A head of garlic comprises 8-10 individual garlic cloves clustered together into a large clump.
Leave the head in 1 piece; do not break off individual garlic cloves.
As always, put safety first when using kitchen knives. Always cut away from yourself and never touch the cutting edge of the blade.
This will ensure that your roasted garlic is saturated with oil and rich in flavor.
If the garlic doesn’t feel soft, bake it for another 5-10 minutes. To confirm that the garlic is fully cooked, stab through the center clove with a kitchen knife. The knife should slide in easily, with hardly any resistance.
Roasted garlic can be mashed and spread over a warm baguette, or mixed in with savory pasta dishes. Save leftover roasted garlic in an airtight plastic container. The garlic will keep in your refrigerator for 3-4 days.
This will fracture the peel of the garlic and make it easy for you to remove. Use your fingers to pull the individual cloves off from the garlic head.
If you have a garlic clove with a particularly difficult peel to remove, you may need to use the point of your kitchen knife to slide through the peel. This will make it easier to pull off.
You can chop the garlic as finely as you like, based on how coarse or fine you’d like the bits to be. In technical kitchen terminology, chopping an onion refers to cutting it into relatively large pieces each about 1⁄2 inch (1. 3 cm) in width and length. A diced onion is cut into pieces about half that size, while a minced onion is cut into very fine pieces, each about 1⁄8 inch (0. 32 cm) in width and length. [13] X Research source Discard the hard base end of the garlic clove. This part is fibrous, thick, and not good to eat.
Use a small skillet (about 8 inches (20 cm)) when sautéing a head of garlic.
Adding your chopped garlic to cold—not hot—oil will help the garlic cook properly and not burn.
A useful trick to keep from burning your sautéed garlic is to prepare every other part of a dish first, and sauté the garlic last. This way, you won’t accidentally leave the garlic on the stove for too long while you’re preoccupied preparing another part of your dinner.
Sautéed garlic can be added to many pasta dishes, stir fries, soups, casseroles, or sauces. [16] X Research source It’s difficult to keep leftover sautéed garlic. While the garlic will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, it will lose its crisp texture and become soggy.
Each large garlic head should weigh about 3 ounces (85 g).
The agitation in hot water will loosen the garlic skins.
You can discard the broken garlic peel segments. Also use a kitchen knife to slice off the stem ends of the garlic cloves.
A medium-sized saucepan will work best for this step. Use a pan that’s about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter.
If the oil begins to boil, turn down the heat and remove the pan from the stove for 2 minutes.
Once the garlic is opaque and fully cooked, remove the pan from the heat and let the oil cool.
If you want to re-use the oil to cook more garlic at a later date, store it in a separate airtight container. The oil will also keep for roughly 1 week in your refrigerator.
