LITTLE ROCK — I don’t remember what led me to the particular website and I don’t remember why I was reading the user comments, but at some point I came across praise for a method of peeling garlic. Specifically, peeling lots of garlic at once.
After a little searching, I tracked down a video demonstration of the technique. I was so impressed by the results in the video I had to give it a try.
When it comes to peeling just a clove or two, I have no problem using my fingers. And if the garlic will be chopped or minced, the most effective way I’ve found to peel it is to smash the unpeeled cloves with the side of my favorite chef’s knife. Other easy-peel methods include rubbing the garlic cloves with food-grade silicone. They make special “sleeves” specifically for peeling the pungent bulb, but you can use muffin-tin liners or a pot holder if necessary. But what do you do when the recipe calls for a whole head or more, such as Chicken With 40 Cloves.
That’s when this method becomes your new best friend in the kitchen.
It’s simple, really. Remove the excess papery skin from a whole head of garlic. Separate the bulb into cloves. Place the cloves in a bowl, top that bowl with another bowl of a similar size (cupping the two bowls together) and shake the living daylights out of it. The technique is loud, but effective.
The agitation works the cloves from their papery skins. Sometimes you need only shake a few seconds, other times maybe a minute. But even with the prolonged shaking, if whole cloves are your goal, this is the fastest way I found to do it.
This technique works best with dry heads of garlic. If your grocery store refrigerates garlic, (as many Kroger stores do), you’ll want to leave the garlic out at room temperature for at least several days or a few weeks.
After trying it and recording a video demonstration, peeled garlic quickly took over my kitchen.
Some of the garlic was roasted and pureed with softened butter, then frozen. The rest was the inspiration for this recipe that, despite a whole bulb of garlic, won’t send your sweetheart and local vampires running.
Roasted Chicken With Garlic and Lemon
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided use 3 lemons, divided use 1 head garlic separated into cloves and peeled 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 3/4 pound green beans, trimmed 1/2 pound baby carrots 1 (4- to 5-pound) chicken cut into pieces OR 4 to 6 skinon chicken pieces
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a large baking dish, cast-iron skillet or roasting pan with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
Thinly slice 2 of the lemons. Juice the remaining lemon. Set juice aside.
Arrange one of the sliced lemons in the bottom of the prepared pan. Mince 2 cloves of the garlic and set aside; add the remaining whole garlic cloves to the pan with the sliced lemons.
In a mixing bowl combine the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and pepper.
Add green beans and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs transfer green beans to pan. Add the carrots to the bowl and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon transfer the carrots to the pan. Arrange chicken pieces over vegetables in a single layer. Drizzle remaining olive oil-lemon juice mixture over chicken.
Roast at 450 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Top chicken with the remaining sliced lemon during the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Food, Pages 31 on 09/26/2012