Roasted Garlic

My favorite condiment

Short, but very delicious post today!  I am working on my residency application and it is taking a lot of time.  I want to be an ophthalmologist and it turns out that it is a competitive field to get into!  I haven't had a lot of time to cook this month because of my application, but I did have the time to make some roasted garlic the other night.  It is one of my favorite condiments.  Yes, I consider it a condiment because you can use it in about a hundred different ways - put it on bread, stir it into mashed potatoes, use it to flavor hummus, have it as a side dish, and some people even eat it straight!  Even people who do not like garlic should try this.  After roasting the garlic, it becomes soft, sweet, and buttery.  It doesn't have the sharp taste of raw garlic at all. This is one of my favorite foods to make as well, because it requires very little effort.  Just cut the top off of the head of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, and pop it into the oven.  Once it is done, my favorite thing to do is to squeeze the cloves out of the skins.  It's so fun!  Mike and I ended up taking the roasted garlic and mixed it into risotto and it was divine.  More about the risotto in a later post :).  Here are more detailed instructions:





Roasted Garlic
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Ingredients
Whole heads of garlic
1 TBSP olive oil for each head of garlic


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. Peel away most of the paper off of each head of garlic, and cut 1/4 - 1/2 inch off each head, exposing the cloves.
3. Take a large rectangle of aluminum foil and fold it in half to make a square.  Place one head in the middle of the aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil.  Bring the corners of the aluminum foil together to  securely wrap each head.  Repeat for remaining garlic.
4. Roast for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until cloves are soft and a deep golden brown.  I like to roast mine in a cupcake pan to ensure that the garlic stays upright and no oil leaks out.
5. Allow garlic to cool for 10-15 minutes, then cloves can be easily squeezed out of their skins.
6. Enjoy spread on a crusty baguette, stirred into mashed potatoes, or any way you wish!


As a side note, I am trying to learn how to take food pictures, but I don't really know how to edit them or make them look beautiful.  If anyone can offer any advice, please do!  The food tastes so good and I want the pictures to illustrate that :)


Bon appetit!