Gardening for Garlic!
Being it's garlic planting season, I was talking with a gardener friend about how much garlic we grow in our gardens. In my house, I grow a lot because we use garlic on an almost daily basis. I can easily go through two large braids of garlic before next year's crop is ready.
My friend said he would use it more often if it weren't such a pain to crush and chop at meals. That's when I shared my method for doing it all at once and enjoying the benefit for weeks and weeks to come.
Before we start, I know that you can buy garlic in the store in jars very much like this. My biggest complaint--beyond enjoying growing my own--is that jarred garlic is typically packed in water. Thus, when you throw it in hot oil, it splatters all over your stove. I pack chopped garlic in olive oil and refrigerate, so when cooked, it is--in every sense--just like peeling and chopping on the fly.
Start by peeling whole cloves. I typically do 2-3 bulbs of garlic at a time. That lasts us anywhere between 4-8 weeks and so far, I've never had it go bad on me.
I have a mini food processor. I highly recommend them for small jobs like garlic and herbs. I have not tried this in my full sized processor, so I don't know how well it chops cloves. The smaller processor is ideal. I process in batches and keep the processor running until it's not chopping much anymore.
This is my "garlic Tupperware" container. Once processed, I mix the chopped cloves in olive oil. Enough to fully cover all the garlic, but not leave it "swimming" if you know what I mean.
I then smooth out the top. Once in the fridge, this will solidify, which is fine. That will have no impact once you spoon out and cook with it.
I have not been scientific about how long this will keep. But I'm sure I've had a single batch in the fridge for more than 8 weeks. It's never gone bad or gotten moldy. But I will tell you, it is AWESOME having a container of fresh garlic in olive oil handy and ready for cooking!
As Jacque Pepin used to say, "Happy Cooking!"
My friend said he would use it more often if it weren't such a pain to crush and chop at meals. That's when I shared my method for doing it all at once and enjoying the benefit for weeks and weeks to come.
Before we start, I know that you can buy garlic in the store in jars very much like this. My biggest complaint--beyond enjoying growing my own--is that jarred garlic is typically packed in water. Thus, when you throw it in hot oil, it splatters all over your stove. I pack chopped garlic in olive oil and refrigerate, so when cooked, it is--in every sense--just like peeling and chopping on the fly.
Start by peeling whole cloves. I typically do 2-3 bulbs of garlic at a time. That lasts us anywhere between 4-8 weeks and so far, I've never had it go bad on me.
I have a mini food processor. I highly recommend them for small jobs like garlic and herbs. I have not tried this in my full sized processor, so I don't know how well it chops cloves. The smaller processor is ideal. I process in batches and keep the processor running until it's not chopping much anymore.
This is my "garlic Tupperware" container. Once processed, I mix the chopped cloves in olive oil. Enough to fully cover all the garlic, but not leave it "swimming" if you know what I mean.
I then smooth out the top. Once in the fridge, this will solidify, which is fine. That will have no impact once you spoon out and cook with it.
I have not been scientific about how long this will keep. But I'm sure I've had a single batch in the fridge for more than 8 weeks. It's never gone bad or gotten moldy. But I will tell you, it is AWESOME having a container of fresh garlic in olive oil handy and ready for cooking!
As Jacque Pepin used to say, "Happy Cooking!"
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