BABZ BITES

Kitchen time has certainly had a lot of highs and lows over the past few months. Many of us have felt like it has been longer than a few months.

I’ve gone through phases of embracing the meals and of throwing in the towel. Some experiments have been successful and others have been a little more on the stinking side. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of stinkers in the food world. So for now, let’s just embrace the stinky. As far as my taste buds and even my nostrils are concerned, the stinkier, the better. But of all the tasty, slimy, oohy oohy bites there are out there, my personal favorites have always included garlic.

As a little girl the smell never bothered me until I realized not everyone had my affinity for garlic. I loved my school lunches filled with leftovers packed with my mother’s stinky smothered treats. Well after lunch I definitely could have warded off a few hundred vampires. However, as I got older I quickly found myself asking Mom for other lunch items so that I might have a few kids sitting beside me again.

With mouthwash in a purse or openly placed in my bathroom, my adventures in the culinary world for the past two plus decades have certainly embraced the stink. Grown in gardens and farms throughout the world and across the Ohio River Valley, garlic comes from the bulbous roots of a plant which belongs to the lily family. The bulb is composed of many smaller sections called cloves.

This beautiful bulb is often used by rooms or spaces as a decorator with garlic braids and beautifully woven arrangements.

Garlic still continues to inspire my cooking and eating. It melts in your mouth and in your food. Today I have included a few stinky dishes that will have guests or even your personal palate going wild for repeats. Not sure if garlic is for everyone at your table? May as well be a stinker and find out.

Good luck and enjoy!

Garlic Toast Points or Croutons

(Great with soup or salad)

Preheat oven to 375

6 cloves peeled garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 baguette, sliced

In a small bowl combine all ingredients except bread. Place mix on an aluminum lined baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until crispy and brown.

Place sliced bread open faced or, cubed if making croutons, on a baking sheet and dab with any remaining oil. Toss into oil if making croutons, crush garlic into bread for toast points. Bake for 15 minutes. Great served hot or put in an air proof container and served later.

Bagna Cauda

(Hot dip made from garlic and anchovies)

(It’s ok if the anchovies are something you would prefer to switch out. Feel free to substitute out with any veggie or just use the garlic.)

Serves 4-6

Preheat oven to 275

2 ½ cups garlic cloves, skin on

2 cups olive oil

¼ cup, unsalted butter sliced

1, 2 ounce can of anchovies

Baguette, crackers, or veggies for dipping

Place garlic into a heavy baking dish. Pour olive oil on top and sprinkle butter over. Lay anchovies in a single layer over garlic and butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 ½ hours or until cloves are dense and limp (should burst onto your fingers and be spreadable. Serve! Best served hot. Use a crackpot if you want to make a large batch and keep warm.

Garlic Smothered Baked Chicken

Serves 4-6

Preheat oven to 375

1, five pound chicken

2 tablespoons kosher salt

5 grinds of black pepper

1 onion

1 bunch carrots

½ bunch celery

6 large potatoes, sliced

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup white wine

15 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, minced

1 lemon, quartered

Mix all ingredients except chicken, potatoes, carrots, and celery. While mixing, preheat a large cast iron or heavy ovenproof dish in the oven. Let it heat for about 30 minutes. While heating, smother chicken and all veggies in the mix. Make sure to mix all over the meat, especially under the skin. Place in the pan, drizzle any remaining liquid over the meat. Cover with aluminum and roast for 1 hour, or until cooked. Remove aluminum and allow it to get a little crispy in the oven (20 minutes).

Remove from the oven, allow to cool a little, but best served hot. Any leftovers are always delicious, but don’t count on it.

Salsa di Aglio (Garlic Sauce)

2 cloves garlic

⅓ cup olive oil

juice of 2 lemons

1 tsp oregano

salt & pepper

Place in a wooden bowl and mash. (You may use the bottom of a glass to do this. Add remaining ingredients. Excellent on broiled chicken, steak, fish, or lamb. Prepare sauce just before serving time. For an extra zest, add mint or basil as a substitute for the oregano, or even a little of all three.

Salsa di Aglio per Pasta (Garlic Sauce for Pasta)

½ cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped or whole

Heat oil and brown garlic until golden brown. This should take about two minutes. Add one pound of cooked pasta to the pan. Season with pepper and salt. Simmer for one minute. Turn well in the pan so that the pasta is moist with sauce.

Serve immediately.

The photos and recipes used in today’s article are from the kitchen of Chef Babz ([email protected]) with a little help from The Stinking Rose: A Garlic Restaurant; Mama Mia Italian Cookbook, 1955, Angela Catanzaro. Garlic in photo provided by Carrie Taylor, Maysville Community & Technical College Agriculture/Horticulture Instructo