Getting the most out of your Garlic

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/foodanddrink/foodnews/the-one-thing-you-should-always-do-before-cooking-with-garlic/ar-BBzSv9t?li=AAggsmr

Garlic is a glorious thing. It packs an enormous flavour for such a tiny little package and it comes with a slew of health benefits as well. Interestingly, there are a few things you must do to get the absolute most out of your cloves. Have you ever thrown a few cloves of garlic into your dish and struggled to taste them? Considering they pack a ton of flavour, you'd expect to be able to detect them in your dish.

For as long as I've been cooking, I've always known that you must work with your garlic prior to using it. Crushing, chopping, mincing, all of these methods will bring out the flavour of your garlic prior to using it. Typically, I'll crush my cloves immediately and let them sit while I prep the other ingredients. This activates their flavours and brings out their potency so that I know I'm getting the most flavour out of every clove. It's not all about their flavour though!

Garlic contains the component Allicin which is responsible for lowering our blood pressure, increasing our immunity, and helping to protect against high blood pressure. However, allicin is only activated through the preparation of garlic. In other words, crushing or chopping your garlic and letting it sit for approximately 10 minutes prior to using it will not only activate the flavours, but it activates the allicin which is one of the most important components of the cloves themselves.

This little kitchen hack will help you get the very best out of your cloves. I like to crush my garlic prior to chopping or putting it through the garlic press. Try giving your cloves a crush right at the start of prepping and leaving them until you're ready to add them. For the full story, head to the link at the top of the page.


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