The Use-It-Up Tip of the Month

Use-It-Up Tip: Garlic

Diane in Montgomery asks: “How can I use up my fresh garlic before it sprouts?”

Frugal and Creative Ideas

-Garlic is up there with my top three favorite cooking ingredients.  I use so much of it in most everything that I cook
(except desserts) that I rarely have it leftover. But if you have a whole bulb of garlic or a partial one that is ready to
sprout, you can extend its shelf life a little longer by making a jar of minced garlic. Peel all the cloves and finely mince the
garlic. Toss the garlic with about a tablespoon of olive oil per bulb. Store in a small glass jar in the refrigerator. You can
keep minced garlic in the refrigerator for about 2 or 3 months.

-Use garlic as you would onions when you do a stir-fry of vegetables or meats. Remember that garlic is quite pungent, so
you only need a couple of cloves to season a dish that serves 4 to 6 people.

-Make a garlic-scented olive oil to use for frying, sautéing or for salad dressings: Peel 2 or 3 cloves of garlic and slice
them in half. Add to 1/2 cup of olive oil and let stand at room temperature overnight, then remove the garlic. The garlic will
lend a subtle flavor to the olive oil. (This is great for dipping crusty bread, too!)

-Add cloves of garlic to soup (especially those that have Italian flavors, such as minestrone). Garlic adds sweetness to
soup as well as enhancing the flavor.

-Put thin slices of garlic on pizza before you bake it. Sprinkle it with a little olive oil so that it doesn’t dry out when the pizza
is baked.

-Add some chopped garlic to chicken broth and use that as a cooking liquid for rice. Stir in some chopped parsley right
before serving.

-Add garlic to marinades for meats, poultry, and fish. Garlic helps to tenderize, but its sweetness also tones down the
acidic nature of other marinade ingredients such as wine, vinegar, or lemon juice.

-Garlic can add flavor to a basic dinner roll recipe. Add about a tablespoon of minced garlic to the dough, along with a
teaspoon of dried oregano or rosemary. Shape into bread sticks to serve as an interesting alternative to plain rolls.

There are 33 recipes in “The Use-It-Up Cookbook” that use garlic! (Yes, it’s definitely one of my favorites.)
Here are the page numbers for the recipes that use garlic:

20, 44, 47, 51, 53, 59, 60, 61, 63, 76, 78, 79, 85, 107, 109, 110, 117, 124, 135, 141, 143, 149, 156, 159, 167, 174, 179,
181, 183, 187, 190, 191, 196

Last Month's Use-It-Up Tip:

Use-It-Up Tip: Parsley

Bob from San Francisco asks: “What can I do with the rest of the bunch of fresh parsley before it wilts?”

Frugal and Creative Ideas:

-First of all, while you’re deciding what to do with the rest, take a large glass or pint-size mason jar, fill it half-full with
water, and stand the parsley up in the glass as if it were a bunch of flowers. Put a plastic bag loosely over the top and
put it in the refrigerator. That will help you keep it fresh until you use the rest.

-Use 3 or 4 tablespoons of chopped parsley and add it to your favorite biscuit recipe along with 1/2 teaspoon of paprika.
You’ll have a great savory biscuit to serve with dinner or with a large hearty salad for lunch.

-Use parsley as one of your salad greens. Trim the stems from the parsley leaves and put the whole leaves in the salad.
Parsley contrasts nicely with other baby greens or a soft mild lettuce such as Boston, Bibb or butter lettuce.

-Because of its vivid color and unique flavor, it’s a wonderful seasoning for steamed vegetables. Use a combination of
baby red potatoes, carrot chunks, and cauliflower, and steam for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are done. Sprinkle
2 or 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley over the top of the vegetables while they are still in the pan, and then replace
the pan cover. The parsley will stick to the vegetables and season them slightly. Then lift the vegetables out of the pan
and serve them for a colorful presentation.

-Parsley and garlic taste great together as seasonings for poultry. Toss chicken pieces with olive oil, chopped garlic and
parsley, and roast in an open roasting pan at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until done.

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Copyright 2004, Catherine Kitcho