia Child has a very simple recipe for it in her classic "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" book. Note that though the ingredients list says "unpeeled garlic," the first step is blanching them to peel them, so if you've already got it unpeeled you're a step ahead. The recipe doesn't even need stock, plain water will do, and the herbs called for aren't even pricey like saffron. I've made this before and it really is suprisingly tasty.

Actually how I like to serve it is a variation mentioned in the book but not on that link I gave. Instead of thickening with egg yolk, leave it as a broth and poach egg(s) in it. Then in each bowl, put a slice of good crusty bread (I liked sourdough for this), put the egg on the bread, and ladle the soup broth over it all.

The unthickened soup broth freezes wonderfully. I dunno if adding the egg yolk thickener would affect its freezability.
posted by dnash at 7:33 AM on August 21, 2007

Seconding skordalia (skorthalia will also net you a ton of search results). It's great on grilled meat and vegetables; my favorite local place knows to bring me extra with my shwarma.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:46 AM on August 21, 2007

My dad (and now I) make a heavenly spicy paste: Schug
5 cloves garlic, 1 bunch cilantro, as many chili peppers as you'd like, and some olive oil and salt.
It freezes very well. You can make several batches and freeze most. It goes great on sandwiches, meats, soups, and anything else you'd like.
posted by shokod at 12:50 AM on August 22, 2007