Glorious Garlic

Judging Garlic - Now that the garlic has been harvested I have been given the task of sampling each of the different varieties, cataloging their traits, and determining which ones we want to plant again.

They have not yet completed the drying process and are hanging in the garden shed.  I've been using the fresh garlic in my cooking, but haven't really paid much attention to what type it was.  Unlike the dried garlic we are used to, fresh is crisp and juicy inside.  It doesn't peel quite as easily since it has not fully dried, but the aroma and taste are wonderful.

Yesterday I decided to try the Purple Italian Easy Peel.  As you can see from the photo, the skin is a beautiful light purple color.  The cloves are a nice workable size, large, but not oversized.  I decided to simply roast this head of garlic with some fresh herbs from my garden.  I cut the head in half, horizontally, drizzled it with a little olive oil, sprinkled it with a touch of sea salt, then wrapped it in foil and baked it at 425F for about 35 minutes. The aroma was out of this world.  When the garlic was done I served it with fresh Rosemary Bread for a delightful appetizer.  We simply used a small knife to lift out the soft fragrant cloves and spread them on the bread.  So easy, and so good.