Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Easy Garlic Preparation Tip for Faster Meal Making


"Were I forced to have only one herb in my kitchen, garlic would be it. If there’s anything that enhances the flavor of food more or improves health better than garlic, it’s yet to be discovered. Garlic..., may, in the final analysis, be nothing less than one of the world’s most versatile culinary herbs and greatest medicinal plants. “Useful for everything” is my motto for garlic."

Garlic makes everything so very delicious that it isn't hard to incorporate into our daily menu. However, it can be a bit tedious to stop and peel a clove and mince the clove for a recipe. And the last thing you want to do is deprive yourself of this healing food because of lack of time. We cook everything from scratch in our home so we are always looking for quick meal making tips. This is one of them! With this method, you will have a week's worth of garlic infusion to conveniently dip into.


To begin, we need to peel our garlic. To easily remove skin from your clove, place whole garlic in a quart sized mason jar (I learned this easy tip from Jacqueline). Place canning lid on your jar and shake garlic up and down for one minute.


Dump contents onto counter top and collect all the peeled cloves! Simple, simple.


Next, mince all your garlic and place in small glass jar. My favorite tool for quick mincing is a garlic press. Technically, you don't need to peel the garlic to use it (as it does the work for you). But, when you are doing a larger batch, it is more convenient to work with peeled garlic so you do not need to constantly remove skin from the device.


Lastly, pour your favorite cooking oil over the minced garlic. We use extra-virgin olive oil and grape seed oil. You can either pour enough to cover the garlic or to fill up your jar. Filling up your jar would allow you excess garlic infused oil to skim off the top and drizzle over salads and pizzas or use as a sautéing oil, etc. If you aren't interested in that feature, just use enough oil to cover the garlic. Store the finished product in the refrigerator and your garlic is now ready to use for the week!

{Note: The mixture may solidify a little in the fridge when using certain oils (like extra virgin olive oil) but that doesn't hinder anything. In fact, it just makes it easier to measure out and will easily melt into your recipes like butter would.}


If a recipe calls for sautéed garlic, scoop out a few teaspoons of your mixture and add it to your sauté pan. If a salad dressing calls for some fresh garlic, measure out the required amount and conveniently prepare your dressing (here is a healthy homemade recipe). Add a spoon to your salsa for a delicious punch of flavor (the oil infusion will melt rapidly in the tomato mixture). Slather it onto warm bread for some quick garlic bread. I think you get the idea!

This makes it very easy to incorporate garlic into your meals for the week. The messy and tedious prep work is already done. We find we use more of this powerful herb when it is conveniently stored in the refrigerator. We usually make a weeks worth to maintain freshness. If you have a larger family, prepare a larger jar of this infusion and so forth. For best results, use up within 2 weeks.


"Regular consumption of garlic, a potent natural antibiotic, can help to prevent and treat infections of the lungs and is a traditional cure for coughs and colds. Garlic's antimicrobial effects also extend to the gut, and it can be helpful in the treatment of gastrointestinal infections. Furthermore, inclusion of garlic in the diet has also been shown to have a preventative effect against stomach and colorectal cancers. 

Garlic produces a number of beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, many of which have been confirmed by clinical trials. Garlic supplementation has been shown to lower cholesterol levels, prevent the hardening of arteries and lessen the risk of blood-clot formation. It can also help to reduce blood pressure as well as improve general circulation."


20 comments:

  1. How I lóve garlic and all it's great uses! But have to say that I didn't now that trick ;o) Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the tips! Enjoy your day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I concur with Rosemary - garlic is the one herb I'd keep if I could have no other in the kitchen.
    Shaking the whole head is the neatest peeling trick ever. I'm looking forward to my garlic harvest as I've used all I grew last year and have it on my grocery list. Have a great Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We still have some from our harvest but they are now at the getting picked through point... We over-cured them I think.

      Delete
  4. I love using garlic. So much so, that I have been known to call if my friend ;-) This is a great time saver...thanks for sharing.
    Lori from LL Farm

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you so much for this tip. Do you know how long it will last in the fridge?


    Melisa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Melisa, I would use it up before 2 weeks. Hope this is a time savor for you! Take care :)

      Delete
  6. How cool is that?! I have been peeling them all wrong and it takes forever when you need several for a recipe! I'm getting my jar out today and making this! Yay!!

    I hope you are having a wonderful week!

    Blessings,
    Amy

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a wonderful idea to do it all at once and have it readily available like this! I love using my Pampered Chef garlic press. It makes everything so much easier. Thanks for the great advice here, JES. You are such a blessing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great idea- I will have to try this out! Thank you for sharing :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is great Jes! I love the way you peel them. I shall have to try that.

    I do something similar where I mince all the garlic with a little olive oil then scoop teaspoons out onto a baking sheet. I then flash freeze them and store them in a ziploc bag in my freezer. Each teaspoon is approximately two cloves of garlic.

    ReplyDelete
  11. JES - this idea is awesome! I never have thought about making the minced garlic and olive oil ahead - and what a time saver it is to have it in the fridge ready to go when you need it quick for a recipe! Thanks again for an inspiring post!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. We do love garlic around here. I had one of those presses for years and couldn't figure out how to use it. That was back before YouTube tutorials! Wish I still had it. This looks like a great idea.


    Thanks so much for visiting me and talking back at Harvest Lane Cottage.

    Blessings,
    Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi JES, so enjoyed reading up on all of garlic's medicinal and therapeutic qualities. I have been mincing this herb and preserving it in olive oil, which is very convenient when cooking, but I had forgotten about the mason jar shaking method for peeling it, as I tend to bang on it with the flat side of a knife, which loosens the skin, then peels very easily.

    Thanks for sharing all of garlic's great characteristics!

    Poppy

    ReplyDelete
  14. thanks for the tips...lovely blog!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great informative post! I do love garlic...thanks for the great tips!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Really? Peeling garlic is that easy?? Oh JES, I love fresh garlic, but I absolutely detest peeling it. I am so, so, so glad you shared this at ROI :) Thank you, my friend, and thanks to your friend for sharing the tip in the first place.

    Hugs to you!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks for linking up at www.rchreviews.blogspot.com Awesome Life Friday. This is a great post!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is a wonderful idea and I especially like the idea of filling the jar up and then using the infused oil on salads and such. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us at Good Morning Mondays. Blessings

    ReplyDelete