What are you eating?

[toledobass]

Congee from left over from yesterdays lunch of roast chicken.

[toledobass]

Prepping opening/closing night party food up here in Bar Harbor!!!!  The opera at the festival we are at goes up (and closes) tomorrow. Party food is pork as well as tofu banh mi, peanut lime noodles, seitan w/shallots in carmel sauce, beer/lemongrass/chile mussels.....

Allan

[Harpo]

"South American" halibut, steamed in the microwave with a salsa of tomatoes, onions, green chiles. oregano. Salad of bibb lettuce with blueberries, walnuts, blue cheese and grape tomatoes. Gelato for dessert.

[Brünnhilde ewig]

What is wrong with garlic powder?

Any of those powdered spices and herbs are yuck yuck yuck!

Buy a garlic press and a bunch of garlic and use them. A lot of that bottled stuff is years old. Buy the fresh ingredients whenever possible and you'll notice the difference! 

[toledobass]

Any of those powdered spices and herbs are yuck yuck yuck!

Buy a garlic press good knife and a bunch of garlic and use them. A lot of that bottled stuff is years old. Buy the fresh ingredients whenever possible and you'll notice the difference! 

Fixed your post

Allan

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Thank you, Luv, for editing. But please do tell me why no garlic press? There is a really neat one made by WMF, easy to use and clean. I used a knife before the press and slicing those tiny globules endangered my finger tips. Don't like! 

[jlaurson]

Thank you, Luv, for editing. But please do tell me why no garlic press? There is a really neat one made by WMF, easy to use and clean. I used a knife before the press and slicing those tiny globules endangered my finger tips. Don't like!  

Toldeobass is so right, Bruennhilde! Garlic presses suck. No matter how easy to clean they propose to be. And I'm sure Allan did not mean to suggest to cut garlic into thin slices... you crush it with the broad side of the knife... take the skin off (which, having crushed it a bit, is very easy), you remove the core (if the garlic isn't very fresh and if you are concerned about the smell, which removing the core reduces a bit), and you either throw it into your food like that (in which case you can take it out or simply avoid it later, if you don't love biting into a piece of garlic), or you can easily chop it into smallish bits without endangering your finger tips.

Crushing opens the garlic up to release its oils, the taste will be more intense, and you need less than if you were to cut. (The only use I'll grant a garlic press--because it does the crushing part right--is for making garlic mayonnaise.)

[toledobass]

What he said...

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Oh what deep satisfaction being achieved by the lessons of not just one, but two gentlemen, on how to get the best results from proper handling of this delicious tiny knob, a clove of garlic! 

May I still use the press when making garlic-flavoured mashed potatoes? 

[bhodges]

Lis, when I make garlic mashed potatoes, I just throw a couple (or more) peeled cloves in the water with the boiling potatoes, and then mash them up all together. 

--Bruce

[jlaurson]

May I still use the press when making garlic-flavoured mashed potatoes?  

No, Liz, you may not. Adhere to Bruce's idea. Better yet: Take the clove, crush it (it should not be split in the process [or at least not into more than two pieces], only 'broken'), and let it become golden colored by searing it in a olive-oil filled pan. (Butterschmalz works, too, but is not quite as tasty.) THEN you add them into the potatoes and mash it altogether. Adding some brown sugar--not too much--somewhere in that process can further enhance the results.

(Done this way, you shouldn't get chunks, that way. If you do, anyway, mash the potatoes, then put the garlic in (and some of the oil), then whip them, not mashing the garlic at all, in the process. Then you can take the garlic out or simply eat around it.)

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Bruce, I tried that but ended up biting down on small pieces of garlic, ruining the smooth texture of my Yukon Gold spuds. I don't object to chewing up garlic pieces in stews, etc. Finicky, yes?  

[bhodges]

Ah, so then, just take Jens's excellent suggestion (and/or, just chop up the garlic very finely before throwing it into the water, if browning it slightly is too much trouble). 

I agree with the comments on the garlic press, though: a well-intentioned, but not-so-helpful device IMHO.  Just a good sharp kitchen knife serves better.  But on the other hand, I don't think it's a crime to use it, just a bit of bother.   

--Bruce

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Poor Mozart! He started it all by mentioning the use of garlic powder. After reading the follow-up exchanges of advise, instructions and friendly commands, he'll probably grumble: I am sticking to my powder! 

[toledobass]

Ah, so then, just take Jens's excellent suggestion (and/or, just chop up the garlic very finely before throwing it into the water, if browning it slightly is too much trouble). 

I agree with the comments on the garlic press, though: a well-intentioned, but not-so-helpful device IMHO.  Just a good sharp kitchen knife serves better.  But on the other hand, I don't think it's a crime to use it, just and a bit of bother.   

--Bruce

fixed your post

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Ok, Ok, I am getting the idea!

What is still missing is the concise answer to my question: Why is it such a mortal sin and heinous crime to use a press. What does the pressing process do to the garlic making it so abominable? 

Lis

[toledobass]

It's a matter of flavor and waste.  Try crushing then finely mincing the garlic as compared to using the press...sautee them both and taste on a piece of neutral flavored bread or whatever.  Flavor wise and using all of the clove wise there will be a difference.


Allan

[Brünnhilde ewig]

Ach so! It's that tiny whitish bit of skin stuck to the bottom of the press, containing a lot of the important flavour and also is about one tenth of the total small clove, being wasted.

Thank you, Allan; you now convinced me. All that fuss about a root vegetable! 

[The new erato]

After reading a thread started by Sean (despite promising myself a long time ago never to do that again) I feel like never eating again. Recommended for anybody needing to go on a diet.

[karlhenning]

I love reading Sean's threads! In comparison, I feel deep as an ocean, lofty as a mountain peak . . . .