At first glance you might wonder if this is some sort of science project. But what it lacks in immediate familiarity, it makes up for in taste -- especially when you consider it's a simple combination of three of any cook's most important ingredients: garlic, olive oil and coarse salt.
For this head of perfectly roasted garlic, blogger The Brown Eyed Baker simply cut off enough of the bulb to expose the cloves, drizzled them with a tablespoon of olive oil and added a generous sprinkling of salt before covering it with aluminum foil and roasting the entire thing for 40 minutes at 375 degrees F.
Great for use in pasta and pizzas and slathered on bread, those who truly love garlic may have a hard time not eating this straight out of the oven. But whatever you do with those golden-brown cloves, don't forget to save the skins for broth!
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Some cooks reach for Sriracha, the ubiquitous Thai hot sauce, in a pinch. Others swear by soy sauce. And then there are those who refuse to reveal (*cough, cough* butter) what made the dish you just demolished delicious. For our part, we've developed a tiny -- OK, midsized -- crush on an infused chili oil, and we need to talk about it.
Sid Wainer & Son's Domaine de Provence pepper-spiked oil is fantastic. A drizzle of the fiery goodness rescues storebought and homemade guacamole alike with a heady, late-blooming heat on the palate. According to owner Henry Wainer, it's also tasty on bruschetta. We plan to carry it on our person all summer -- potentially awkward in the 90-degree swelter -- using guerilla tactics to douse any crustaceans and pork we spy sizzling on the grills of party hosts. (Brooklyn, consider yourself warned.)
Wainer has been equally passionate about the oil since meeting its producer at a dinner in France 18 years ago. Such culinary serendipity, he declares, "enriches the world." Can't argue with that.
For any cheese enthusiast, spring means the return of diverse goat's-milk cheeses.
The goat's milk from the spring produces a unique grassy taste with an exquisite floral aroma with notes of hay. This is due to the fact that the goats are beginning to graze on the fresh spring flora.
Compared to most sheep and cows, goats have the most varied diet. Their milk is also the lowest in fat. With less fat to balance out the pungent flavors, you can really taste the natural piquancy of lush spring fields.
Click for ways to eat this springtime treat after the jump.
When making salad dressings, ever wonder why oil and vinegar mix well in some cases and not in others? Find out how to make the perfect salad dressing with two simple ingredients, and maybe just a few more.
I've sometimes wondered about some of the traditional food pairings that so often find their way on to my plate. For example, why do the Japanese add vinegar to sushi rice? For that matter, why does traditional salad dressing almost always pair an oil with an acid? And, while we're at it, what's with all those recipes, from all around the world, that combine three or four vegetables in a seemingly random mix?
Your answer to these questions might vary, depending on whether you're a historian, sociologist, chef, or scientist. One possible solution, according to many recent studies, is food synergy. Basically, this theory holds that certain combinations of foods make them more healthful, release more vitamins, or otherwise maximize their positive effect upon the body. For example, the vinegar in sushi rice can reduce the glycemic index by up to 35%, limiting the rice's effect upon blood sugar. Similarly, the oil in salad might make it possible for the body to absorb all the dish's antioxidants. Finally, vegetable combinations like succotash, ratatouille, and even good old peas and carrots may work in concert to help release all of the available nutrients.
One researcher notes that the best way to maximize one's nutrient consumption is by ensuring that every meal contains at least three different-colored vegetables and one "good" fat, like avocado, olive oil, or nuts. In other words, salad may just be the perfect meal!
I love garlic. I grew up on it. In my house, there were two things always on-hand to season a dish -- pepper and garlic powder. (My family almost never used salt!) I can't do without either, and that also means that I eat a lot of garlic-flavored dishes, like garlic mashed potatoes. (Good to keep the vampires away, and the mens.)
But now I have a new beloved mashed potato flavor -- chives and parsley. Wanting something fresh and light to go with my Lamb Hunter-Style, I found this recipe on Epicurious for Chive and Parsley Mashed Potatoes. It's not quite as easy as throwing a little garlic into the mix, but the effort is worth the great flavor.
The trick to the green and tasty taters -- an herb olive oil. Just puree 1 cup of fresh chives, 3/4 cup fresh parsley, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and just over 1/2 a cup of olive oil. Once it is smooth, push it through a metal sieve. Take the remaining oil and pour some, to taste, into your potatoes. Since nothing is cooked, you get that fresh and light herb taste, which makes the potato a great addition to any rich and heavy meat dish.
Okay ... I have to admit that I cheated just a little and sprinkled some garlic-flavored sea salt on top, which made it even more delish!
When purchasing an artisanal extra virgin olive oil, people tell me completely different ways to store it. While some urge me to refrigerate it, others argue that refrigeration spoils the oil's flavor.
While it's tempting to just buy the largest jug of olive oil possible and keep it in the cabinet for months, there are better ways to deal with purchasing and storing this key ingredient.
Well, the reputation of Italian products has been suffering lately, and this latest news on olive oil doesn't help. Apparently a counterfeit olive oil ring was busted. They had been exporting "soya beans or sunflower seeds - some of it genetically modified - mixed with beta carotene and industrial chlorophyll" all dressed up as authentic Italian olive oil.
Police arrested 39 people and confiscated 25,000 liters of the fake oil. The authorities say the good news is that proper checks and new labeling laws are working to catch these counterfeiters. However some people in the Italian olive oil industry are worried that consumers will compare Italian products with the recent fiasco of Chinese exports. The prosecutor who ordered the arrests did say that the oil wasn't harmful, but that it was produced in facilities which weren't checked by the health department.
Unfortunately some people are always going to be on the lookout for ways to make a quick buck. All we can do is hope to not get caught up in it, or that it won't hurt us if we do.
Mariam Amash, a woman living in an Israeli village, recently astounded officials when she filed for a new identity card, declaring an age of 120 years old. She says she was born in 1888, when the Turks still ran the holy land. Her secret to long life? Walk regularly and drink a glass of olive oil every day. Al Dente did the math and figured out that she has consumed at least 43,800 glasses--roughly 2,737 gallons of olive oil.
Studies have found that the monounsaturated oils in olive oil not only help reduce blood cholesterol, it also "cause less production of the bile acids in the digestive tract that promote colon cancer development." Additionally, it is less likely to generate free radicals in the body than other fats, it strengthens the anti-inflammatory effects of omega-3 fats and blocks the activation carcinogens. With all the olive oil she's consumed over the years, it's no wonder she's lived such a long life.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I love everything Rosemary. And I'm always looking for new ways to make pasta (especially since I've cut down on pasta in general and heavy sauces specifically), so I'm always happy to find a recipe where I can combine the two.
Like this recipe for Spaghetti with Rosemary from The Silver Spoon cookbook. Does that look great or what?
For the record, we never called it "pasta" when I was growing up. Never. It was always "spaghetti."
Last Friday, students at CalTech put away their high tech pursuits and joined forces to harvest all the olives that grow on the school's 130 olive trees. This is the second year they've been picking the olives and the first year that they school went all out to throw a campus-wide harvest festival, complete with three-course family style Italian meal.
It got started last year when the university president spotted two students picking some of the olives. He promised them a home cooked meal if they could devise a way of making oil from the olives. They came up with a mechanism and the campus interest grew. The rest, as they say, is history. For those of you live in the area and want to try out some of the CalTech olive oil, it will be available in their bookstore in about three weeks.
Pie crusts are a tricky thing. I admit that I don't have a whole lot of experience with them and when I have tried to wrestle a cohesive sheet of dough into a pie pan, I've often settled for something far less than perfect. I'm okay with that though, I fill it with something delicious and call it rustic. It works for me.
But having read the Oregonian's food section today, I think I may have just learned the secret to a perfect pie crust every time. Olive oil. Danielle Certoni had always admired her mother-in-law's apple pie, and when the in-laws came for Thanksgiving, she asked her to make it. When she went into see how it was going, Danielle was surprised to discover that the secret was olive oil instead of butter or shortening. Apparently, it's quite common in other food cultures and produces a light and flaky crust without needing the same delicate treatment that we've come to expect that pastry needs. I don't have any pies on my cooking schedule, but the next time I need a crust, I'm turning to this recipe. If you make it, let me know how it turns out!
The picture is of an actual Olive Oil Pie Crust. It was posted on Flickr complete with recipe and entertaining narrative of how it came to be.
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I love garlic. I grew up on it. In my house, there were two things always on-hand to season a dish -- pepper and garlic powder. (My family almost never used salt!) I can't do without either, and that also means that I eat a lot of garlic-flavored dishes, like garlic mashed potatoes. (Good to keep the vampires away, and the mens.)
Well, the reputation of Italian products has been suffering lately, and this latest news on olive oil doesn't help. Apparently a counterfeit olive oil ring was busted. They had been exporting "soya beans or sunflower seeds - some of it genetically modified - mixed with beta carotene and industrial chlorophyll" all dressed up as authentic Italian olive oil.
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