Have you been to the Toronto Garlic Festival? (If not you can mark your calendar for Sept. 25, 2011). With over 9000 restaurants, it’s just natural for Toronto to host a garlic festival. To quote Alice May Brock “Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.”
I love garlic. I was so happy to know that it not only tastes good, but it’s good for your health too! Hipprocrates knew that garlic was good, and listed it as one of his special treatments. Modern scientists have discovered that garlic has natural blood thinning properties, can help lower blood pressure, anti-oxident properties that can contribute to your ‘good’ cholesterol, and can even prevent and/or cure some fungus, bacterial, and yeast infections. Wow!
I can hear you now, “But it STINKS!”. Yes, garlic does have an odor when ingested, that may linger on your breath. This is caused by it’s high sulfur content that comes out via your lungs. Some find the odor offensive, others don’t. If you just want to take a supplement for your health, garlic is available as Kyolic (no smell, but all the benefits!)
I prefer to get my garlic the natural way, through FOOD! You’d be surprised at the food that has been flavored with garlic … do you think you’d like garlic ice cream? I’d like to share one of my favorite garlic infused recipes with you..
Nancy’s Garlic Jalapeno Potatoes
6 medium potates, peeled and cut in large chunks
1 Jalapeno pepper, cored and chopped
4 TB minced garlic
Olive Oil or Butter
Salt & Pepper
Put some olive oil or butter in the bottom of a casserole dish, just enough so the potatoes don’t stick. Sprinkle 1 TB of the garlic in the bottom of the casserole dish. Mix the potatoes, olive oil (or melted butter), jalapeno pepper and the rest of the garlic in a bowl, until the potatoes are coated well, and the peppers and garlic are well distributed. Turn into your casserole and salt and pepper well (I like sea salt). You can either put this in the microwave for about 25 minutes, or Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.