Can I Eat Sprouting Garlic?

The Phenomenon of Sprouting Garlic

Many of us like to cook, and eating garlic seems to go hand in hand with healthy living. Unless you buy it in small quantities at the farmer’s market every week, you end up getting several cloves all at once. If you don’t use it for a little while, or if it’s old when you purchase it, then you’ll eventually begin to see green shoots sprouting out of the tops of some of the cloves. So what does sprouting garlic mean?

What to Make of Sprouting Garlic

Sprouts tend to be good for you to eat – alfalfa sprouts, bean sprouts and onion sprouts all have plenty of health benefits. But what about garlic? Most people tend to follow the direction of either culture or parenting when it comes to this subject. Namely, either their culture has dictated that some dishes work well with the sprouted garlic, or else you saw your mother picking the garlic sprout out before using the clove, and made your decision that way.

Is Sprouting Garlic Safe to Eat?

Some may have heard that it is unwise or unsafe to eat garlic that has begun sprouting. A bit of investigating around cooking chat rooms will show the casually interested that plenty of people have eaten it and despite the bitterness of the taste, they’ve lived to talk about it.

In my kitchen, if there is only a small amount of the green shoot growing from the garlic clove, I remove it and use the garlic like always. If the sprout is larger, or if there are blemishes in the clove, darkening, squishiness or a funky smell (beyond the normal one), then I dispose of it altogether.

Some cooks say that the sprout in the garlic clove is indigestible, and that you should remove it before using the garlic. This is easy to do. Using a paring knife, you simply cut the clove in half length-wise, and remove the shoot from the center of both sides. Some cultures around the globe use the garlic sprout in dishes, so aside from the bitterness, consider giving it a taste and decide for yourself.

If you are going to boil the garlic, then you can probably leave the sprout in tact. The process of boiling the cloves will remove the bitter taste.

What Else Can I Do With Garlic That Has Sprouted?

It never hurts to try planting the sprouting cloves, in the ground or in a pot so the green tips are just a little below the soil line. After a while, you should end up with new bulbs to use, provided you properly look after them. You can roast the entire head of garlic and make a spread, or peel and mash the cloves, freezing them for later. Or consider using the green garlic sprouts in a recipe, perhaps a stir fry with other vegetables.

Find more excellent tips on eating healthy, the environment and green living at the green blog: Green Eggs and Planet

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Matty Byloos attended Santa Clara University where he received a B.A. in English. He later attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena where he received an MFA in Painting. After teaching city college English classes for over five years, he took a position as a Project Manager and Editor for the Search Engine Marketing company called CKMG in Santa Monica, California. He exhibits his paintings with SandroniRey Gallery in Culver City and Toomey-Tourell Gallery in San Francisco.

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Herbs Brighten Up Any Boring Turkey

Turkey normally bore me to death, especially the Christmas roast turkey which leads to me cook other meats on Christmas Day. A few weeks ago however, I was treated to roast turkey and I really enjoyed it. The secret I was told, was the addition of fresh herbs, not dried herbs. I go the recipe off the family and have now written it up for others to share.

This really does make the difference between enjoying or enduring a turkey dish.

Ingredients

• 1 whole turkey, without neck and giblets
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 100 ml yoghurt
  
• 2 large lemons, juiced, lemon halves reserved
  
• 1 tablespoon plain white flour
• 1 oven roasting bag
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped marjoram
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped rosemary
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped dill
• 3 tablespoons crushed garlic
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt

Method

The oven should be preheated to oven to 35o F or 175 C. Mix the marjoram, rosemary, thyme, basil, dill, garlic and black pepper and salt and put to one side.

Lift the skin away from the turkey meat then brush the meat with olive oil mixed with the yoghurt. Pour some lemon juice over the meat and sprinkle the meat with half of the mixed herbs that was put on one side. Gently pat the skin onto the meat and shower the remaining herbs inside the turkey along with the squeezed lemons.

Put the flour into the turkey-roasting bag and give is a good shake. The turkey then should be placed into the bag and sealed. This then can be put into a deep roasting pan. Cut 6 half-inch slits in the top of the bag.

Before the turkey is roasted cut a few slits in the bag at the top then cook in the preheated oven. This should be cooking until the juices run clear. It is best to use a cooking thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh. This will take away guessing.

Remove the turkey from the oven and cover it over with a sheet of foil allowing it to cool for 20 minutes before the process of slicing the turkey takes place.

You now have a turkey with taste and excitement returns again for the roast turkey dish and not just for Christmas.

A Beautiful Beef and Herb Recipe

The flavours that some herbs give combined with other foods just are beyond description sometimes, especially is they are fresh and grown away from commercial enterprises. This recipe was taught to me from my father who was a professional Cordon Bleu Chef in one of the top London Hotels. He used to grow all his own herbs in our London garden and use those in his home cooking. These were memorable moments being brought up on these flavours, which I can still taste now. He used to get the meat from Smithfield market at 4:00 in the morning before London had woken up.

Roasted beef fillet is one of the legends of the meat genre; it needs a little bit of fat on, as it isn’t natural for beef without fat. Unfortunately many food chain companies demand all the fat cut off, if this is the case and your only source of beef get some bacon fat to use with it instead.

This is a very simple recipe that only takes forty minutes from start to finish and the combination of the meat and herbs is something else.

Ingredients:

• 2 kg fillet of beef with fat or bacon fat
• Fresh rosemary
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh oregano
• Fresh parsley
• 3 cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers
• Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Turn the oven on and preheat to 220 Celsius. Once the string of the fillet has been untied stuff the rosemary, thyme, and oregano through and under the fat making sure it is pushed all the way around. The string can then be retied to seal the stuffing firmly in the package.

Using a sharp knife, pierce slits into the fat through to the flesh of the meat and place the slices of garlic in the cuts made. The salt and pepper can now be added to finish the dish for taste.

With the fat side up, put the meat parcel into a foil covered shallow roasting tray (I always use a foil to base trays to save on washing up!) It should just big enough to encompass the meat mass.

All it needs is an initial 10 minutes baking then turn the heat down to 175 Celsius and bake for a further 20 minutes for a rare finish or 30 minutes or longer for a medium finish. This dish shouldn’t be baked beyond this time otherwise it will turn tough.

Let the dish stand 15 minutes once out of the oven then slice. Discard the herbs and string and serve hot garnished with the fresh parsley. It can also be cooled to room temperature and then be put in the fridge for servings later on or the next day.

It should be enough to serve for up to 6 people.

Note:
Ideal in sandwiches by the way!

Herbs for High Blood Pressure

An amazing fact is that the majority of the population of this world suffer from high blood pressure. A staggering 40 million of these are Americans, due the the western lifestyle and diets which is part of their culture now

With all these people that have high blood pressure less that a quarter are receiving any treatment for it and nearly 80% aren't even aware that they have high bloody pressure! Controlling high blood pressure becomes increasingly difficult the older you get and when the age of a person reaches 60 it its even harder to control.

There are herbal remedies out there that can help high blood pressure and can make a major difference with this aliment. The types of herbs that have been proven to be affective are numerous so I have just listed a few more common herbs that would benefit.

Hawthorne
As well as helping with the recovery of exhaustion hawthorn increases the blood flow giving a stronger contraction of the heart.exhaustion.


Olive leaf extract
Within the compound of the olive leaf there is a substance called oleuropein. for suffers that have high cholesterol, the substance promotes oxidation therefore reducing the levels of cholesterol.

Garlic
One of the most well known herbs, garlic keeps blood from clotting and forming platelets. Hypertension and cholesterol suffers concerns are effectively elevated by using the garlic herb.


Blueberries
Quite a surprising find was the blue berry. It fights to keep down cholesterol levels and was found to be more effective than many designer drugs for reducing cholesterol levels with no side affects.

You can get all of these herbs over the counter fresh or in processed form. O just do as I do (apart from the olive leaf extract) grow your own or pick from the hedgerows.

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Garlic - The Magic Herb

Easy to Grow and Cheap to Buy

Garlic has to be one of my favourite herbs, not just because it is easy to grow and I do, but for the many benefits it has. It is a relatively cheap food to buy, perhaps will become increasing expensive as a health food in time to come.

A Little History

The therapeutic qualities of garlic are nothing new. 6000 years ago garlic remedies were in use in India. In China the garlic herb medicine was certainly recognised as therapeutic some 3000 years ago and more recently in the 19th Century, the scientist who discovered penicillin namely, Louis Pasteur, knew of the properties garlic had for an anti-bacterial defence.

Into the 20th Century and the practice of pressed garlic to produce liquid very effective for solders wounds from turning sceptic.

It is a fact that our health can benefit from garlic but why?

To explain this you have to look at the unpleasant taste and smell that garlic gives off. this is in fact a sulphur compound called allicin and is released when the garlic is crushed or sliced. It is this that is responsible for its therapeutic qualities.

How can it help your health?

Strokes or heart disease is an increasing problem the symptoms of these are high cholesterol and blood pressure levels. Garlic is a saviour for these and lowers both the cholesterol and blood pressure levels and the symptoms of stroke and heart diseases are reduced. It is now a scientifically proven fact that garlic has the ability to do this.

In tests there was a 12 percent reduction in cholesterol levels from people who were put through a garlic based diet over a four week period. In other word, in less than a month after a garlic based diet the chances of these people getting symptoms that cause heart attacks and strokes was reduced substantially.

Not only lower cholesterol levels are reported but also the benefits of prevention of blood clots and the regular intake of garlic tablets, showed that high blood pressure and hypertension was cut by and average of 3 percent.

Putting all these factors together the benefit of a diet inclusive of garlic would effectively reduce the chances of you having a stroke by around 35 percent and heart disease by around 23 percent. these figures are quite unprecedented.

If you add the body infection defences it provides you now have a herb that has properties for health you would normally only dream of.

You don't need to be Ill

That's right, you don't need to be ill to get the benefit of garlic and it's dream properties, as the saying goes, prevention is always better than a cure.

Bad Beath?

Lastly, accounted for in history, dictates the healthy benefits of garlic and yet many are still shy of the herb from the point of it being anti-social in view of the garlic breath syndrome. There three ways to avoid this, one, eat parsley after your garlic fix, two, there are many garlic based products that do not leave you breath smelling, you can use this option. The third isn't really worth considering, that is not to eat garlic, to me that is never going to be an option.




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