Garlic in cooking - what do you do?

[davidd]

I am admittedly a little ignorant on the subject of garlic in cooking, and I am looking for some advice/information/face-slaps/etc. Recent post made me question this.

I love garlic and add it to pretty much everything I cook, either fresh or canned, depending on what I have. For a long time, for pot/dutchoven/ironskillet recipes, I heated oil and browned onions and garlic at the same time, as I had read or been told earlier in life that heating those items on HIGH heat brought out the flavor and was beneficial to cooking. Maillard reaction and all that.

A few years back I had the opportunity to cook with someone at a jambalaya cookoff who dumped a whole can of minced garlic into his pot long after the water had been added. We (he) won second place. What does everyone think of the proper way to prepare/cook with garlic? Does it need to be browned? Do onions (answer here is YES)?

Looking for advice from N4sir. Unless AGruel is on this site.

 

[twinin]

Minced garlic I do not cook long. Maybe like a minute on high heat, just until it's very fragrant. I find it bitter if you cook it too long.

 

[lonewolf 76]

Try this recipe it's our fearless leaders

 

[PhalanX-SS]

Can't say Ive ever not sautéd the garlic...

Might try incorporating both methods next meal I think it'd go well in, because even when I double or triple the recipe (if I'm following one) never reached that threshold of too much

 

[Manimal]

I put whole pods in the oven and roast them until the garlic is soft & use that in dishes or just eat it straight up. It doesn't hurt to add a few drops of oil, about 350-400f for who knows how long. I don't use oven timers, just my nose

I agree with minced being bitter if over cooked.

We boil them with crawfish too.

 

[sksshooter]

Agree with what others have stated. there seems to be a fine line between just right and over done and bitter.

Also echo what manimal said. Peel the husk off of the whole heads of garlic and throw 6 or so whole heads in the crawfish boil and it is great. i smear it on my potato's like butter. My wife doesn't always appreciate it the next day when the beer and garlic start coming out of my pores though...

 

[davidd]

Agree with what others have stated. there seems to be a fine line between just right and over done and bitter.

Also echo what manimal said. Peel the husk off of the whole heads of garlic and throw 6 or so whole heads in the crawfish boil and it is great. i smear it on my potato's like butter. My wife doesn't always appreciate it the next day when the beer and garlic start coming out of my pores though...

I absolutely adore crawfish boil garlic. To the point where I could ignore vampires for weeks.

Thanks everyone for the responses.