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Garlic: Bad For Your Breath, Great For Your Palate

April 7th, 2008
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When some people hear the word garlic they automatically think of bad breath. But garlic has been known for thousands of years as both medicine and food. But this is a cooking blog, not a medical blog, so I’m going to discuss the culinary aspects of garlic, some of which you may be unfamiliar with.

I like to use garlic in every dish I prepare. Garlic can be crushed, minced, grated, or roasted. When I make a whole chicken I clean out the inside and rub it with a little salt then I take one small onion, a lemon, an orange and about half of a garlic head which equals about 8 cloves and I stuff it in the cavity. When the chicken is done roasting I discard the remaining.

Although people usually associate garlic with Italian cuisine, I was surprised to find out from the U.N. that the four largest producers of garlic in the world are China, India, South Korea and the United States, respectively. Italy isn’t even in the top 20! Garlic is also a main ingredient in Latin American food. I thumb my nose at the bottled Puerto Rican sofrito and make my own!

And what Italian meal is complete without garlic bread? I use parsley in my garlic bread because it tends to weaken the strong scent and taste of the garlic.

Garlic bread recipe:

  • one baking pan or cookie sheet
  • a tablespoon
  • one loaf of Italian bread
  • 8 cloves of garlic, finely grated
  • 2 tablespoons of parsley
  • 2 table spoons of butter
  • 2 handfuls of grated parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper

Cut the Italian bread length wide and smear the butter all over it. Add the grated garlic, parsley, parmesan cheese to the butter and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown. And if you’re nervous about your breath smelling bad from eating garlic bread, just make sure everyone at the table has some so no one will make fun of your garlic breath. Also, if you’re worried about getting the garlic smell on your hands, just dip your hands underwater or under a running faucet and rub your palms and fingers against a stainless steel utensil like a fork or spoon. That should get most of the smell out from your hands.

I leave you with my top ten ways to enjoy garlic.

  1. Garlic bread
  2. Garlic butter (tastes great on corn on the cob and baked potatoes!)
  3. Spicy shrimp with garlic and white rice
  4. Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
  5. Garlic fries
  6. Sofrito
  7. Whole chicken
  8. Pork shoulder
  9. Garlic dip with vegetables of corn chips
  10. Cream of garlic soup

How do you like your garlic? Let me know in the comment area of this post and I’ll try and come up with a recipe for it, or a twist on that recipe, if you already have it.

Italian, bread, hors devours, tips, vegan, vegetarian

Irish Soda Bread

March 12th, 2008
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Serves 3-4 (two slices per person)

Nothing goes better with St. Patrick’s Day than beer, and nothing goes better with beer than the dry, sweet taste of Irish soda bread! Irish soda bread is easier to make than most people think, and there’s so many delicious ways to make it.

In New York, people (especially Irish-Americans) can get picky about their soda bread. Some argue that it’s only soda bread if it’s plain. If it has raisins in it, then it’s not soda bread, it’s something else. Personally I say, this is America, and Irish soda bread should have the freedom to be whatever it wants to be and still be called Irish soda bread. Some people put nuts and cranberries in their soda bread. If the topping tastes good to you, by all means, put it in the soda bread.

Irish soda bread was first invented in the 1840s when baking soda was first introduced to Ireland. Because Ireland’s climate isn’t good for growing hard wheat, baking soda replaced yeast as the ingredient that makes bread rise when baking. Traditionally, Irish soda bread has two long intersecting lines cut into the top that form a cross. Legend has it that the Irish did this to ward off evil. But as you can see from the photo above, I like to just slash three quick lines across and three more down on mine. In either case, the cuts are there to allow the air inside to escape easily so the bread can expand while baking and not explode. So whether you like to carve a cross, little xs, tic-tac-toe or even carve your initials into the bread, it really doesn’t matter as long as the cuts are there.

You will need:
  • a measuring cup

  • a large bowl

  • a whisk

  • a spatula

  • a baking sheet

  • a knife

  • a tray or other large, flat surface that can be covered with flour, at least 10″ on each side

  • a teaspoon

  • a cooling rack
Ingredients:

  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or wheat flour

  • 1 3/4 cups cake flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 2 teaspoons fine salt

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, chilled
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and lightly grease your baking sheet with a bit of unsalted butter. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cake flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and, using your hands, work it into the flour mixture. Add buttermilk and stir with a spatula until the flour is moistened and takes on a sticky, doughy texture. Using your hands, scoop the dough out of the bowl and place it onto a flour-covered work surface and knead lightly for about 1 minute. Shape the dough into a ball before lightly flattening down the top until the dough takes on the shape of a flying saucer.

Using a sharp knife cut at least two quarter-inch-deep criss-crossing lines into the top of the dough before placing it on the center of the baking sheet. This will allow air from inside to escape so that the bread can expand without exploding. Bake for about one hour or until the bread is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped lightly with your knuckles. Transfer the bread from the sheet to a cooling rack and let it cool completely before serving.

Don’t worry if your soda bread is too dry; that’s why God invented beer! If you’ve got the stomach for it, try your soda bread with a pint of Guinness.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
P.S. If you’d like to sample my Irish Soda bread and meet me, you can do both this Sunday, March 16 from 7 to 10pm at Arlene’s Grocery, 95 Stanton Street (between Orchard & Ludlow) in the Lower East Side, near the 2nd Ave. station on the F line.

bread, events, hors devours