If feeling:
lonely, bored, restless, hungry, smell deprived, sleep deprived, cold, greedy, kooky, crazy, cabin fevery, sun deprived, snow deprived, sullen, extraordinary, sluggish or spicy…
Might I suggest turning up the oven and roasting a bulb of garlic?
Hello, garlic.
I’m gonna chop your head off and put oil in your brains.
Salt and pepper. Salt and pepper. Salt and pepper. Salt and pepper and paper.
Wrap it up. Tie it up.
I used parchment paper and a kitchen string. If you want to use foil… you totally should. I was out. I got creative.
When roasted, garlic turn into something sweet, aromatic, creamy, spreadable and utterly dream worthy. Your breath will still me an absolute nightmare… but just deal with it.
I hid my freshly roasted garlic in between butter and mashed avocado on this (burnt) toast. I didn’t need the butter or the avocado… but I like layers of delicious. I also like burnt toast.
How to Roast Garlic
Makes: one head of garlic
1 head of garlic
about 2 tablespoons olive oil
about 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
about 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Place a baking sheet in the oven as the oven preheats.
If your garlic head is covered in several layers of white skin, peal off a few layers. Keep several layers around to hold the head together. With a sharp knife, cut the top off the head of garlic exposing a bit of each each clove of garlic.
Place garlic head in a piece of foil or parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil on top. Top with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Seal the foil around the garlic or parchment paper. If using parchment paper, use a kitchen string to seal the little package.
Place on the pan in the oven and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until completely tender when poked with a fork or knife.
Allow to cool slightly before spreading on toast or adding to pasta. It’s delicious.
Zanne
I have to admit that I roast 6 or 7 heads of garlic at a time, in my tortilla warmer! I probably go a little bit darker than you show yours. I then peel the cloves, oh so carefully, so they keep their shape, and pack them into (good) olive oil in glass jars. (I use fresh oil every time.) I keep them in the cupboard. Whenever a recipe calls for garlic, I haul out my roasted garlic cloves and put (at least) however many the recipe calls for through my garlic press. You never have to cook the garlic in the recipe – that part is already done. I also use the oil to saute with – it’s certainly garlic infused! That uses the oil up, so none is wasted. As long as I keep the cloves covered in oil, I have not had any spoilage. To us, the roasted clove is so much sweeter and has a depth of flavor you don’t get from the raw clove. It doesn’t take any longer to roast multiple heads than to roast one; the only really time consuming part is peeling the cloves out afterwards. I use my kitchen scissors to literally cut down the side of the paper of each clove, and then they just pop right out. I do soak the top of the tortilla warmer in water for ten minutes while I chop off the top of the garlic heads and add the oil, salt, and pepper. My warmer is glazed inside on the bottom, so cleanup is easy. Maybe next time I will line it with paper so there will be NO cleanup! I use lots of garlic when I cook – we think it wards off catching colds by making other people stay away from us! If a recipe calls for an onion, you can pretty much bet I’m adding either garlic or cooking the onion in garlic oil.
Vicki (piggledy)
Oh, this would be great for the oven toaster! I’m gonna try it, surprise my hubby tonight! Thank you for reminding me.
love, piggledy
jenn
Okay. So now I’ll be dreaming of garlic until I make this. Yum!! Can’t wait.
Pittipat
Roasted garlic is always heaven. BUT I’ve never tried it with avocado. Back here avocado is always eaten as a desert/fruit and nothing else. I wonder if I’ll get the courage to try this… I’ll let you know.
Tracy Medina
avocado as a desert.could u tell me some ideas. i love avocados almost as much as garlic.
Ashlee
Interesting, where are you from? I’ve never heard of it eaten as anything but savoury.
RealMommyChron
A few weeks ago I got a nasty bout of mastitis, my fourth in 9 months. (Sorry – this is probably TMI for a first-time commenter. On a FOOD blog, no less. Not where people come to hear gory grossness.)
In any event, I didn’t want to take antibiotics again, so I did some medical research (obviously, I am referring to Dr. Google) and discovered that raw garlic can work as a natural antibiotic.
After chewing about 6-7 cloves of raw garlic a day for 2.5 days, the mastitis was gone.
However, I am pretty sure I smelled like a whole head of raw garlic for several days after that.
And now I am craving the DELICIOUS kind of garlic (a.k.a. ROASTED garlic). So thank you for this beautiful and humorous post reminding me how to perfectly roast some.
My husband will be super excited. ;)
ps. I just discovered your site, but you already have a faithful reader in me after going back through some of your old posts and your About Me page. Your posts (and you!) are delightful!
polkadotcupcake
i dreamt about this last night. i dreamyt about roast garlic, roast garlic mash, and all the wonderful things i would eat it with.. you know what the worst part was? waking up and realising that i don’t have an oven (renovating), and that i can’t make this today. i NEED roast garlic in my life…
Shelley
If I eat the whole thing by myself, will I live to tell?
joythebaker
heck yes you will.
Jeanie
Joy, I’m one of those that read your blog all.the.time and never comment -this, of all things, I had to comment! I’ve made many of your baked goods (hello, pumpkin pie bars – delish!), but this was just heavenly on the homemade pizza with figs and goat cheese. Thought I needed to share. Thank YOU for sharing!!
muppy
Mmmmmmmm I love roasted garlic.
Håndmadder
Roasted garlic is so nice, i also like to put thyme in the paper
Brian @ A Thought For Food
HAHAHAHA! My breath would be deadly after this… but so would my husband’s. So, it’s ok.