Chef Ric Orlando and five recipes for garlic

Chef Ric Orlando shares five creative and very different recipes for garlic, including raw, roasted, braised, pickled, and even a black garlic caramel dessert sauce. Neo-Greek Garlic-Walnut dip is a rich creamy variation of the classic garlic-potato dip Skordalia. Affordable and easy, Roasted Garlic Bread Pudding is a great alternative to potatoes, rice or pasta on hearty meat, game and poultry dishes. While there are dozens of recipes for Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup), the rendition below is Chef Ric’s go-to favorite. Try stuffing Chef Ric’s Spicy Pickled Garlic cloves into large queen olives for the perfect martini garnish. Aged and fermented, black garlic with its pronounced sweet flavor makes the perfect addition in Chef Ric’s Black Garlic Caramel Sauce.

“I first heard of Puttanesca when I worked at Justin’s in Albany. Ric Orlando was the chef, and he gave a lusty description of this sauce of the whore that I wasn’t quite sure how to deliver to customers. A woman is out all day with her lover and she comes home and makes this sauce in five minutes, Ric said. I don’t remember making this sauce for Jack but surely I must have at least once in our sixteen years. I think it is going to come back into favor, at least for Jack, Francis and me. And especially now, since we have a lot of garlic, plus olives, capers and anchovies from Sahadi’s, when Jack and Francis took a trip to New York in January.” – Amy Halloran, Metroland author and blogger

Raw – sharp

Neo-Greek Garlic-Walnut dip

This is a variation of the classic Skordalia, or garlic-potato dip. It is rich creamy and sharp. Packed with garlic and super healthy it combines whole wheat bread crumbs, walnuts, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. POW!
Serve with crudites, pita or chilled shrimp!

Ingredients

3 slices hearty toast, white, whole wheat or oatmeal.
1/4 cup walnuts
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, or more to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Place the toast in a food processor and process into fine crumbs. With the motor running, add the walnuts and garlic and process until they are ground fine.  Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth, adding more water if the mixture seems too thick. Scrape the mixture into a bowl, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Roasted – sweet and creamy

Roasted Garlic Bread Pudding

This recipe uses tons of mellow roasted garlic. It is easy and affordable to make and is a great alternative to potatoes, rice or pasta. Serve it as a side dish to hearty meat, game or poultry dishes.

Ingredients

24 large garlic cloves, unpeeled, about 4 heads
Olive oil
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
8 cups 1-inch cubes fresh Italian or French bread
5 large eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 tablespoons bourbon or brandy (optional)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, or a slightly rounded 1/4 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, or a slightly rounded 1/4 teaspoon dried

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Snip off and discard the tip from each garlic clove. Toss the cloves with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until softened. Let cool to the touch and gently peel. Meanwhile, generously grease a 13- by 9-inch baking pan or dish with olive oil. Arrange the bread evenly in the pan. Mash the garlic cloves with a fork in a large bowl. Add the eggs and beat until slightly fluffy. Beat in the milk, cream, cheese, bourbon, if using, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown, and the middle is set but still soft. Best served hot or warm, but it can be reheated in the microwave or for a few minutes in the oven.

Braised – soft and mellow

Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup)

There are some good Garlic soup recipes out there but this one is my favorite. Garnish with plenty of chopped parsley. Parsley has chlorophyll which helps control that sweet garlic breath that many of us fear.

Ingredients

4 cups blanched, sliced almonds
16 peeled cloves of garlic, sliced into thin chips like the almonds
1 1/2 cups medium dry sherry (Amontillado is best here)
8 cups chicken or veggie stock (you may sub canned broth, cut salt in half)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 tablespoons dry
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt or to taste
Generous grinding of black pepper
1 cup heavy cream at room temperature
3 cups stale peasant bread (not whole grain or sourdough) torn in small pieces
1 cup green grapes, sliced in half

Instructions

Use a heavy bottomed pot for this recipe. Put the garlic, olive oil and almonds into the pot, turn the heat to medium and cook until the garlic and almonds are golden and smell great. Add the salt, pepper and thyme leaves and stir well. Add the sherry, turn the heat up and reduce the wine reduce by half. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and let boil moderately for 10-15 minutes. Reduce the heat on the soup again, this time to a upbeat simmer. Add the bread and break it up by pressing it with the back of a wooden spoon against the side of the pot. Add the heavy cream in a slow steam while gently stirring. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer until you are ready to serve. Garnish the soup with chopped parsley and white grapes that have been cut in half.

Pickled – tangy

Spicy Pickled Garlic

After you stock up on your annual garlic at the garlic fest, try pickling a jar or two for winter treats. You can also stuff the cloves into large queen olives and drop a few in a martini. Just sayin’.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs garlic, peeled, large cloves cut in half, about 2 cups
5 fresh hot peppers
4 cups white vinegar
1 sprig of dill or 1/2 tsp dry
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
4 tablespoons salt
1 sweet red pepper, cut in strips (Optional)

Instructions:

Combine vinegar, salt and sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil for five minutes. Add the garlic and hot peppers. Also add sweet red pepper if using. Boil another five minutes. Place a hot pepper into each sterilized jar. Add the garlic cloves to within 1″ of the top of the jar (add the sweet red pepper if using). Fill the jars with the boiling sugar/vinegar mixture to within 1/4″ of the top of the jar. Make sure the jar rims are clean and seal the jars. Let the pickled garlic rest for 2 weeks before enjoying.

Chef Ric at the Garlic Festival in Saugerties on YouTube

Garlic photo by Jane Feldman

Black Garlic Caramel Sauce

By Noah Published: October 5, 2016

Yield: 2 1/2 cups (20 Servings)
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Ready In: 50 mins

Developed in Korea, Black garlic is regular garlic that has been aged and fermented in a warm moist area for up to one month. Black Garlic is loaded with nearly twice as many disease-fighting antioxidants as raw garlic and has twice the health benefits. Black-Garlic was found to have more antibacterial properties and natural compounds like S-Allycysteine which have been proven to be a factor in cancer prevention. Buy black garlic at www.earthy.com

Ingredients

Instructions

Before you begin make sure you have the cream and butter next to the pan.
In a small pot, add the garlic and cream and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer and reduce the cream by half volume.
Strain and reserve both the cream and the garlic cloves.
Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan.
As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon.
As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring.
As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan.
Whisk until the butter has melted.
Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat.
Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate.
Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably.
This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) in size.
Whisk until caramel sauce until it is smooth.
Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then fold in the garlic.
Pour the sauce into a glass mason jar and let it cool to room temperature.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Warm before serving.

Chef Ric Orlando and five recipes for garlic