by Cat, July 2009 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons (7))

Garlic Bulbs, Cloves

• See also: Garlic Cream Sauce (2 Versions)
• Other sites: 1. Not Without Salt on Garlic Scapes (2); 2.  A Garlic Festival without a Single Clove (3)

I’ve always liked garlic, but when I started growing it in my own garden, I came to a new appreciation of the plant. I grow both hard- and soft-neck garlic, and have really enjoyed the scapes that grow at the tip of the plant in June. My hard-neck garlic grows huge cloves – sometimes so big there are only 3 of them in the bulb. My soft-necks grow cloves in layers within the bulb – lots of small to medium-size cloves per bulb.

All come with that papery skin that you leave on if you want to roast the cloves, or remove if you want to slice, chop or mince them. I store my cloves in my root cellar and they last through the winter, but then start to sprout in the early spring, which softens the garlic.

Garlic is one of the most health-beneficial foods we can eat.

Health Benefits of Garlic

It’s most well-known component is allicin (a sulfur compound), which is destroyed by heat, so only available in raw garlic. It is also a good source of the mineral selenium, which is important for blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity. It is an excellent source of vitamins C and B6.

Garlic is considered heart-healthy, in part because it helps with production of hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) which helps to expand arteries for better blood flow. Its other sulfur-compounds also have heart-health benefits.

It has anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties, which helps to ward off colds and flu as well as other microbial disease, and keeping candida albicans in check. It also holds promise with its anti-cancer abilities.

Some of garlic’s benefits are lost upon cooking, so be sure to include raw garlic in your diet. One of the best ways is to mince then crush it to a paste with a bit of salt, and add to salad dressings.

As a seasoning, it adds flavor and aroma to your food; there is nothing like roasted garlic for flavor. And some of garlic’s health benefits do survive cooking.

According to WHFoods (1): “Chopping or crushing [raw garlic] stimulates the enzymatic process that converts the phytonutrient alliin into allicin, a compound to which many of garlic’s health benefits are attributed. In order to allow for maximal allicin production, wait at least 5 minutes before eating or cooking the garlic. …or combining it with an acidic food such as lemon juice [or vinegar].”

Cooking Garlic

Many recipes call for cooking garlic in oil (much as we cook onions), but garlic is sensitive to heat, especially when surrounded by oil, so do keep the heat low, below 250F. when roasting garlic, do not use the oft-recommended 350F if you want to preserve the health benefits. (1)

Many roasted meat recipes call for slicing the clove into slivers, then inserting them into cuts in the roast. I do like the way this adds flavor, but since I eat most of my meats rare, the garlic is barely warm, which probably preserves much of its health benefits.

See below for How to Roast Garlic.

Garlic Scape

Garlic Scapes

(Photo, left, from Wikimedia Commons (7)) I first encountered garlic scapes last year (2008), when they arrived with my weekly CSA bounty.  “What are these funny looking things?”  I asked in astonishment.  I share my bounty with a friend, who shook his head in wonder, but said “the sign said garlic something-or-other.”

So I googled ‘garlic wiki’, and found out they are the green flowering tips of the garlic plant, harvested before blooming so they are tender and sweet, and to allow the plant to focus it’s energy on producing garlic bulbs.

I have many recipes throughout this collection, where I indicate the possible addition of the scapes, as I experiment with using them.

Check out the Not Without Salt blog (2) for some excellent photos and ideas.  My favorite idea is as a pizza topping.  I’m gonna have to try that one. I also like it chopped up and braised with kale, spinach or chard in olive oil.

How to Roast Garlic (Bulbs)

If you are braising some meat (or slow-roasting), this is a great way to roast garlic at the same time. See Braised Chicken or Game Hen with Garlic, Herbs & Lemon for an example. it roasts the garlic to smooth sweetness, and also flavors the braising liquids.

If you want to roast it for using as a condiment, such as on baguette bread, roast it in the oven with a bit of olive oil as follows:

350F Method of roasting garlic

If you are not interested in preserving the health benefits of the garlic, you can use the following method from Epicurious.com (4) and WikiHow.com (5). If you want to preserve the health benefits, see “250F method,” below.

For 1 bulb of cloves, use 1 – 2 Tbsp olive oil (not extra-virgin oil). You will also need a knife, small bowl, foil, & baking sheet

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Remove loose papery outer layers of garlic bulb.
• Cut top 1/4” off heads of garlic to expose cloves, and cut off the stem. Place bulb in a piece of foil large enough to enclose the bulb. To help contain everything in the foil until you wrap it closed, I like to line a bowl with the foil, then add the bulb.
• Drizzle olive oil onto the bulb and sprinkle with salt & pepper; brush to coat.
• Wrap the foil over the bulb, keeping the cut tips up. Place on a baking sheet and bake until skins are golden brown and cloves are tender, about 30 – 45 minutes.
• Cool, then squeeze garlic pulp from skins.

*NOTE: WHFoods recommends not roasting garlic above 250F if you want to preserve the health benefits of garlic, but this will take longer than when roasted at 350F.

250F Method of roasting garlic

The following is from What’s Cooking America: Roast Garlic (6)

For 1 bulb of cloves, use 1 tsp olive oil (not extra-virgin oil). You will also need a knife, small bowl, foil, & baking pan

• Preheat oven to 250F.
• Remove loose papery outer layers of garlic bulb.
• Cut top 1/4” off heads of garlic to expose cloves, and cut off the stem. Place bulb in a piece of foil large enough to enclose the bulb, with the cut end down. To help contain everything in the foil until you wrap it closed, I like to line the small bowl (just big enough to cradle the bulb) with the foil, then add the bulb, cut-side down.
• Using one bulb at a time: drizzle 1/2 tsp olive oil onto the bulb, wait 2 minutes  and drizzle another 1/2 tsp oil over the bulb. Season with salt & pepper if desired.
• Line baking pan with foil. Add bulb to pan, tips-up (cut-side up). Bake about 45 to 60 minutes or until cloves are browned at the exposed end and soft throughout.
• Cool, then squeeze garlic pulp from skins.

References:

1. World’s Healthiest Foods: Garlic (whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=60)
2. Not Without Salt blog: Garlic Scapes (notwithoutsalt.com/2009/06/18/garlic-scapes)
3. NY Times:  A Garlic Festival without a Single Clove (nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/18appe.html?_r=1)
4. Epicurious: Roasted Garlic (epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Garlic-102291#ixzz2GVNo8qNv)
5. WikiHow: Roast Garlic (wikihow.com/Roast-Garlic)
6. What’s Cooking America: Roast Garlic at 250 (whatscookingamerica.net/rstgarlic.htm)
7. Photos from wikimedia commons: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Garlic_Bulbs_2.jpg and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Garlic_scape.jpg