Serves 4

Ingredients

olive oil, for frying
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 sliced wholemeal bread

Heat the olive oil and garlic in a pan.
Dice the bread into very small cubes and add to the hot oil.
Cook until crisp and golden, then drain on kitchen paper
Dr. Reg Saynor

Sufficient for 2 slices

Ingredients

15 g ( 1/2 oz ) polyunsaturated margarine
1 garlic clove, crushed or garlic puree
2 slices of bread
Pre-heat the grill.
Mix the margarine thoroughly with the crushed garlic or about 10 cm ( 4 inches ) of garlic puree

from a tube.
Divide this mixture equally and spread on the 2 slices of bread.
Place under the hot grill until toasted, and serve very hot

Dr. Reg Saynor

This French garlic soup recipe has been provided by M.Lucien Merlin, a garlic grower from Arleaux in Northern France. Don’t be frightened be the amount of garlic that is used.  Garlic when boiled has a completely different and far less pungent flavour than when crushed and cooked. Boiled garlic cloves taste rather like a combination of new potato, mustard and chicken.

For four persons

Ingredients
2 litres of boiling water
2 whole corms of garlic (2 ounces) broken into individual peeled cloves.
1 lb of potatoes peeled and sliced
6 oz peeled carrots cut into slices
Butter / cream / Gruyerre Cheese
Salt and black pepper

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Boil the water then add the garlic cloves, carrots and potatoes.
Simmer until the potatoes have broken down and the soup is beginning to thicken.
Season to taste and then blend in a little butter, cream or Gruyerre cheese. Best with hot crusty rolls.

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 large green pepper
1/2 cup full cream milk
2 cloves of garlic (pressed)
Level teaspoon of mixed herbs
Good quality cooking oil.
Salt and Pepper.

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Whisk the eggs thoroughly with the milk and the mixed herbs.

Chops the green pepper into 1 cm x 1 cm pieces and press the garlic cloves. Heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan. When the oil begins to become agitated, pour in the egg and herb mixture, turning down the heat to a medium level. When the omelette base is beginning to set, sprinkle the peppers and garlic evenly over the still uncooked surface.
Continue to cook until the omelette is set. Season the top with salt and black pepper, fold over and serve.
Best with a tomato and basil salad.

Ingredients

6 large flat capped mushrooms (wiped with a damp tissue and with stalks removed level with the gills).

4 rashers of rindless streaky bacon cut into 1 cm square pieces.

4 medium cloves of garlic (pressed).

1 shallot very finely chopped.

Olive oil.

Few sprigs of parsley chopped very finely.

A leaf or two of oregano or sweet basil finely chopped.

Salt and pepper to taste.

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Heat the oil in a non-stick saucepan and when simmering add the bacon pieces together with the shallots and garlic.

Cook until beginning to brown. Remove from heat and place on one side. Meanwhile, brush the mushrooms (caps and gills) with olive oil and place under a medium grill.

Grill the cap top first for a few minutes and then turn the caps over gently soften the gill sides. Ones softening has started (circa 3 – 4 minutes) remove from grill and stand on a warm plate.

Drain the bacon mixture and then heap into the mushrooms caps covering the gills completely. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, basil or parsley over the bacon mixture and season lightly with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Replace under the grill on high for one minute. Serve immediately with hot crusty bread.

Ingredients:
1 French stick loaf ( baguette) cut lengthways into four equal pieces.
Then cut open each piece leaving a hinge.
8 rashers of rindless streaky bacon.
2 medium cloves of garlic pressed.
2 large tomatoes ( Marmande or beefsteak preferably )
Cut into thin slices and dressed with a few drops of malt vinegar.
a few drops of malt vinegar.
2 flat cap mushrooms chopped into 1 cm x 1 cm pieces.
Olive oil.
Butter
Salt and black pepper to taste.

Using a non- stick pan heat the oil. When simmering add the garlic and fry for two or three minutes until beginning to brown. Add the bacon and cook until nearly brown on both sides. Turn down the heat and add the mushrooms, simmering gently until softened.
Open the baguette pieces and butter both surfaces. Lay the bacon slices in the roll, drain the mushrooms and spread over the bacon, then top with tomato slices. Finally season to taste with salt and pepper.
Delicious and very moresome.

You will need two or three medium cloves of garlic; 2 tablespoonfuls of best quality olive oil and one French stick (baguette).
Crush the garlic and place in a cup. Add the olive oil and stir well and leave to stand to allow the oil to take up the full garlic flavours. Partially slice the loaf (by not cutting through the loaf completely just leaving the bottom of the slices still joined together) – into 3/4 inch thick slices. Then gently prise apart each slice still leaving them joined together – and coat both sides of each slice with the garlic and oil mixture. You can add sprinkling of salt to each slice at the same time if you wish.
Then carefully wrap the load in foil and place in an oven pre-heated to 180° C ( 160 ° C if fan heated ) and bake for around 10 minutes.
To serve, unwrap the loaf – separate the slices and grill quickly for two or three minutes to slightly brown each side. Eat whilst still piping hot. You may substitute melted butter for olive oil if you wish, but we suggest that olive oil is a much healthier option.

Baked Beans with Garlic
Just add a crushed clove of garlic to the beans and a squirt of tomato puree or tomato ketchup – stir and cook as normal.
Adding a few crushed or chopped leaves of sweet basil makes this even more delicious.

Garlic with Eggy Bread (Gypsy Toast)
Whisk one egg and one crushed clove of garlic – add a little salt and black pepper. Toast two slices of bread on one side only. Brush the egg and garlic mixture on the untoasted side and cook under a high grill until golden.

French Rarebit
Toast two slices of bread on one side only. Butter the untoasted side and sprinkle with one clove of pressed garlic as evenly as possible. Top with thin cheese slices to completely cover the bread. Cook under the grill until golden brown and bubbling. Season with black pepper and salt. ( Great with HP sauce!).

To obtain the maximum flavour potential from your freshly peeled garlic cloves you should always use a garlic press.
Chopping (even very finely) will not liberate all of the goodness nor the flavour. It is important to crush every cell in your garlic cloves to ensure the optimum availability of the flavour – making (and healthful) sulphur elements. The objective of crushing your garlic is to bring together two substances contained separately in every cell of the garlic clove.
These are called alliin (which contains all of garlic sulphurs) and allinase which converts the alliin on contact into allicin. The pungent garlic aroma which first arises when you crush garlic is the signal that you created allicin.
Your crushed garlic with its newly – created allicin is now ready for the pot – ready to make a host of different ” garlicky” flavour notes- and ready – if used wisely to provide real health benefits in you daily fare.