Garlic has quite a few health benefits, especially for the heart. It's an antioxidant, lowers bad cholesterol while raising good cholesterol and can thin the blood to help prevent clotting and help lower blood pressure. It's also believed that garlic can help keep the aorta flexible. There are many other possible benefits to a healthy lifestyle, especially for the heart, but all of them go out the window if it isn't prepared and/or cooked correctly.
Instructions
Cooking Garlic
1. Select the best. When picking out the best garlic to use, there are a couple of things to consider. First of all, make sure you buy regular garlic and not the larger "elephant garlic." Elephant garlic tastes different and doesn't have the same qualities as regular garlic. If it's started to sprout, it's probably too old and hasn't been dried or stored properly. Garlic that's too old will also easily crumble with only the slightest pressure. Organic garlic is the best, but just buy the best garlic you can afford.
2. Separate the cloves. Whole, roasted garlic doesn't have quite the same health benefits that crushed or chopped garlic possesses. So the first thing you need to do is separate the bulbs into the individual cloves. It's easy. Just place the bulb on a hard, flat surface and gently, but firmly, press down on the top of it with the heal of the hand. Don't press straight down, but direct the pressure at a bit of an angle so the skin of the cloves separates and the cloves fall apart.
3. Peel the clove. The peel is thin and papery. Lay the clove on its flat side. Gently tap it with the flat side of a knife until the skin loosens. You can use your fingers at that point to pull the skin off the clove.
4. Chop or crush the clove. Usually, a recipe will call for a certain number of cloves and, since cloves vary in size, the actual amount will vary. As you get used to cooking with garlic, you'll get better at figuring out how much garlic you want to add. Chop the clove with a knife, just like you would any other vegetable. You can crush the clove using the flat side of the knife. Keep in mind that the finer it's chopped or crushed, the stronger the flavor will be.
5. Let it sit. This is the part of the process that a lot of people don't know about or forget. Let the chopped or crushed garlic sit for about 10 minutes before adding it to your food. The substances believed to have the most benefits (allicin and some sulfur compounds) are produced after the cells have been damaged and some chemical process takes place.
6. Add the garlic at the end of the cook time. When garlic has been cooked longer than 10 minutes, most of the health benefits are gone. (Microwaving completely removes any medicinal value immediately.) You can even add garlic to the meal after the food has been cooked.
Tags: flat side, health benefits, been cooked, best garlic, chopped crushed