Garlic Green Beans

After posting the tips for Garlic, I thought I would give you a recipe to try your Garlic skills on. Tweak this recipe to your liking by adding your favorite spices, like Paprika, or different veggies. The amount of Garlic can be adjusted to your taste...just remember the two rules...low and slow, and less is more. Enjoy!


1 Pound fresh green beans
3 Tbsp butter
4 Garlic cloves, minced
Salt
Pepper

Wash and trim fresh green beans. Steam until almost tender. Set aside. In a large saute' pan, melt butter. Saute' garlic until slightly brown. Add green beans, salt and pepper to taste, sauteing until thoroughly cooked.

Cooking with Fresh Garlic!

Most people enjoy cooking with garlic, though not many cooks use fresh garlic. While powder garlic brings flavor to a recipe, cooking with fresh garlic can add a wonderful spice to fresh vegetables, sauces, and meats that powder garlic loses in the dehydration process. Knowing how to cook with fresh garlic is always helpful as many minor mistakes can leave your amazing dinner in the garbage.

Getting the Garlic Out:
Perhaps one of the first things that stops people from using fresh garlic is not knowing how to get it out of the pesky skins! It's much easier than you'd think. First, break a single clove out of the whole garlic clump. When you have a single garlic clove free, take a wide kitchen knife and lay it on its side on top of the garlic clove. With your fingers out of the way, use your fist to "punch" the knife in order to smash the clove open. This breaks the outer casing of the clove, making it easier to peel it off the actual garlic clove!

What to use Garlic in:
Fresh garlic can dress up almost anything! Fresh garlic is wonderful smashed, diced, chopped, ground or minced. Add a little flavor to your mashed potatoes by adding whole garlic cloves to the salted boiling water. Saute' minced garlic in butter before adding mushrooms and wine for a rich, spicy addition to Sauteed Mushrooms. Rub fresh garlic on toasted bread, top with cream cheese, diced chives, and diced garlic for a zesty meal starter. Use fresh garlic in a recipe that calls for powder garlic for an added punch to the dish. Just follow the simple conversion:
1 clove of garlic= 1/8 tsp powder garlic.

Now You've got it...Just Watch Out!
Fresh garlic is one of the herbs' most potent forms. Use caution! If you are not used to a lot of garlic flavor, it's ok to use just a little bit...you can always add more later. Garlic can become quickly overpowering so less is more in garlic's fresh form. Also, the most important thing to remember when cooking with garlic is to heat slowly. Fresh garlic cooks quickly and burns even faster. If you think your recipe is going to blow your dinner guests out of the water, burnt garlic will send them running! Burnt garlic has a very bitter, metal taste and ruins a great meal quicker than anything. But don't be scared! Follow two rules: less is more, and low and slow. Following these two simple rules will make cooking with fresh garlic fun and successful! Keep your eye out for more recipes with garlic coming soon!

Grilled Corn on the Cob

This recipe is simple and so tasty! My husband created this recipe to escape the hot house in the summer. Done outside on the grill, there is no reason to heat up the house on a beautiful summer day. This method can be adapted for camping as well...just cook the corn on a grate over the open flames of a campfire! Change up the recipe and try different vegetables or add chopped fresh garlic or chives!

4 ears of fresh sweet corn on the cob
4 tbsp butter, softened
Salt
Pepper
Powder Garlic
Cayenne Pepper
4 12x12 squares of Aluminum Foil

Shuck corn. Place one corn cob on one individual aluminum foil sheet. (You should have four individual sheets with one corn cob on each sheet.) Spread one tablespoon of butter on each corn cob. Sprinkle with Salt, Pepper, Garlic, and Cayenne to desired amount. Wrap aluminum foil around corn, making sure to seal edges tightly. Cook on grill 15-20 minutes.

*If you prefer to not use aluminum foil, soak corn in water until husks are moist. This will prevent burning. After this, simply follow the butter and spice directions above and place directly on grill for the same amount of time, checking routinely for burning.