Garlic

A couple of weeks ago Garlic was the featured theme on the Guardian's readers' recipe swap. We went mental. Garlic is in most of the dishes we cooked- a bit of exaggeration, yes - but we even tried it in a white chocolate truffles (we are very much divided on this one!!!). We probably submitted 5 - 10 recipes and have countless more in our bags! Below is just a selection of the best - but if you are really into these small pungent and sharp goodness (a completely different story once cooked) we are more than happy to share more recipes with you. Don't be alarmed by the ridiculous amount of garlic used in these recipes - while raw garlic can be pungent, sharp, and fiery, roasted garlic is deliciously mild, sweet and creamy and will not give you that unpleasant 'after-breathe' of raw garlic!

1. Garlic bread and butter pudding / Dauphinoise Baguette

We were camping near Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France for a local theatre festival, as voluntary cooks for the event crew of 50+ people. As days went by there were lots of stale bread leftover, but other ingredients were running out - that’s when we came up with this recipe, using the French's favourite garlic and fresh thyme to produce this delicious savoury bread and butter pudding or dauphinoise baguette. We have since used this in many occasions when we have baguette or bread leftover, as an alternative to two traditional dishes! For reference the recipe uses 1 whole baguette, but you can simply cut the recipe in half or a third etc. depending on how much baguette you are left with from the many picnics to come!

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp butter, for frying

1 Tbsp olive oil, for frying

1 clove garlic, minced

250g mushrooms, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

3 cloves garlic, minced

50g butter, room temperature

450ml double cream

4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only

3 eggs

1 baguette, sliced (preferably stale)

60g grated cheese (such as gruyere / cheddar / … again, whatever that is leftover in the fridge!) - optional

1 tsp salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTION

1. Pre-heat oven to 160 C.

2. In a medium-sized pan, heat 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil at medium-heat. Once hot, add minced garlic (1 clove) and cook for a couple of minutes. Add mushroom, and season with salt and cracked black pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the mushrooms are reduced in size and water evaporated. Set aside.

3. Prepare garlic butter by mixing 50g butter with 3 cloves minced garlic. Spread the garlic butter on both sides of sliced baguette.

4. In a bowl, beat the eggs, and then add double cream. Add 1 tsp salt, thyme andblack pepper to taste. Continue beating until mixture is slightly thickened.

5. Lightly grease a baking tin with butter.

6. Place a layer of buttered sliced baguette. Place half of the mushrooms on top, andpour approximately 1/3 of the egg and cream mixture.

7. Repeat step 6.

8. Place the last layer of sliced baguette and pour remaining egg and cream mixture. Let the baguette soak up the liquid at room temperature, for approximately 15-20 minutes.

9. Cover it with aluminium foil, and bake it in the pre-heat oven for 35-40 minutes. If the custard does not appear set, bake it for another 5 minutes, checking it regularly at 5 minute interval.

10. Remove foil. If using grated cheese, sprinkle evenly on top of the pudding. Put thepudding under a grill for approximately 5 minutes, so that the top turns crispy andgolden.

11. Remove from oven, let is sit for 5-10 minutes before serving with salad.

2. Roasted garlic ricotta pizza (featured on the Guardian, also available here)

Roasted garlic added to ricotta with a touch of honey makes a great topping for a summery pizza. The garlic ricotta cream can be prepared ahead to make a light and refreshing dish for a quick supper during weekdays or simple brunch at the weekends! Recipe below also works well on puff pastry. Recipe makes 2 medium pizzas.

INGREDIENTS

1 garlic bulb

1 tsp olive oil

200g ricotta

300g spinach

60g pecorino, shaved

1 tsp honey

2 medium pizza bases

2 eggs (optional)

Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTION

1. Prepare the roasted garlic: Preheat oven to 200C. Peel away the outer skin layer only of the garlic bulb and cut off the top of the cloves to expose the top tip of the garlic cloves. Place garlic in a baking tin and cover it with olive oil. Cover it loosely with aluminium foil and bake for 30 - 40 minutes. If this is your first time making this, check from time to time to make sure that garlic is not burnt, as burnt garlic can be quite bitter and unpleasant. Once garlic is cooled, simply squeeze 8 - 10 garlic cloves (if you have any leftovers, simply add to a bit of yogurt or creme fraiche with fresh parsley to make a simple dip) out of its skins and mash with a fork. Mix roasted garlic with ricotta and 1 tsp honey. Season well with salt and pepper, to taste.

2. In the mean time, blanch spinach in a pot of lightly salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and run under a cold water tap to stop it from further cooking. Squeeze out as much water as possible. Roughly chopped the spinach. Set aside until needed.

3. Spread the garlic ricotta mixture evenly on the pizza bases (about 1cm away from the edges). Dot the pizzas with teaspoonful of spinach, roughly evenly spaced around the pizzas, followed by shaved pecorino. If desire, break an egg on to the middle of each pizza. Season with freshly ground sea salt and pepper, to taste.

4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 12 - 15 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and just bubbles, and the crust is lightly golden brown.

5. Serve with a tomato and leaf salad.

3. Garlic and rosemary rösti

Garlic and rosemary work really well together and are often baked with roasted potatoes, sprinkled on fries, or added to a deliciously sweet homemade mayo. In this recipe, though, we have opted for the aromatic and earthy celeriac. Unlike celery – its ‘relative’ – which has a sharp and sometimes harsh flavour, celeriac has a mild and slightly peppery and sweetly nutty flavour, which helps bring out the fragrance of garlic. Eat these röstis the Alpine way - topped with heaps of grated cheese and grilled for a couple of minutes. Alternatively, they are great topped with poached eggs and wilted spinach, creme fraiche and serve with a salad. Recipe makes 4 - 6 rösti, depending on size.

INGREDIENTS

500g coarsely grated celeriac or cut into matchstick size (to prepare celeriac, trim off the base, and peel off the skin before grating / cutting)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 – 2 sprig of rosemary, leaves only, roughly chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, skin removed and lightly crushedButter and vegetable oil, for frying (combination preferred)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Lemon juice, to taste (optional)

DIRECTION

1. Coarsely grate celeriac or cut into matchstick size and place in a bowl lined with a clean towel. Sprinkle salt onto the celeriac to draw out water. Set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Wrap celeriac with the towel and squeeze out as much water as possible. Add minced garlic, chopped rosemary, salt and pepper to taste ( you probably won't need extra salt at this stage). Mix well.

3. In a frying pan, heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil plus 1 Tbsp butter. Brush the pan with a clove of crushed garlic and leave the garlic in the pan throughout the cooking. Add 1/4 of the celeriac mixture into the pan and shape it into a flat cake. Cook for about 10 minutes until the base is golden and crisp. Flip and cook for a further 10 minutes or so until the other side is also crisp. Continue with the rest of the celeriac mixture (use extra vegetable oil and butter and smashed garlic as needed).

4. After platting the rösti, add a squeeze of lemon, if desire. Great topped with poached eggs and wilted spinach or creme fraiche. Alternatively, top with grated cheese and grill for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and turned lightly golden brown. Serve with leafy salad.