Imagine garlic without stinky side effects
by Lisa Sipe

Always on the hunt for new things to try in the kitchen, I wondered recently about any new spice trends out there, and asked Matthew Perry at Savory Spice Shop. Without hesitation he opened a jar of black garlic, removing the papery peel from a clove, saying, "try this." I hesitated at eating a whole clove for risk of offensive breath the remainder of the day, but when someone I trust is excited about food, I follow their lead.

The clove was tender and had the jelly-like texture of Turkish delight. It was a little umami bomb; sweet, sour and savory with hints of tamarind and garlic. There were none of the offensive characteristics of raw garlic; it didn't have a bite, it wasn't stinky and didn't linger on my breath.

For centuries, people in South Korea, Japan and Thailand have used black garlic, made by fermenting whole cloves of garlic for weeks in heat. Over time the color of the garlic slowly turns from ivory to black and the texture changes.
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In my kitchen I experimented with a few simple recipes. By combining black garlic with salted butter, I whipped up a compound butter in less than five minutes. I slathered it on fresh baked ciabatta and relished the citrus and fig notes. At your next dinner party start the meal with warm bread and black garlic compound butter and your guests will think they're dining at a fancy steakhouse. Better yet, serve a seared steak with a pat of the butter on top.

Important note: You can't substitute black garlic for fresh garlic in recipes. They taste different and you can use a much greater quantity of black garlic because the flavor is more delicate. If you want more garlic flavor with your black garlic, add a little fresh garlic to your recipe.

Black garlic has been trending upward for the last few years, according to Google Trends. Yet even with that rise in popularity in the West, it still isn't a mainstream ingredient. Are chefs keeping this as a secret ingredient for themselves? Maybe, but they've been using it for a while. In 2008, black garlic was used on an episode of Iron Chef America, and Top Chef, in fish dishes.

Since trying that first black clove I've been obsessed. It's such a versatile ingredient. I've added it to a vinaigrette, a vegetable omelet and in place of raw garlic in a sun-dried tomato pesto with delicious results. I have yet to make black garlic chocolate chip cookies, but my curiosity is pulling me toward the unlikely combination. Black garlic is a bit sweet, in the way balsamic vinegar is, so I can see how it would work in cookies, cakes or truffles.

Buy black garlic as whole bulbs or in powder form. In addition to Savory Spice Shop, I've occasionally found it at Grocery Outlet. If you own a temperature-controlled fermentation box, you can make black garlic at home. 

Black Garlic Compound Butter
1 stick salted butter, softened
2 single head black garlic bulbs (4-6 cloves)
Combine butter and black garlic in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Scoop into a small bowl and serve. If the butter gets too soft, refrigerate until firm.

Black Garlic Vinaigrette
2 single head black garlic bulbs (4-6 cloves)
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 small shallot
1 tsp agave (or a ¼ tsp sugar)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
Combine all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
Thank you, Source Weekly
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Stock your Pantry here : Australia's most award winning Black Garlic cloves and powder. 
https://www.garliciousgrown.com.au/buy-direct.html   | ​Phone +61 (0)428216878 

 Take a look at this terrific hot sauce recipe made with peppers, sweet onions and black garlic powder - a lovely way to use our Garlicious Grown black garlic powder. Bought to you by Devin Rector of Fireflower Sauce and demonstrated on New-Day-Northwest here
​Don't forget to pick up your black garlic powder 

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Yotam Ottolenghi is an Israeli-British chef, restaurant owner, and food writer. The co-owner of five delis and restaurants in London, and the author of bestselling cookbooks, including Ottolenghi (2008) which sold 100,000 copies -  Plenty (2010), Jerusalem (2012) and now " Plenty More ";  Ottolenghi developed a cult following due to inventive dishes, characterised by the foregrounding of vegetables, unorthodox flavour combinations, and the abundance of "noisy" Middle Eastern ingredients.

Ottolenghi said, "I want drama in the mouth." Ottolenghi's recipes rarely fit within traditional dietary or cultural categories. He explained that his mission is to "celebrate vegetables or pulses without making them taste like meat, or as complements to meat, but to be what they are. "It does no favor to vegetarians, making vegetables second best."

Ottolenghi's bestselling cookbooks have proven influential, with The New York Times noting that they are "widely knocked-off for their plain-spoken instructions, puffy covers, and photographs [that Ottolenghi] oversees himself, eschewing a food stylist". In 2014, the London Evening Standard remarked that Ottolenghi had "radically rewritten the way Londoners cook and eat", and Bon Appétit wrote that he had "made the world love vegetables".

Ottolenghi is a lover of Black Garlic, and here at Garlicious Grown, we are avid fans of his work.  We are excited to share his Recipe Book " Plenty More " to  a lucky Garlicious Grown fan, and we would love your Recipes too ! Please send a photo of your favourite Black Garlic creation, even if that is your favourite smashed Avo, or barbecue dish to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pg/GarliciousGrown/about/
TO WIN  "Plenty More" ! Drawn 31st August 2018. 

Rhys Jones PwC Perth Executive Chef has shared his wonderful recipe for black garlic puree with us (thanks Rhys). He shows it served with Pork Belly and Peas at a recent lunch. Rhys is one of our creative chef customers who make the most of beautiful produce. 

Black garlic puree 
125 gm black garlic flesh 
200 gm of fresh peeled pear slices 
100 gm of water
4 gm of agar agar 
4 gm of sea salt 
15 gm of squid ink 
10 gm of chardonnay vinegar 

Place all ingredients into a sous vide bag and seal then cook on 100c 1 hour.
Then puree in a high powered blender (I use a vita prep).
Set in a plastic container in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
Then blend again adding a little boiling water to adjust the consistency and check seasoning.

We always thought (hoped?) we were trendy but didn't realise we were so on trend with food predictions for 2018. Apparently the National Restaurant Association in the US recently surveyed 700 American Culinary Federation members and asked them to rate 161 items as a “hot trend,” “yesterday’s news,” or “perennial favorite” on menus in 2018. They then listed the top 20 food trends expected to be hot in 2018.  What was the up-shot?

"Goth" food is food that is dyed with squid ink or activated charcoal. Coconut shells are incinerated to black dust to colour a range of foods from pasta to pizza to icecream, supposedly adding to detox attributes. Delaware online talks of this being "in response to all that color" following a year of rainbow coloured foods. Saw this fabulous cocktail suggestion based on black garlic and mirin true to the Goth theme (in 225 Magazine):
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We tick the trend boxes by being a:

• Natural ingredient adorning 'clean' menus
• Veggie-centric/vegetable-forward cuisine  where fresh produce is star of the dish
• Locally sourced produce
• Simple, back to basics ingredient
• Farm/estate-branded item

Source: The National Restaurant Association

Happy New Year for 2018 - here's to a healthy happy year!

 Saw this great recipe from Mary (the Goodie Godmother see on our uses of black garlic board) and decided to whip it up for the football grand final weekend. A thumbs up with the boys, easy and healthy, vegan and gluten free. Get into it.

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz (439 g) can Chickpeas
• 3 cloves Garlicious Grown Black Garlic
• 2 tbsp Lemon juice, fresh
• 2 tbsp Tahini
• 1/2 tsp Salt

• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1/4 tsp Cumin, ground

​Method - Blend in a food processor. Serve and enjoy!
Thanks - see more at Mary's page

Garlicious® Grown Black Garlic and Rosemary Powder Shortbread (courtesy of Tim Browne Executive Chef Royal Agricultural Society NSW)

This fabulous canape was served at the President's Medal dinner this week and is kindly shared by Tim Browne. In the photo the shortbread is topped with JBS Riverina Angus sirloin and Jewel Onion jam - yum!

115g salted butter room temperature
85g grated parmesan cheese
160g plain flour
2g cracked black pepper
20ml water
20g black garlic and rosemary powder
Cream butter until creamy. Add the Garlicious® Grown black garlic and rosemary powder, parmesan, pepper, flour and water until it forms a dough. Roll in to logs and set in fridge. Slice into rings and bake in oven at 160C for 8-10 min or until golden.

​Thanks Tim!                            

Looking forward to being in 'The Stables' a new initiative of the RAS at the Royal Easter Show. The lovely stables building will be transformed into a foodie paradise, with pop up restaurants bars and medal winning products. We will be there Easter Sunday 16th April and Easter Monday 17th April - please come and say hello.

All show fortnight, our gold medal winning rosemary and black garlic powder will be served in the Charley Restaurant on a "gold medal bread board" designed by Tim Browne Executive chef Sydney Royal. You can see the terrific products here:
 

• Brasserie Bread Flinders Ranges Sprouted Wheat Sourdough (Champion 2017)
• Cobram Estate Ultra-premium Hojiblanca Extra Virgin Olive oil (Champion 2016)
• Garlicious® Grown Rosemary and Black Garlic powder infused butter (Gold 2016)

 

Recent MKR standout dish - looks like great flavour combos - try it out! Interesting that the recipe calls for simmering the black garlic first - to us this implies the particular black garlic chosen was overprocessed and dry, commonly seen with inferior cheaper supplies. No worries with Garlicious Grown, just stir straight into the polenta. See more here 
Ingredients

• 4 x 200g swordfish steaks
• 2 tbs olive oil

TEQUILA CAPER SAUCE

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 eschallot, finely chopped
• 4 tbs baby capers, rinsed
• 180ml white tequila
• 300ml crème fraiche
• finely grated zest of 1 lime

SALSA

• 4 medium vine ripened tomatoes, seeded, diced
• ½ small red onion, finely chopped
• ½ cup chopped coriander leaves
• 2 tbs chopped parsley leaves
• 2 tsp lime juice

BLACK GARLIC POLENTA

• 40g butter
• 4 cloves black garlic, thinly sliced
• 750ml vegetable stock
• 125ml thickened cream
• 170g instant polenta

Method:

1. To make sauce, heat oil and butter in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Cook eschallot and garlic until soft but not coloured. Stir in capers and tequila. Simmer until evaporate d by two thirds. Stir in crème fraiche and zest. Simmer until hot. Season well. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. To make salsa, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season. Refrigerate until required.
3. To make polenta, melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Cook garlic for 3 minutes to infuse flavor. Add stock and cream. Bring to a simmer.
4. Gradually whisk in polenta, then cook, stirring, for 5-8 minutes or until polenta is very soft. Season well.
5. Brush fish all over with oil and season.
6. Heat a chargrill or frying pan over high heat. Cook fish for 1-2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a warm plate to rest for 3 minutes.
7. Serve swordfish and polenta with salsa and sauce.