So you bought Black Garlic... What do you do now?
In January this year I started selling peeled black garlic cloves in 30g and 100g containers to get ready for the Guelph organic conference. I have always sold whole black garlic bulbs and black garlic powder, but the already peeled option was a huge hit. For all the fans of black garlic they usually have an idea what and how to use it and have their own favourite recipe on hand. But for all the other foodies out there ready to experiment...this is for you.
This week I’m going to just stick to my most popular garlic product, and list a couple of amazing ways myself and fans are using Pure Music Garlic’s black garlic powder in everyday cooking or special occasions. Please don’t get me wrong, nothing will ever beat the great taste of fresh black garlic; but I believe it’s because of the convenience of just grabbing a beautiful jar of black powder and sprinkling some umami fairy dust on just about everything that makes it such a hit. And of course not to mention that once powdered the chocolate undertones that came out to play on your tongue are SO good.
Besides being asked what do I do with it, I also get a question of “why is it hard to shake out?” As all my family, friends and fans of Pure Music Garlic know, absolutely no preservatives are added to any of my products. The products have nothing except certified organic garlic or other organic ingredient listed on the product labels. This also includes any anti-caking agents such as cellulose powder or corn starch. Hence the name “pure music garlic”. If the garlic is dehydrated enough I have never had a problem with any of my products and continue to have that same great taste for well over a year, but who keeps garlic powder around that long. Unfortunately, this is not always the case of my black garlic powder. After I run it through my dry grain vita mix blender and sift, for some reason it will form a crust on top; most likely due to the natural sugar level in the process of making black garlic itself but I’m not a scientist so please don’t quote me. If you have ever come to a trade show or garlic festival, or when I’m going a seminar on black garlic I demonstrate that if you lightly stir the inside a jar with the end of a spoon, the tasty powder goes back to soft and easy to use again and again.
Now of course you are ready to start using using your own jar of black garlic powder and you are wondering how? The rule of thumb is that black garlic is meant to enhance a dish and not overwhelm it with different flavours, I suggest starting off small and going from there. Love kettle cooked popcorn but too sweet? Eliminate the salt and sugar altogether and pop your popcorn with coconut oil on the stove and then lightly sprinkle with black garlic powder. I have a neighbour who loves to cook steak and her favourite way is to grill steak for 3 minutes on both sides and then sprinkle with black garlic powder and add melted butter on top. Yummy! This winter I made an incredible black garlic mayo for homemade hamburgers, usually I would have taken 2 cloves to make a paste, but I decided to use the powder instead. Wow! It might look like brown mayo but the taste is incredible, virtually put that on anything that could use a savoury taste, try it on the best bacon and tomato sandwich you have ever had. The ratio I would use for powder = clove would be almost 1:1. Judge with your taste buds. Again, when it comes to best economic price of course whole black garlic is your best bet, but for the powder you are literally just sprinkling it onto something.
For all you know me I really love sweets, I’m not much of a baker but I certainly wouldn’t turn down a buttertart. This is where my black garlic powder really becomes useful. Toast with your favourite local honey and lightly sprinkle Pure Music’s black garlic powder on top of that is not only delicious but healthy for you too. I have to give a huge shout out to a local girl who has grown up to become a beautiful and enterprising young woman and that is Taylor Campbell, her Royal-T honey is by far the best I’ve ever had. As well as living not to far from Markdale, Chapman’s ice cream has the best Dutch Chocolate frozen yogurt and my second favourite it their Tahitian Vanilla Bean ice cream; now sprinkle a little black garlic powder on a scoop. Again umami fairy dust! I did recently bake for Valentine’s Day this year and took in quite a few specialty orders for my “black velvet cupcakes” with my homemade cream cheese icing. They were red velvet cupcakes filled with small pieces of fresh black garlic and then sprinkled with black garlic powder. They made a welcome distraction for another long staff meeting and would definitely was asked to bring them in again.
Again I have probably wrote too much for a blog as my husband says but I can’t seem to help it when it comes to something I am passionate about. Please stay tuned to next week when I write a couple of recipes and ways to cook with whole black garlic.
Always,
Lorraine