SnackBar
I bought a pound of shiny brown chestnuts, all ready to inaugurate the seasonal spirit of gluttony by making a batch of marronsglacés. I set about weighing out the small snowy mountain of sugar,only to remember that I’m not all that crazy about syrupy chestnuts. These chestnuts were so naturally sweet and firm that I couldn’t bear to candy them. With the change of heart,they went into a pot of slow-braised short-ribs as a sublime substitute for fingerling potatoes instead. Now what? I was still itching to candy something, so naturally, I reached for the garlic.
Garlic is just about the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen as it can be put through any cooking process to great result. Mash it raw and emulsify with olive oil to get aioli; simmer it to make stock; crush it to make a marinade; pickle it to make a snack;fry it to yield crispy chips and pungent oil. Beyond the intense spiciness of raw garlic lies an innate sweetness that comes forward when it is heated. Roasted garlic is one of the mellowest morsel of pure flavor you can experience.
The candied garlic, the newly minted ail glacé, is created from a base of roasted garlic. Instead of roasting the head of garlic whole, separate the cloves and trim the base to maintain their petal-like shape (anything with the word candy in its name should at least try to be neat and dainty). Coat the cloves in olive oil before wrapping it all up in a foil packet. Place the packet in a 350°F oven and roast for about 15 minutes. When the cloves are a deep gold, they are at their best. Let cool and carefully peel the cloves. They are now good enough to eat as is or mashed onto toast, but with time to kill and fingers to burn, why not gild the lily and glaze the garlic.
Glazing the roasted garlic willcreate a thin coating sugar that will crunch and shatter before giving way to the creamy interior. Heat half a cup of sugar with a quarter cup of water till hard-ball stage (250°F to 265°F). Dip each peeled cloves in the hot sugar with a toothpick and let cool on parchment paper. Use as garnish for grilled meats, savory pies, salads, or pop it like candy.
If you have any comments, suggestions, questions, or other tasty tidbits, contact DuanDuan at SnackBar.Kitchen@gmail.com.
