Thursday, February 17, 2011

Garlic, je t'aime

All this St Valentine talk reminds me of the first time I met my future father-in-law. Future priest and I were dating seriously (basically engaged except he hadn't met my family yet), and we went to visit his parents. My future mother-in-law served a delicious meal, as usual. After the soup, she served pork loin, mashed potatoes and more veggies. A delicious-smelling garlic sauce was in a bowl at the middle of the table. My boyfriend (funny to call him that) took a large spoonful of the sauce. I felt the table rattle and he had to stifle an 'OUCH'- my future father-in-law had kicked my boyfriend under the table. He assumed I wouldn't be kissing his son if his son ate garlic. We laughed, and I took a big spoonful of the sauce, too. It has been a staple on our menu ever since and required whenever we eat pork. My girls put it on their mashed potatoes...here's the recipe- it is very simple, but please use fresh garlic- nothing pre-minced!

Classic Garlic Sauce 
Crush 1 large head of garlic and place in either wooden or ceramic bowl. Cover with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of mild paprika over garlic mixture. Mash with a wooden pestle or plastic spoon (metal might react). Add 2 tablespoons of water or white wine. Blend.

Garlic Sauce with Sour Cream
Crush 1 large head of garlic and place in either wooden or ceramic bowl. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of freshly minced parsley over garlic mixture. Mash with a wooden pestle or plastic spoon. Add 3 or 4 spoons of sour cream and blend.

12 comments:

  1. What a cute memory to have. I love garlic, but my hubby can always tell when I've had it and it's certainly not his favorite. The sauce sounds delicious though!

    ReplyDelete
  2. YUM. Totally making this tonight!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My honey loves garlic, so this is going on my to-make list!

    ReplyDelete
  4. OH, that sounds good. Do you use Hungarian Paprika?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Elizabeth- of course! Try it with mild first- then if you want even more kick try a hotter paprika

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love and adore garlic. Almost inordinately. I could brown fresh chopped garlic and onion in a little bit of butter with a tbsp or so of white wine and eat it plain, instead of using it as a base. Thankfully my beau is Brazilian and grew up eating garlic almost as much as I did. This sauce is going in my file!! Can't wait to try it once the dorm kitchen is free!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a great story. We're a pretty big garlic family so this goes on my list for sure. Thanks for sharing your memory as well as this recipe. And thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. I love using recipes (like this one). It introduces me to all kinds of new things.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We had this tonight. So yummy! I highly recommend it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sweet story and since I love garlic I'll have to try it. Kissing someone with garlic breath has never really bothered me.

    ReplyDelete

thanks for commenting! (comments on old posts are moderated)