Comments on: Simple Gourmet: How To Peel Garlic

By: Darya Pino

Darya Pino — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:28:00 +0000

@Matt

Mamma mia! It is taking me forever to get to the crushed garlic question, sorry.

For now I will say that it does seem that garlic is somehow activated upon crushing, but I still do not understand the mechanism. Why would a mechanical stimulus activate an enzyme? I still don’t know.

I think I will eventually do an entire post on this, so stay tuned.

I am inclined to think this is a minor point, albeit a really interesting one. Can we really eat enough garlic for this to matter for our health?

I guess it probably doesn’t hurt to do if you can remember to cut it up early enough

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:50:00 +0000

Can’t imagine why anyone would not use real garlic out of peeling-laziness…..
great post!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:51:00 +0000

My most common minced garlic usage is in scrambled eggs. A little butter or olive oil, just enough heat to brown the garlic, add some seasonal herbs and voi-la, an amazing egg dish! I’d love to hear other favorite uses of the underappreciated fresh garlic…

By: Darya Pino

Darya Pino — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:46:00 +0000

FYI, you can get the garlic peeler a little cheaper at Amazon.com.

By: Chinasaur

Chinasaur — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:13:00 +0000

Woo garlic! The knife bash is great. Although if you're doing a whole lot of cloves, you can cut the tops off and, blanch them, and soak them briefly in cold water. Peels should slip off easily. Like peeling tomatoes.

Also, as a bonus, the better tasting, hard-necked varieties from farmers markets are generally easier to peel than soft-necked from the grocery store.

My problem with garlic is that I like it pretty raw and then I'll sweat garlic the next day.

By: Darya Pino

Darya Pino — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:31:00 +0000

Great suggestions everyone!

I think that oven method is to make roasted garlic, right? A delicious treat, but not always interchangable with raw.

By: Toni Tiller

Toni Tiller — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:46:00 +0000

for someone who was hungover you retain information really well JD, you got it 99% right. the only difference is that you pour the oil into a little puddle in the pan, not on the bulb itself, then you rest the open end of the garlic in the pan. the rest of the instructions including temp/cooking time are right on. the part of the garlic in the oil with become yummy and carmelized.

i found the recipe here.

By: j_d_hastings

j_d_hastings — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:26:00 +0000

My friend just told me this trick over the phone on Saturday. I was hungover and am going from memory, so it may not be perfect but here goes:

Take a full bulb of garlic, slice off the top (the fat end not the tip),for access to the cloves. Pour olive oil in the opening then put it on a pan with other veggies you're roasting with the cut off part as the base.

I don't remember specific cooking times but assume its the same as normal for roasting veggie (I do 400 degrees ~20 minutes).

Supposedly, once you're done you just pinch the pointy part of the sheath and it pulls offeasily, as does most of the paper around individual cloves. Plus the oils that cook around the garlic coat the pan and affect nearby veggies.

I haven't tried this yet, but will as soon as I'm back from Thanksgiving. I'll try to get more precise instructions for you.

By: Healthyliving

Healthyliving — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:02:00 +0000

The garlic peeler looks pretty neat. W&S will find a unique gadget for every kitchen task though. This method attestment to the versitility and usefulness of a chef's knife, and why every respectable kitchen should have one.
Here is the link to the garlic peeler btw
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/srch/index.cfm?words=garlic

By: G

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:42:00 +0000

You’ve got to try the garlic peeler device. I paid $9 bucks for it at Williams-Sonoma. It’s a plasticky cyclinder, you stick the clove, and roll it around, and presto!