More pickling because it seems I have caught the pickling bug! I’ve moved on to something else to pickle. It's garlic and I call my recipe Red Pickled Garlic. Those who have read my previous recipes I laid out some of the principles I work by in my recipe for Crunchy Hot Beets. One of those principles is to reuse something I’ve already made previously in concocting some new edible dish. Well I at least hope that turns out edible, though having started cooking when I was first taught to make crepes by my father when I was nine years old, I’ve had about 49 years to figure out what works and what doesn’t. If you haven't figured out why I call this recipe Red Pickled Garlic, you soon will.
Ingredients
Garlic - between eight and ten cloves, it is dependent on their size;
Between 200-300 ml of the remaining pickling fluid from Crunchy Hot Beets, see that recipe to find out what’s in the pickling fluid, though making a fluid that will give you red garlic, is one extra step as you will have to clean and cook the beets in your pickling fluid
Pepper corns – one (1) teaspoon.
Vessel
One 250 ml preserve jar with lid
Putting it Together
The 250 ml preserve jar will be your basic measure to determine how much garlic you will need.
To estimate how many cloves you will need before you peel and quarter your cloves, separate the cloves from the bulb and place them one at a time into your vessel of garlic you will want to leave about 1/2 cm to the top of your vessel so you will be able to complete submerge the garlic quarters in the pickling fluid. If you have not saved the fluid used to make the Crunchy Hot Beets, you can still pickle your garlic, though you won’t end up with red garlic quarters, they will simply be white. When making that pickling fluid, it would be your option as to whether you want to include any crushed dry chili peppers.
While you are peeling and quartering your garlic cloves, you could start heating your pickling fluid in a small pot of sauce pan. Over the years, particularly when preparing dinner for friends I’ve come to understand that timing things well, is sometimes critical to the end result, though in this case it is just a matter of practicality.
As you get about three quarters of cleaning and quartering your cloves, bring the fluid you saved, along with the peppercorns to a boil. (If you had to make your picking fluid from scratch the whole process will take longer – this is one of the reasons I like to save things that can be reused)
Once you’ve peeled and quartered your cloves of garlic, place them in heat tolerant mixing bowl or measuring cup.
When your fluid comes to a boil you are going to pour it over your quartered cloves of garlic. Let the mixture stand until it comes down to room temperature.
Pass the mixture through a strainer while saving the fluid in another container. Spoon the garlic and peppercorns, and possible any pieces of the chili papers that are still around into your 250 ml preserve jar. Top the solids off with the saved fluid. Seal the tops and but your jar in the refrigerator for three to five days.
Uses
My original intent for picking garlic was to either add to salads or stir fried vegetables to add a little bite. Or to just have something as a condiment for things like beef, chicken, fish or pork. Though being Ukrainian, I’m accustomed to garlic and sometimes it’s just something tasty to nibble on, though garlic is a little milder when pickled.
Beautiful Red Pickled Garlic With Peppercorns
Benefits
Aside from really giving you unpleasant breath, pickled garlic is much more mellow than raw garlic; however, some of the positive health benefits may also be reduced when the garlic is cooked in the pickling fluid, given we know that there is loss of vitamins and minerals in the cooking of other vegetables.
Here are some of health benefits of raw garlic. Health Line lists eleven benefits, touching on many different aspects of human health. Their list is as follows:
Garlic Contains Compounds With Potent Medicinal Properties;
Garlic Is Highly Nutritious But Has Very Few Calories;
Garlic Can Combat Sickness, Including the Common Cold;
The Active Compounds in Garlic Can Reduce Blood Pressure;
Garlic Improves Cholesterol Levels, Which May Lower the Risk of Heart Disease;
Garlic Contains Antioxidants That May Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia;
Garlic May Help You Live Longer;
Athletic Performance Might Be Improved With Garlic Supplements;
Eating Garlic May Help Detoxify Heavy Metals in the Body;
Garlic May Improve Bone Health;
Garlic Is Easy to Include in Your Diet and Tastes Absolutely Delicious.
Similarly, Medical News Today also has a list, though it lists only ten health benefits for garlic; however, it includes more specific information regarding research that has been conducted regarding the health benefits of garlic. As I librarian/information specialist by training I found the piece in Medical News Today to be more informative. You can check it out here.
Vasyl Pawlowsky
