Garlic

Garlic a photo by pjpink on Flickr.

From Tomten Farm at the South of the James Market

Homemade Pizza

We had pizza last night. Mmmm.

I made the crust in my bread machine using equal parts white flour, wheat flour, and semolina. The sauce was made with yellow tomatoes from Amy's Garden and garlic from Fertile Crescent Farms. The pepper was a purple one from the Chester farmer at South of the James Market. I used home grown fresh basil (what little that is still surviving this heatwave). The sausage was San Miniato from Belmont Butchery. I picked up fresh mozzarella and parmesan from J. Emerson.

Go ahead have another look -

While waiting for the dough to be ready, I enjoyed some rose from La Vielle Ferme

And sipped Saldo while eating.

100 Cloves of Garlic

Have you ever had the urge to go to the extreme? Try something so outrageous that you just know it won’t work? And no, I’m not talking about sports. The last adventurous sporting event I did was whitewater rafting on the James. Scared the bejeezus out of me. Never again.

I’m talking about cooking. This weekend I pawed through The Olive and The Caper cookbook by Susanna Hoffman and tried Skordostoumbi. This recipe called for 100 cloves of garlic. Yes, you read that correctly…100. I really like garlic and so does my hubby, but did we have what it takes to prepare and consume a dish with 100 cloves of the aromatic bulb? Could it possibly turn out to be yummy? Would our friends and co-workers talk to us or hang around us the following day? We said who cares?

And now I will share our plunge off of the deep end. I ever-so-slightly modified the recipe.

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil



2 ½ - 3 pounds boneless beef roast (I used bottom round), cut into 2 inch chunks

100 garlic cloves (8-10 heads), separated and peeled

48 Kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped

4 cups dry red wine (something you would not mind drinking) Note: It will take more than one bottle

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 bay leaves (home grown!)

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon dried basil (home grown this Summer and dried)

Egg noodles

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot begin searing beef in batches until browned all over. Place browned beef chunks in a heavy enameled pot.

Pour the wine into the hot skillet and deglaze the pan. Add the garlic, olives, tomato paste, bay leaves, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the tomato paste. Pour the liquid over the beef in the enameled pot. Add the dried basil and stir.

Place top on enameled pot and put in oven. Cook the beef for 2 – 2 ½ hours, stirring the mixture every half hour to begin incorporating the softened garlic into the wine to form a sauce. When the beef is tender and the garlic has started to breakdown, take pot out of the oven and set aside with lid still on to rest. Boil egg noodles. When the noodles are done, drain and serve the beef over the noodles.

We really enjoyed this dish. It was garlickly, but nothing we could not handle. The garlic melted into a thick sauce and the beef fell apart when prodded by a fork. We drank glasses of 2006 The Prodigal Son Petite Sirah from The Big House Wine Company.

The next night I placed the leftovers in a big pot, added 3 cups of beef broth, 3 cups of water, a chopped up carrot that I needed to use and let the mixture simmer. Once it was hot I threw in ¾ cup brown rice and let the mixture simmer until the rice was cooked. Now I had a rich, thick, meaty soup. Yummy. And we once again took the meal to the extreme by enjoying it with a 2000 Chateau La Galiane Margaux. The wine had just a hint of barnyardiness. The olives countered this aspect perfectly.

Amazing what 100 cloves of garlic can produce. And great dishes for Winter.

I submitted this post to Grow Your Own.

Garlic Bread

Twice this week I have made garlic bread – the first, a downscale version; the second, a more gourmet version. Both knocked our socks off. The key ingredient was the super fresh garlic from Fertile Crescent Farm that I picked up at the South of the James Farmers Market last Saturday. The garlic was so much easier to peel and exuded that oh-so-delicious garlickyness. Here are my garlic bread variations…

Garlic Bread – Variation One

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mince two cloves of garlic and then mash them to a paste-like consistency. Add the garlic and a pinch of salt to 2 tablespoons of softened unsalted butter. Mix well. Spread garlic mixture over 6 slices of Italian-style bread (for this version, I picked up my already sliced bread from Food Lion). Sprinkle dried oregano over the bread slices. Sprinkle grated Romano cheese over the bread slices. Place the bread in a baking pan with a rack (I like to get air between the bottom of the bread and the baking pan). Bake for 5-7 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Yummy, yummy.

Garlic Bread – Variation Two

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mince two cloves of garlic and then mash them to a paste-like consistency. Add the garlic and a pinch of salt to 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and mix to combine. Brush the garlic mixture over 6 slices of Italian-style bread (for this version, I picked up the bread from The Fresh Market and asked the bakery to slice it for me). Place a thin slice of fresh mozzarella on top of each bread slice. Sprinkle the mozzarella with dried oregano. Place the bread in a baking pan with a rack (I like to get air between the bottom of the bread and the baking pan). Bake for 5-7 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Delightful.

Whether downhome or upscale, it’s all good!