Garlic Bulbs

Ah…. Garlic, that stinky herb that adds flavor to so many dishes.  Maligned by many and loved by the rest.  This odiferous herb has even inspired some people to write poems in its honor, like this clever poem “Ode to Garlic” that we found on Hungry Cravings.com.  There’s even a FaceBook page devoted to it, now how many herbs can lay claim to that?  You may be wondering by now what my intentions are today for this popular herb?  I am planning to roast my very first bulb of garlic.  I’m sure you are a bit surprised that I haven’t done this before.  Isn’t this a lesson that I should have learned in cooking 101 at some point?  Well, I can honestly say that although I have done a great deal of cooking with garlic, I have never roasted a bulb, not even once…  I decided that I needed some expert advice, but who to consult.  Who is the Garlic Guru anyway and does such a person even exist?  Well, in fact I did find out that there is a traveling concession stand called just that, “The Garlic Guru” which can be found throughout New England.  I’m sure this gentleman has great expertise, but I’m not sure he would be willing or able to visit my kitchen to help me.  Therefore I need another plan… I know what I’ll do,  I’ll just consult Google, surely I can find my answer there.  So I typed in the words “How to roast garlic” and found many “Garlic Roasting Aficionados”, but I only needed one.  So who did I choose from this vast array of herbal giants?   The one with great step-by-step instructions and pictures of course! (Pictures are soooooooo important!)  This fantastic site was called “What’s Cooking America” and in the section How to Roast Garlic, I found the answer I was searching for.  So, armed with a webpage and my oven safe ramekin, I got to work.  The first instruction was to remove the outer layer of skin around the bulb.  That was easy enough.  The next part however I seemed to encounter some technical difficulties…  I’m not sure if I was reading the instructions upside down or had a momentary out-of-body experience, but somehow I cut off the wrong end of the bulb.  Do you know what happens when you cut off the wrong end of the bulb?  You get this…

The wrong way to cut the garlic bulb.

Not exactly the look I was after.  Okay,  second attempt…

Success!

Success!  Next, the instructions said to place the bulb in an oven safe bowl (There were several examples of how to do this.)  So I took my small ramekin and placed the garlic bulb in it, poured 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil over the top then covered it with foil

and placed it in a 375 degree oven to roast for 45 – 60 minutes or until golden brown.  And the result…..

Perfectly roasted garlic!

Thank you What’s Cooking America for helping me roast my very first garlic bulb!