Blanched Garlic • How to
Garlic is good for us. In ancient times, it was mainly used for medicinal purposes and even now, we all know that garlic helps to combat the common cold. It helps to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels. It has fiber, vitamin B1, B6 & C, manganese and selenium plus potassium, calcium, phosphorus and iron along with antioxidants.
These modern days, we use it to enhance dishes. I love garlic and cook with it a lot. Most of the time, I either sauté, roast or toast it. I also use it raw in certain recipes like Tahini or Tzatziki Sauce, Aioli, in the making of Garlic Herb Butter, Creamy Spicy Guacamole, Italian-Style Bruschetta, in soups like my Sopa Ajoblanco (White Gazpacho), Caesar Salad, Ceviche de Pescado, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, etc.
As much as I enjoy its strong flavor, there’s one thing I don’t appreciate and it’s the bitterness from it. When fresh, there’s no issue but when the cloves start aging, the flavor can turn harsh. To prevent this unpleasant taste, the method I use is this one… Blanched Garlic • How to.
This step is extremely easy. After boiling the water in a pot, we add the “unpeeled” cloves and boil them for 5 minutes. We remove from the heat and rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking process before peeling and proceeding with our recipe.
My “Blanched Garlic • How to” method is slightly altered and quicker compared to others. Let’s see what I do differently…
Some use milk in lieu of water… I’ve never seen any improvement on the end result by using milk therefore I prefer using the “cheaper” ingredient. Another test I did was to add cloves in cold water, bring to a boil and as soon as it starts simmering, remove from the heat, rinse them under cold water and repeat two more times. Again, I didn’t really see any major variance in taste by triple blanching them versus letting the cloves boil for 5 minutes. Lastly, many chefs will peel the cloves before blanching… I leave them unpeeled because once again, I don’t see any impact plus after they’re rinsed under cold water, peeling them is a breeze.
If you decide to blanch more than you need, you can refrigerate them. After rinsing the cloves under cold water and peeling them, place them in an airtight container and transfer to the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days. They can also be frozen by covering them in oil.
Blanched Garlic • How to is a method I use when raw garlic is added to some of my recipes. It’s quick and a nice way to smooth out the harshness from it. It makes it less pungent and mellows out the taste, while keeping the beautiful aroma that garlic has.
Bon Appétit!
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