Leigh Ann Parente

There’s no substitute for fresh garlic. Sure, I cook with garlic powder, and even the little frozen cubes of minced garlic from Trader Joe’s, and they have their uses. But they aren’t the same as fresh. Don’t talk to me about that minced garlic in jars, that stuff is nasty.

The problem is, I hate peeling garlic. My fingers smell like garlic for the next 24 hours, and yes, I’ve tried peeling technique, and every scent removal hack. Now what I like to do is peel a whole mess of garlic, all at once, and then not worry about it again for months.

My technique, and no, I’m sure I didn’t invent this:

1. Grab a large mixing bowl that can go into the freezer. Add ice to the bowl so it’s about 1/2 full, then add water until all the ice is covered. Put the bowl full of ice water into the fridge or freezer.
2. Place a large pot (maybe 3-5 quarts) of salted water onto the stove to boil.
3. Peel and trim at least 3 heads of garlic. Go big or go home. This isn’t worth doing for just a few random cloves.
4. Blanch the naked cloves for 30 seconds in the now boiling, salted water.
5. Immediately drain cloves, and plunge them into your prepared bowl of ice water.
6. Fish the cloves out of the water, and let them dry on a clean dishtowel.
7. Once dry, place all the cloves into a mason jar, and pour olive oil until the cloves are just barely covered. You don’t want any peeking thru the top, but you also don’t want to have to dig through an inch of oil to find a clove.
8. Cover with a tightly fitting lid, and refrigerate. The oil will likely solidify, that’s fine.
9. Whenever you need fresh garlic, grab a spoon and dig out a clove. You’ll also have garlic-infused olive oil as a bonus. I can’t imagine what you’re cooking with a clove of fresh garlic that wouldn’t be improved with a little olive oil.

When I told my mom I was starting a blog, she specifically recommended this post. I think she classified it as “Life Skills Coaching” which I thought was maybe overstating things a bit. I don’t think I should be coaching anyone how to do anything, unless you want to learn how to knit backwards, which I seem to be pretty good at teaching.

But then…I laid in bed, not sleeping (yay age!) thinking of what, generally, these types of tips are called. It’s a “hack” but I hate that term. Maybe we are “leveling up” our skills. Why are all these terms gamer / coder terms? Didn’t people cook before Nintendo?

Prep is a restaurant term, and as a Capricorn I’m all about planning. So: Garlic Prep. Good enough.