pickled garlic

It's garlic week.
I'm in recovery from the weekend, and I almost didn't make a thing today. (Yes, the wedding went well. It rained on us while we ate dinner, but the wine was good enough that that was okay. Thanks for asking.) I almost gave you a little rundown of other garlic recipes that I've made- you know, roasted leg of lamb with garlic sauce or roasted garlic, onion and potato galette, or of course the king of kings garlic lemonade, or I guess when you come to think of it, just about everything I make around here that isn't dessert.

But then I couldn't resist shoving all the other things I had to do aside so that I could make something for you here. Because the truth is, I've really been wanting to tell you about this book.

Yes, I have pastoral British envy. I want elderflower rhubarb fool after the heritage roast that I cut myself and roasted on a spit in my very old hearth. I want stone walls and children with accents even though they wouldn't really be accents because that's how they talk. Sometimes, I just want to live in the River Cottage Books.

This is a new one- little and unassuming, written by Pam Corbin, containing nearly zero paranoia about canning safety. Put it in a jar. Put it on the shelf. As long as you are noble of heart, it will be good.


And so, because it is garlic week after all, and because I have this big bowl of uncleaned garlic that I hastily dug up and shoved in the closet, I thought I might spend a few moments in my new favorite cookbook and jar up a bit of garlic.

I don't know how it will taste, but I'm thinking...good.
Let's get to it then, shall we?

Pickled Garlic
adapted from Pam Corbin, The River Cottage Preserves Handbook

makes five 4-ounce jars

1 pound newer garlic (do it now, not in January)
about 15 peppercorns
5 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of saffron threads

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Sterilize your jars for about 10 minutes in the pot, then remove them. Submerge all of the garlic in the hot water, and keep it in for about 20 seconds. Remove, and the garlic will slide right out of its skins.
Put the vinegar, sugar and saffron into a pan. Bring the mixture to a boil.
In a separate little pot, bring a few cups of water to boil. Remove from heat and submerge the lids and bands of your jars. Leave them in the hot water.
Meanwhile, pack the garlic cloves into the sterilized jars, adding a bay leaf and peppercorns as you go. Pour the hot vinegar over the garlic, and top with the lid and band. If the vinegar is hot enough, the jar should seal (the center of the lid will suck down) within a couple of hours. If it doesn't seal, you can also process in a hot water bath for ten minutes, or store in the refrigerator.
Use within a year.

Although that telling breeze is starting to make its way into the window at night, we're still celebrating the summer around here! Oh, luscious garlic, what will all of these talented people do with you? I can hardly wait....

odd and Diane at White on Rice Couple: Garlic Knots

Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Spicy Pickled Garlic

Sara at Food2: Easiest Recipes Ever, Starring Garlic

Michelle on Cooking Channel: Roasted Garlic

Liz at Healthy Eats: 5 Reasons to Eat More Garlic

Kirsten at FN Dish: Garlic Chicken Greats

Margaret at A Way to Garden: Growing and Storing a Year of Garlic

Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Ajo Blanco Soup, and Confit Garlic

The Gilded Fork: Garlic Dossier and Recipes

Food Network UK: Glorious Garlic

Paige at The Sister Project: Spaghetti with Garlic and Zucchini

Cate at Sweetnicks: Double Dose of Garlic—Cuban Black Beans and The Best Pork Ever

Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Italian Marinated Eggplant and Sorrel and Garlic Sauce

Leg of Lamb with Garlic Sauce

Happy new year! And happy almost end of winter break! We've almost made it, and we're doing great. This morning the girls let us sleep in till 8:00, and when they finally politely came in to ask for their promised toaster waffles (a rare delicacy in our house), they accepted my request for 10 more minutes, and then did art together on the table until I got up. Ah, parenthood is such a joy...

today.

But as for tomorrow, we'll see. And we're getting through the rough spots by sustaining ourselves with leftover lamb. It works pretty well. Here is the recipe:

Roast Leg of Lamb (adapted from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food)

For 1 bone-in leg of lamb, about 7 pounds

One Day before roasting, wash, pat dry, and massage with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. Cover and refrigerate. Two hours before cooking, take out of the fridge to let it warm to room temperature. Rub with olive oil and chopped rosemary.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Roast for 30 minutes, then turn the roast over and cook for another 20 minutes. Turn again and continue roasting until the lamb has reached an internal temperature of 128 degrees. This won't take very long. When the roast is done, take it out of the pan and leave it on a platter to rest for at least 20 minutes.

And the Garlic Sauce (adapted from sudairy)

Peel 24 cloves of garlic
fry in olive oil until soft, about 10 minutes
pour the garlic and olive oil into a bowl and mash, mash, mash
then...
take your roasting pan from which you just removed the leg of lamb, pour in a glass of red wine, and bring to a boil. scraping off the brown bits from the pan. Pour this delicious liquid over the mashed garlic, mash some more, and voila, garlic sauce.

Pour over the sliced lamb and enjoy....