Roasting Garlic
If you love garlic, why not roast a few heads of garlic this weekend? Roasted garlic is an easy and affordable way to add a savory boost to almost any meal.
I grow a lot of garlic here at my Bedford, New York farm and up at Skylands, my home in Maine. All our garlic varieties come from Keene Garlic, a family owned farm in Wisconsin. We plant it in fall, harvest the following summer, let them cure, and then they're ready to enjoy. Last week, I roasted some in my oven. The long, slow cooking process mellows the garlic's bite and leaves a rich, deep and most delicious flavor.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Garlic is great for cooking and very good for your health. It is known to lower blood pressure and cholesterol and carries antioxidant properties. Knowing that I also grow the garlic myself makes it even more special. Here is a tray of homegrown garlic sitting on my counter.
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- Here at the farm, we prepare and plant the garlic around November. Although garlic can be planted in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked, fall planting is recommended for most gardeners. This allows extra time for the bulbs to develop and become more flavorful for the summer harvest.
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- The garlic is planted in a large bed behind my main greenhouse. When planting garlic, look for the largest most robust bulbs and then carefully separate all the cloves before planting in the ground.
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- Here’s the bed in early June – still a few weeks from harvest. Garlic loves a rich fertile loamy soil. It also grows best in an area that drains well – the cloves can rot if they sit in water or mud.
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- Garlic scapes are the flower buds of the garlic plants. They’re ready about a month before the actual garlic bulbs. Scapes are delicious and can be used just like garlic. The scapes are cut in late June when the center stalks are completely formed and curled ends are growing above the rest of the plants.
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- Here is the bed in late July. Once the top of the garlic plant begins to die back, it is ready to pick. Wait for a dry day. This allows the soil to dry out, helps to prevent rot, and makes it much easier to pull the stalks and bulbs from the ground. Peak harvest time is usually late July through mid-August.
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- Here’s some of our garlic harvest. Once picked, the garlic is ready to be stored in a dry location, where it can cure for a several weeks.
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- Here is some garlic I grew up at Skylands. It is laid out in one layer to dry thoroughly.
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- Last week, I decided to roast a few heads. I love cooking with garlic. Many love garlic for its pungency and bite. But when roasted, garlic is very aromatic, earthy, and creamy. First, I cut off the tops of the cloves.
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- Not a lot – just a thin, quarter-inch slice from the top of each head of garlic.
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- Here they are after I cut the tops off, exposing as many cloves as possible. Next, I arranged the garlic heads, cut side up.
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- And placed the heads on a piece of parchment paper-lined foil. Never place food in direct contact with foil. Foil is made from metal, and in addition to the chemical reaction that can happen when used with acidic foods, it can also add a “tinny” or metallic taste. I always line foil with parchment paper.
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- Next, I drizzle the garlic with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
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- Finally, seal the garlic in the foil to form a packet like this.
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- Place the foil packet into a preheated oven set to 425-degrees Fahrenheit. Start checking it after 40-minutes. Generally, heads of garlic will roast to softness in about 45 minutes, but the size of the heads, the variety, and their age can affect the exact cooking time. Don’t worry, it is very hard to overcook garlic! Cook them until they are soft.
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- I took mine out after about an hour and 15-minutes.
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- Everything is still intact within the packet. Do you know the difference between parchment paper and wax paper? Parchment paper is coated with silicone to give it a nonstick, heat-resistant surface, and wax paper is coated with a soybean or paraffin wax. Because of this coating, wax paper is not meant for use in the oven. The wax coating on it will melt if the paper is exposed to direct heat. Only use parchment paper in the oven.
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- Here it is all done. Roasted garlic can be added to almost anything savory — fall soups, mashed potatoes, salad dressings, and hummus. Or simply spread some on toast.
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- To store, squeeze out the cloves into a jar and add enough olive oil to cover. I put them all in a glass Ball jar.
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- Roasted garlic can be stored in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to one week – it’s so delicious and so easy to make. I hope I’ve inspired you.
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