Here are some ideas how to use culinary garlic:

 

The obvious are spaghetti sauce and salsa. Other ideas are pesto, and baked garlic. Dry garlic, freeze garlic, or add to premade sauces for a fresher flavor.

 

Baked Garlic:

There are a few ways to do this. We like to use a toaster oven. Set temperature to 300 degrees  Take a whole bulb of garlic and  slice about 1/2 inch off the top.  Put bulb in a baking dish, drizzel olive oil all over it. Add a little salt and pepper if you wish.  Bake for 20-30 minutes. If not very soft, finish a few minutes in the microwave.  Let cool so you can handle it. Take each clove and pinch the skin between you fingers so that the garlic mush comes out. Squeeze out all of the garlic mush into a bowl. Mix until you get a nice consistancy.  YOu can do this without cutting off the top or cut in half which makes it easier to get it pieces out of the skin.

 

Another way to do this is to use a grill and place garlic bulb in aluminum foil and cook while you are cooking other items.  You can grill it without aluminum foil to get grill marks and a more smokey flavor. You can bake in the oven with or without aluminum foil.  If yoru oven is on, or you are grilling, why not add a garlic bulb, too.   Do 3 or 4 while you are at it so you have some on hand.   We like to spread this on  hamburgers, It's also good on crackers, or bruschetta with sliced tomatoes.

 

Pesto: Put the following in a food processor:

1/2 C nuts - any kind -almonds, wlanuts, pecans, the most common in recipes is pine nuts. Don't use peanuts because they are too strong flavored.

1/2 cup basil - or other green ie: spinach, quinoa greens, beet greens, parsley

4-5 garlic cloves - to taste- coursly chopped.

1/2 cup white chees - mazzerela, or swiss is good

Olive oil- drizzled to the right consistancy

Add a little salt, pepper, dried red chilli pepper, myvbe a little lime juice.

 

Add to any premade spaghetti sauce or salsa to enhance the flavor or make some spaghetti sauce yourself.

You can also dry garlic in a dehydrator. The end result is amazing compared to the grocery store kind in the plastic spice jar.

You can freeze garlic. This is a great trick.  Take individual cloves and put in a freezer bag in the freezer. Pull out as many as you need.  They will be as easy to peel as the baked garlic and mushy as well so you don't have to chop them.  Squeeze out in your pan and voila, fresh tasting garlic in your dish.

Pickled garlic is also good. Pickle with spices and hot seal the jars, or put in vinegar and store in a jar in refrigerator.  Good for about 3 months.  Add to pickles you already have in your refrigerator.