Garlic peeling can be pretty easy — just crush a clove under a knife and be done with it. However, if you’re peeling a bunch of cloves, after a while, everything starts to get sticky, paper gets everywhere, the process becomes kind of annoying. Imagine my excitement then when OXO sent me a garlic peeler for review. You can see me using it in the video above, but for a (slightly) more comprehensive take and to learn how you can win a FREE garlic peeler from OXO, follow the jump!
The Good:
The best part about the garlic peeler is that your hands get significantly less sticky when peeling lots of garlic. In the video above, I only peel two cloves, but just last night I had to peel about seven or eight, and I used the garlic peeler to strong effect. My hands only needed one rinse, if at all.
Also helpful is that a good portion of the garlic paper stays in the silicon tube, which means less cleanup and less crap on your cutting board.
The Bad:
You can only fit about two cloves in the tube at a time, and the peeler doesn’t always meet with success. Some cloves come out immaculate; others need another round or two in the tube to get the peel off. Plus, for as much paper that stays in the tube, a good amount comes out too. It’s not a perfect product.
In terms of speed, I suppose it’s faster to use the peeler than to go clove by clove with a knife; however, if your knife skills with garlic are very good; you might find the peeler to be slower.
The Verdict:
Not bad. I would not call the peeler an essential item, but it’s kind of fun to use, and if you really hate getting your fingers sticky with garlic (as I do), it could be rather useful. Plus, if you don’t have to pay for it, even better. Speaking of which….
OXO has kindly given me a second garlic peeler to give away on the site. If you want to win the peeler, just submit your favorite garlic-centric recipe in the comments. Like the pie contest in December, I’ll whittle down the recipes to some finalists, make them, and then choose the winner based on a taste test. Should be fun! The entries close next Friday at noon PST.
PRAWNS! Considering how well these are received on Top Chef, I decided to try to find a good prawn recipe to see what this is all about. Eventually I stumbled upon this great recipe; it’s easy AND delicious. And best of all, it includes garlic!
Ingredients:
750 g uncooked prawns (…5-8 prawns? depends on the size I guess)
1 large clove garlic
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons white wine
115 g butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup of cream
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Heat butter and crushed garlic in a saucepan
Add flour, stir until combined. Remove from heat
Gradually add chicken stock, cream and wine and stir until combined
Return pan to the heat and stir until the sauce is thick, and is lightly boiling
Add mustard and season with salt and pepper
Bring the sauce to a hard boil, add the prawns
Leave to cook for 5 minutes/until the prawns are fully cooked
Stir in parsley
Dancing garlic cloves FTW!!!!!
The Van Helsing:
Put a dab of ground garlic in the bottom of a chilled martini glass.
Add a very thin slice of strong, white onion.
Make a martini. Mix 3 parts gin and 1 part dry vermouth. Carefully pour it into the glass so as not to stir up the garlic.
Add a few drops of olive juice for flavoring.
Garnish with a skewered clove of garlic between two olives.
*Stake optional.
hb
Roasted garlic tomato pasta (or “RGTP” in my household):
2-3 pints cherry or grape tomatoes
1-2 heads of garlic (depending on how garlicky you want it)
1 T sugar
2T balsamic glaze (if you can’t find, just boil some balsamic down with a little sugar until syrupy)
4T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 lb pasta (we prefer gemelli, cavatappi or campanelli but most any short cut pasta will do)
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes
Fresh basil, torn into pieces
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray nonstick spray in a 9×13 baking dish. Place tomatoes in baking dish and coat with 2T olive oil. Sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper, then drizzle with balsamic glaze. Peel garlic cloves. Place cloves in small oven-proof bowl and coat with 2T olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Cover garlic dish with aluminum foil. Place both dishes in oven. Check on the garlic and tomatoes at 30 minutes (total baking time is usually ~ 1 hr but usually the garlic is done sooner). Remove garlic when it’s soft and slightly brown but be careful not to burn. When tomatoes are starting to burst and soften, smash them with a spoon or spatula and place them back in the oven until slightly brown and well cooked (crank the oven temperature if you want them to cook quicker, but keep an eye on the tomatoes so they don’t burn!) Set tomatoes and garlic aside.
While the tomatoes and garlic are baking, boil a large pot of salted water. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Place pasta in large bowl. Toss pasta with the olive oil in which the garlic cooked, setting aside cloves of garlic, then toss pasta with the tomatoes.
To serve, place pasta on a plate. Garnish with several cloves of roasted garlic, mozzarella and basil. Enjoy!
I was very upset at the thought that I lost my Pampered Chef garlic press. I still have the cleaning tool that snaps onto it, but the garlic press simply vanished. Checked all over my kitchen, every drawer and nothing. The other day I was picking up various toys and stuff that the kids have left outside and lo and behold, there was my garlic press, sitting in the rocks under our deck. Have no clue how long it’s been out there, but it’s been through two cycles in the dishwasher and I’m still not sure if I’ll use it or not…
I use garlic when I saute’ crab with butter and pepper. First, I mix up the butter, garlic and pepper in the saute’ pan and then add the crab after the seasonings are well mixed. After the crab is a little browned, I add alfredo sauce (not a lot since I have someone who needs to lose some weight in this house) and I will serve that over linguine or fettucine. Sometimes I also add broccoli after adding the crab. I will admit to being a little heavy handed on the pepper, but my dad can cause a pepper cloud whenever he uses it to “flavor” (i.e., completely cover) his food, so I come by it naturally.
Stuffed tomatoes OR portobello mushrooms
Ingredients:
-Roma tomatoes – these are pretty filling and the amount you’d buy would depend on what kind of shindig you were hosting. It’s best to use the Roma tomatoes because they work better as little “cups” for the stuffing.
OR: -Portobello mushrooms
-1 small yellow onion
-1 head of garlic
-Gorgonzola cheese
-Bread crumbs
-Olive oil
-Salt
-Pepper
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Cut Roma tomatoes in half and use a spoon to scoop out the insides. Flip them over (bottom side up) so excess water can drain while you’re preparing the filling. If you’re doing it with the mushroom, you should also scoop out the little fans inside and gently wipe any dirt off the top with a wet cloth.
3. For the filling, I really don’t measure anything out exactly. It’s all to taste, so if you like a ton of garlic/onions like me, use a few cloves and a big chunk of onion. You can use less but I find the garlic/onion really help bring out the other flavors, and even though I use a TON, they don’t overpower the dish. No one I’ve served them to has ever complained (to my face, anyway) that they’re too garlic-y or onion-y.
4. Combine olive oil, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Coat the tomatoes (or mushrooms) in the mixture. You could let them marinate for a while but I have no patience so I don’t bother
5. Return to your bowl of olive oil/garlic/onion/salt/pepper – you may need to add more after coating the tomatoes or mushrooms but I’ve found a little goes a long way. Add bread crumbs (I like the Italian-seasoned but whatever floats your boat) and gorgonzola cheese and mix it all up until the bread crumbs become wet. Again, I don’t measure any of this exactly. I like a lot of extra cheese. You may find you need to add more bread crumbs so you have enough to stuff everything as you go along
6. Stuff the tomatoes/mushrooms with the mixture
7. Cook on a metal tray for 20 minutes at 375 degree heat, allow time for cool down. Best if the tray has some type of edge, sometimes extra olive oil finds its way off the tomatoes and you don’t want it dripping all over the place when you take the tray out
8. Enjoy!
I like to make the stuffed tomatoes if I am bringing an appetizer somewhere. I make the portobello as a component of actual meal – I find it to be very filling. You could also stuff peppers (I’m thinking the sweet yellow or orange would taste best) with the mixture. Whenever I’ve brought the tomatoes to a party, they disappear instantly. I usually bring them all prepped/stuffed but uncooked, and just heat them at the host’s house. They smell great while they’re cooking!
I use garlic a lot, but for a quick snack or when my kids are starting to get a soar throat ( garlic has anti viral properties) I take several garlic cloves, microwave them on a plate for 30 seconds, then I send them through a garlic press and spread the garlic onto a Ritz cracker then pop it into your mouth. Taste like a mini garlic toast and my kids like it and ask for it!! I think it actually does help your soar throat too.
Here’s a Broccoli Garlic quiche I make for Mother’s Day. The recipe calls for a 9 inch but I get the mini quiches and scale down the recipe just a smidge. Bonus(es): the store-bought crust works fine in this and often doesn’t need to be prebaked (check the package) so prep isn’t that hard AND you can make it a day ahead, chill and then reheat (25 min @325).
All-butter pastry dough (Only if you decide to make your own crust)
10 ounces (1-inch-wide) broccoli florets (with 1 to 2 inches of stem attached)
2 large garlic cloves
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
5 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, coarsely grated (2 cups)
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
*I sometimes add another clove of garlic and/or decrease the amount of sharp cheddar and add a little smoked cheddar
Equipment if making crust: a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate or a 9-inch (2-inch-deep) round fluted tart pan with removable bottom; pie weights or dried beans
Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.
If making your own crust, see below. If store-bought crust needs to be prebaked, do so now. If not-
Cook broccoli in a 3-quart pot of boiling salted water 4 minutes. Drain broccoli and rinse under cold water to stop cooking, then pat dry.
Mince and mash garlic to a paste with a generous pinch of salt.
Whisk together garlic paste, eggs, half-and-half, nutmeg, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until smooth.
Pour filling into pie shell and add broccoli, then sprinkle with cheeses.
Bake quiche until custard is just set, 45 to 50 minutes. (Center will tremble slightly; filling will continue to set as it cools.) Cool at least 20 minutes.
Serve quiche warm or at room temperature.
* If you are making crust: Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round. Fit dough into pie plate, letting excess hang over edge. Fold overhang inward and press against side of pie plate to reinforce edge. Prick bottom all over with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
Line pie shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until pastry is set and edge is pale golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Carefully remove foil and weights, then bake shell until deep golden all over, 15 to 20 minutes more. Put pie plate in a 4-sided sheet pan. Leave oven on.
Best scrambled eggs (for one)
Two eggs
1 small garlic clove finely chopped or pressed
1 tbs mayonaise
1 tbs water
1 tbs butter
Melt butter in skillet.
Put garlic in butter for two minutes
Mix eggs, mayo, water in small bowl.
Pour eggs into skillet and whisk until cooked and fluffy.
Serve with salt and pepper to taste.