Tips and Tricks Tuesday

Today's tips and tricks is a kitchen one, again. What can I say, I like to cook and stuff!

Working with garlic

First for the peeling - simply take your clove, lay it on the counter, place your (big) knife side ways and hit with the heel of your hand to smash the garlic. You don't need to smash it to smithereens, just enough to crack it. Then simply remove the skin (it will almost fall off). If you are afraid of using your knife, take a small glass or bowl.

If a recipe calls for whole garlic, smashing it is actually ideal, it helps all those yummy flavours come out. 

Source

Here is my favourite trick: use your cheese grater to "cut" up the garlic. Use the tiny holes (typically for zest) and grate directly into your dish. This is way easier then any chopping and makes virtually no mess. I own one similar to the one pictured and use it almost exclusively for this purpose (a regular cheese grater works just fine too.)  My husband also prefers this method over pressing, as a garlic press is difficult to clean.


This trick works great for ginger too!

Next time you need some garlic try these out, you just may be impressed. :)