Help me use up my bottle of minced garlic!
April 9, 2022 11:07 AM Subscribe
For some reason, that I no longer remember, I purchased a big bottle of organic minced garlic. The garlic is going to expire in a few months and I want to use it up. What are your ideas and suggestions for minced garlic use? I have about a cup of the stuff.
So many recipes for garlic call for cloves or heads. I'd like to find recipes that don't take an hour to cook but do use lots of minced garlic. Am I asking too much?
So many recipes for garlic call for cloves or heads. I'd like to find recipes that don't take an hour to cook but do use lots of minced garlic. Am I asking too much?
Just use half a teaspoon or so of minced garlic in place of each clove in recipes where you're not roasting the heads or whatever.
posted by knapah at 11:30 AM on April 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by knapah at 11:30 AM on April 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
do you eat bread? i would saute all of it in some butter and then mix the cooked garlic with more plain better, salt and pepper, minced parsley and maybe some shredded or grated parmesan. now you have garlic butter for your bread or pasta dishes.
alternatively you can heat up some neutral oil and pour it over the minced garlic and chili flakes and now you have chili crisp to use as a condiment on soups, eggs, rice dishes, ramen noodles, stir fry dishes, etc.
posted by zdravo at 11:45 AM on April 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
alternatively you can heat up some neutral oil and pour it over the minced garlic and chili flakes and now you have chili crisp to use as a condiment on soups, eggs, rice dishes, ramen noodles, stir fry dishes, etc.
posted by zdravo at 11:45 AM on April 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
Pre-minced garlic is just a shortcut to regular old garlic. As mentioned by knapah, about half a teaspoon is a good measure for one garlic clove. I buy mine whole and usually end up mincing it anyway, but I like doing that peeling and smashing myself.
posted by emelenjr at 12:01 PM on April 9, 2022
posted by emelenjr at 12:01 PM on April 9, 2022
I think that it would also freeze well. If you use an ice-cube tray and freeze 1-2 teaspoons in each hollow, you can later pop them out and use as suggested above.
I use frozen garlic cloves all the time because they last longer than fresh (which always seem to want to sprout in my cupboard).
posted by jb at 12:16 PM on April 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
I use frozen garlic cloves all the time because they last longer than fresh (which always seem to want to sprout in my cupboard).
posted by jb at 12:16 PM on April 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
Make toum. It freezes and is delicious.
posted by happy_cat at 12:40 PM on April 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by happy_cat at 12:40 PM on April 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
Just old-school garlic bread. Get a baguette, cut in diagonal slices, but not all the way through. Soften some salted butter, add copious minced garlic and some oregano, rosemary, or whatever herb you like. Maybe some cheese, if you want to be fancy. Spread thickly into the cuts in the bread. Wrap the whole thing in foil (cut in two to fit the oven) and bake it for just long enough to get the bread hot, so 10 minutes or something. Bake it without the foil if you prefer a darker, more caramelised crust.
posted by pipeski at 4:43 PM on April 9, 2022
posted by pipeski at 4:43 PM on April 9, 2022
Best answer: I like minced garlic in anything with a liquidy sauce (like roasted meat with gravy) as the little garlic bits soak up the flavour.
I made this chicken adobo recipe (Filipino chicken braised in soy sauce and vinegar) and it’s great. Usually adobo doesn’t have onion, but the cooked slivered onions were delicious and soaked up the sauce really well so I recommend it. You could add a ton of pre-minced garlic (maybe 1/4 cup!) and it would be great - this dish is naturally tangy so the extra acidity of the jarred garlic would blend in well. I also think this recipe would be great with twice or three times the listed amount of sugar.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:14 PM on April 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I made this chicken adobo recipe (Filipino chicken braised in soy sauce and vinegar) and it’s great. Usually adobo doesn’t have onion, but the cooked slivered onions were delicious and soaked up the sauce really well so I recommend it. You could add a ton of pre-minced garlic (maybe 1/4 cup!) and it would be great - this dish is naturally tangy so the extra acidity of the jarred garlic would blend in well. I also think this recipe would be great with twice or three times the listed amount of sugar.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:14 PM on April 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fabulous for marinades. Where I am it’s nearly grilling season. I’d just whack like a quarter cup of minced garlic, the juice and zest of a whole lime, a neutral oil, salt and pepper and a tablespoon or so of chili powder into a bag and mix it around, then add chicken wings or leg quarters or shrimp or pork chops or big portobellos or pressed tofu, massage the marinade into all crevices and then let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Remove from the marinade, apply high heat until crispy and cooked through via broiler or grill or roasting on a preheated sheet pan. You can toss vegetables in the marinade too and then cook them alongside, or roast at a lower temp. You could make a garlic sauce to serve it with, too.
posted by Mizu at 6:33 PM on April 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Mizu at 6:33 PM on April 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Pesto!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 7:48 PM on April 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 7:48 PM on April 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Patychky!
The cooking takes a bit on day 2, but the garlic part is a quick day 1 marinade.
Day 1
Cut a pork roast into 1" cubes.
Chop up an insane amount of garlic - 30 or 40 big cloves is not too much (or 1-ish cup).
Toss the garlic in with the meat in a large bowl.
Add a can of beer (I prefer pale ale or pilsner) and marinade overnight. In a pinch you can marinate for a couple hours but overnight is best.
Day 2
Preheat an oven to 350F degrees.
Take the meat from the fridge, drain, and dry. Thread the meat cubes onto bamboo skewers.
Set up a two-bowl dredge station with containers long enough to accommodate the skewers. Bowl one is an egg wash (two eggs and water). Bowl two is breadcrumbs seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.
Dip skewers in egg and then roll them in the breadcrumb mixture. If you have a baking sheet with a rack, grease the rack. If you don't have a rack, line the bottom of a roasting pan with sticks of celery to prevent the patychky off the bottom of the pan.
Add a generous amount of canola oil to a good skillet and heat it on medium-high.
Brown the patychky thoroughly, 4 or 5 at a time.
As you take the patychky out of the skillet, lay them on the rack in the sheet pan. It's OK to have two or three layers of meat sticks - don't worry about them touching one another.
Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. After 45 minutes, take one out and "test" it (ie. eat it). If it's not tender enough, let them go for another 5-15 minutes.
Patychky are great hot out of the oven, cold for breakfast, re-heated in a toaster oven, or even microwaved
posted by youknowwhatpart at 8:08 PM on April 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
The cooking takes a bit on day 2, but the garlic part is a quick day 1 marinade.
Day 1
Cut a pork roast into 1" cubes.
Chop up an insane amount of garlic - 30 or 40 big cloves is not too much (or 1-ish cup).
Toss the garlic in with the meat in a large bowl.
Add a can of beer (I prefer pale ale or pilsner) and marinade overnight. In a pinch you can marinate for a couple hours but overnight is best.
Day 2
Preheat an oven to 350F degrees.
Take the meat from the fridge, drain, and dry. Thread the meat cubes onto bamboo skewers.
Set up a two-bowl dredge station with containers long enough to accommodate the skewers. Bowl one is an egg wash (two eggs and water). Bowl two is breadcrumbs seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.
Dip skewers in egg and then roll them in the breadcrumb mixture. If you have a baking sheet with a rack, grease the rack. If you don't have a rack, line the bottom of a roasting pan with sticks of celery to prevent the patychky off the bottom of the pan.
Add a generous amount of canola oil to a good skillet and heat it on medium-high.
Brown the patychky thoroughly, 4 or 5 at a time.
As you take the patychky out of the skillet, lay them on the rack in the sheet pan. It's OK to have two or three layers of meat sticks - don't worry about them touching one another.
Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. After 45 minutes, take one out and "test" it (ie. eat it). If it's not tender enough, let them go for another 5-15 minutes.
Patychky are great hot out of the oven, cold for breakfast, re-heated in a toaster oven, or even microwaved
posted by youknowwhatpart at 8:08 PM on April 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Caveat: I probably use the equivalent of a cup of bottled minced garlic in fresh garlic every month.
You don't need to make stuff out of the garlic so much as add garlic to everything.
I've started trying to deconstruct cooking mazesoba, and raw garlic mixed in at the end is superior to introducing the garlic during the cooking process. But that's dependent on the primary solid protein and dissolved amino acids in how much liquid with a certain viscosity.
If you still want to make something out of it, maybe try toub.
posted by porpoise at 8:36 PM on April 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
You don't need to make stuff out of the garlic so much as add garlic to everything.
I've started trying to deconstruct cooking mazesoba, and raw garlic mixed in at the end is superior to introducing the garlic during the cooking process. But that's dependent on the primary solid protein and dissolved amino acids in how much liquid with a certain viscosity.
If you still want to make something out of it, maybe try toub.
posted by porpoise at 8:36 PM on April 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Rack of lamb, marinade:
Olive oil, soy sauce, springs of rosemary, and some crushed, and heaps of minced garlic.
Get the lamb covered and keep it for a day, then roast. YUM!
posted by Goofyy at 6:32 AM on April 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Olive oil, soy sauce, springs of rosemary, and some crushed, and heaps of minced garlic.
Get the lamb covered and keep it for a day, then roast. YUM!
posted by Goofyy at 6:32 AM on April 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Get a bunch of butter and allow it to soften to room temp. Mix in a bunch of your minced garlic. Distribute it thoroughly. Plop it on a square of plastic wrap and roll up into a cylinder. Wrap it tightly, and it can go into the freezer and be good for a year at least. Slice off coins of garlic butter whenever you want to make garlic bread, or pop it on top of fish filets, steaks, baked potatoes, or stir into soups/sauces.
posted by Miko at 10:04 AM on April 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Miko at 10:04 AM on April 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you to everyone for the excellent answers. I've copied the recipes down, and have some new takes on old favorites. But special mention goes to goofyfoot who alerted me to the dangers of garlic jarred in oil. I went to the fridge to check, and sure enough mine was. What annoys me is that its use by date was 2 months away, when the USDA is telling us that it shouldn't be kept for more than 7 days in the refrigerator. So, the upshot of all of this is..jar of garlic is gone and fresh garlic is all that is in my future. Whew!
posted by furtheryet at 6:06 PM on April 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by furtheryet at 6:06 PM on April 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by wintersweet at 11:21 AM on April 9, 2022 [1 favorite]