A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...: Storing Roasted Garlic for a "Rainy Day"

Storing Roasted Garlic for a "Rainy Day"

I generally prefer the sweet mellowness of roasted garlic to raw garlic in a lot of my recipes but the problem is the extra time, or lack of, it takes to roast garlic prior to making any dish with it. A couple of years ago I figured out this quick and easy solution: make a big batch and freeze it so it's available to me any time I want to cook with it.

Roasting Garlic is very easy. Simply cut the very bottom ends off of the bulb and turn it upside down in an olive oil swiped baking dish, crocks were nicely for this, and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the garlic is nicely softened all the way through. Let it cool and then either dig the cloves out with the tip of a paring knife or gently squeeze the top of the bulb to push the cloves out. I use a combination of these two, pulling the larger outer cloves out with a knife tip and then squeezing the bulb to bring out the smaller inner cloves. Once you've extracted the garlic, spoon it into a quart sized freezer bag. Can be stored up to about six months. Because of the oils, the garlic never freezes ice hard so it's easy to break off or cut off as much or as little as you need.

Posted on July 08, 2009 at 07:09 AM in My Own Recipes/Creations, Sauces | Permalink

Comments

A month ago I had a severe lapse and found myself with two of the large bags of garlic from Sam's ... roasting and freezing was about the only way a person could hope to stay sane. Funny though, it's just about all gone.

Posted by: MyKitchenInHalfCups | July 08, 2009 at 02:05 PM

Very good idea! Will have to do this, particularly as I know a good grocery which has lots of garlic! :) Thanks!

Posted by: DaviMack | July 08, 2009 at 03:03 PM

Oh I love this ! We looove garlic and especially roasted which we usually only get at a restaurant. Thanks for the how to...

Oh I'm on a liquid diet for 10 days and I probably should look at your site until its over.

Have a great day !!!
hugs !!!!

Posted by: Dana | July 16, 2009 at 02:55 AM

Tanna--WOW! I'm impressed with the volume of that usage! Wooohooo!

David--Excellent! Enjoy it!

Dana--And it's so easy. No reason not to do it at home. You just have to remember to buy the garlic and stick it in the oven and then you can enjoy for a while. There really isn't much work involved either. GOOD LUCK on the diet!!!!

Posted by: Glenna | July 16, 2009 at 11:57 AM