Flavourful Roasted Garlic

.
Roasted garlic cloves are an essential addition to several of my dishes, so it makes sense to get that recipe posted early on. Roasting garlic takes away the sharpness and imparts a mellow, subtle nutty flavour to the cloves. It keeps well in the refrigerator for several weeks, and can be a delightful addition to some of your own dishes. To save on your gas or electric bill, prepare these flavourful bulbs while cooking something else in the oven, like a chicken or a casserole. Don’t cook with something that wouldn’t taste good with a bit of garlic added, however, like an apple pie!

Roasted Garlic
Ingredients:
6 large heads of garlic
Olive oil
Aluminum foil

Preparation:
Set oven to at least 350° F. It is not necessary to preheat the oven for Roasted Garlic.

Cut foil into six squares, each large enough to enclose an entire head of garlic.

Select garlic carefully. Look for heads that have a smooth, unbroken “paper” covering.

Cut the tops off each garlic head, cutting far enough down on the head to open the top of each clove.

Centre a head of garlic on each piece of foil.

Drizzle olive oil over the exposed ends of the garlic cloves.

Wrap the garlic snugly in the foil.

Place foil packets on a baking tray and put in oven.

Roast for at least 45 minutes. Check for doneness by opening a foil packet and checking the garlic for doneness: stick a toothpick into the top of a large exposed clove. If the toothpick slides in easily and encounters no resistance, the garlic is ready. The cloves should be nutty brown and translucent.

Remove the garlic from the oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate in their foil packets.

To use:
Unwrap a foil packet and, using something slender with a dull tip, like the point of a potato peeler or the handle end of a spoon or fork, pop the desired number of cloves out of their paper jackets. Squeezing slightly with the left hand while applying the tool with the right can help remove them.

Cloves can be used as is, or can be mashed or rubbed to distribute their flavour. Return unused garlic to the refrigerator in its foil packet.