for the garlic lovers... roasted garlic paste

All I have to say is... My neighbours were not best pleased with me this morning.

I'm not sure which upset them more, that I was using noisy kitchen gadgets, or that the whole house smelt like garlic. Most likely both.

I never understood what the big deal was with garlic breath. On other people it doesn't bother me at all. On me, I couldn't care less. There are so many worse smells out there to complain about. Coffee breath for one. The fear of having coffee breath means I will never let my pockets run dry of gum. If I think I've been overcome by it, I will keep a fair distance from the person I'm talking to & just try to keep my responses to the bare minimum, single syllables if I can get away with it. Cigarette breath is another one. I can't stand that smell, and you can forget about kissing altogether. Blech.

The moral of the story is, carry gum. Or breath mints. Just because your breath doesn't bother you, doesn't mean someone else isn't offended. I may think my garlic breath is nothing to fuss over, but others may disagree.

Didn't stop me getting on a garlic kick this morning though. I went a little garlic crazy to tell you the truth!

First on my garlic list was a traditional Lebanese garlic sauce. It's this smooth, creamy, rich sauce that is usually served with meats & it is just to die for. When made properly, it almost has the consistency of mayo except it's a little lighter. I usually go overboard with it when I'm in a restaurant & just slather it on to each & every bite of my grilled chicken.

The second on the list today is a roasted garlic paste. This one I like to keep in the fridge because it makes my life a little easier. I can throw a teaspoon of it into a salad dressing, or put a little in my sauces whilst cooking. It goes great with a little lemon & chili over grilled broccoli. Or even spread on toast with a little avocado. It's all the fun of garlic, but in a much more mellow form.

And lastly, well, there's garlic olive oil. For when you just want a hint of it drizzled over your rice, bread, veggies, or anything else you might drizzle oil over.

Yea, I wasn't lying when I said I went overboard with the garlic......

Ingredients, Lebanese garlic sauce: - 2 heads of garlic - 1 tbs sea salt - 250ml (1 cup) olive oil - 125ml (0.5 cup) lemon juice

Directions, Lebanese garlic sauce: 1. separate all the garlic cloves & peel them. I tried this trick from SauverMagazine (it's a youtube video, good fun to watch). It didn't work for all of them, then again, I don't think I shook the bowls with enough force. 2. using an emersion (stick) blender, blend the garlic & salt together until its a smooth, creamy paste. 3. alternate adding oil & lemon 1 tbs at a time. Add a tbs of olive oil first & then blend until it is completely combined. Then add a tbs of lemon juice & once again blend until completely combined. Once you're about half way through the lemon & oil, you can start adding them 3tbs at a time. Once it's all been added, you want to continue to blend until the mixture starts to thicken & take on a yogurt or mayo like consistency. This process of it thickening is called emulsification. This is what happens when the lemon juice binds to the oil & becomes creamy rather than greasy. It will also prevent the oil from separating later on. 4. refrigerate until ready for use. Normally with sauces I would say they will last about a week, however because there is no dairy or egg in this mixture, I'd say it will last any where from a week to a month in the fridge.

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Ingredients, roasted garlic paste: - 3 heads of garlic - 60ml (0.25 cup) olive oil

Directions, roasted garlic paste: 1. preheat the oven to 200ºC. Wrap each of the garlic heads separately in several layers of aluminum foil. Place in the oven for one hour. 2. once the garlic has sufficiently roasted, remove from the oven & allow to cool completely before you attempt to work with it. Once cooled, carefully separate out the cloves & remove the skin. Place the cloves in your food processor along with the oil & pulse till smooth. 3. the oil in this case is used solely to act as a preservative & prevent the garlic from going off. Again, I'd say that under the proper conditions this will last any where form a week to a month. Always make sure to check it before using it.

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Ingredients, garlic olive oil: - 750ml olive oil - 4 garlic cloves

Directions, garlic olive oil: 1. peel the skins from the cloves of garlic & cut them in half. Place the cloves & the oil in a bottle that you like (or leave the oil in the bottle it came in & just add the cloves) & let it sit for at least 4 days before using. 2. this will last a very long time, the cloves will start to darken over time but realistically, it should last as long as it takes to use the oil. Unless of course it takes you 6 months or a year to finish a bottle of oil, then I'd start checking it for safety.

Tools/ Equipment/ Machinery/ Ingredients:

Machinery:

Electric Scale - Etekcity - http://amzn.to/2xkKpQk

Food Processor - Cuisinart - http://amzn.to/2xkkZqK

Blender - Kenwood - http://amzn.to/2xXQgwU

Tools:

Silicone Spatula - Zyliss - http://amzn.to/2y3Srkw

Chef's Knife 8" - Miyabi - http://amzn.to/2fUtyRK

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