I love the earthy, mildly sweet and funky taste of black garlic, but I’ve had a heck of a time incorporating this into recipes for rubs, butters, sauces, etc because of its leathery texture. What I get are chunks of cloves and uneven infusion of the garlic taste and aroma.
I have a food processor, which I only break out as a last resort since I’m cooking for myself most days - too cumbersome and too much cleaning. Is that my only option? Otherwise, I’ve seen recipes that suggest stuffing whole heads in a chicken for roasting and that seems a waste. Any suggestions?
I didn’t think of that. I use it with regular garlic all the time too. I wonder if it might gum up the grater, like trying to grate a raisin. The texture is a bit soft, so even chopping with a knife, they tend to stick all over the blade, making chopping them a pain.
Have no experience with black garlic
However, I use a lot of garlic.
Have tried different types of garlic press, microplanes etc. Finally came up with the best solution for my need
I have a cuisinart hand held stick blender which I very seldom use.
It comes with a mini food processor, so, with all the garlic that I use, I just pop them into the food processor, cleaning it is a cinch. No more using toothpick or even waterpik to clean the gum up grater or garlic press.
In fact, when the first unit’s battery went bad, I purchased a second one . So, I dedicate one to garlic and the other to chopping up my chipotle and adobo sauce.
meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
10
Black garlic has a very different consistency than fresh - rather like that of a date.
Freezing is a great suggestion! You might also try pulverizing it in a mortar and pestle or with a knife blade, using some coarse salt to help things along.
Correct, and it’s almost datelike in its sweetness. It is very different in both taste and texture from raw garlic. I use it all the time and actually I’ve never had the “leathery” problem of the OP - the cloves are soft and squishy. I usually just dice it up and it kind of falls apart when cooked. If you want to smush it up this is something I’d do in the mortar and pestle - easier to clean the mortar and get all the garlic out of it with a spatula than using a food processor.
Using something like this in a rub would be like trying to incorporate dried fruit in a rub in terms of the texture. . Like I said I use it all the time but only in stews, braises, soups, sauces.
That’s a good suggestion to cut down on that mushy texture. I appreciate all the ideas! I have almost two heads to use up, so I’m going to try the freezing and the mortar and pestle.
Is that doesn’t work, maybe this is one is those tastes I just indulge at a restaurant. While my roasted chicken legs weren’t evenly infused with black garlic, my smart oven apparently was. I got nice surprise wafts of it while reheating my hash browns the next morning in the oven.
