because Costco of course!
We’ve had this garlic in the fridge for about a month and besides roasting about a cup and taking out a few cloves to cook with I haven’t done much with it and was getting a little antsy about spoilage and food-waste!
My thought when purchasing 3lb of garlic was that I wanted to make honey-fermented garlic and toum–a Lebanese garlic sauce. I’m most familiar with Karam’s garlic sauce that we get at the co-op and wanted to try making it myself.
Here we are a few weeks into our own self-quarantine (WA ‘stay at home and stay healthy’ order signed yesterday) and we have no lemons! 😂 So no toum-making for me. That’s okay, there’s plenty of other options when it comes to 3lb of garlic.
First on my list and the easiest to make is lacto-fermented garlic. I’ve been fermenting for 8 years and never made this. I can’t believe it either!
I filled the jars with garlic and probably filled them too full as I tend to do. I then mixed up a salt water brine of 3 cups of filtered water to 3 tablespoons non-iodized salt and poured it over the tops. I was left with about 1/4 cup so not too bad on my estimation.
Placed a glass weight in each jar and covered it with pickling tops. I’ve since written today’s date on the jars with Sharpie so I know when to start checking.
There are many benefits to fermenting food but sometimes it’s also about delaying the decision of how you’re going to eat the food too. I’m saving it from spoiling but also putting off eating it just yet—in a safe way.
Next up was honey-fermented garlic. Another simple process, add garlic cloves to a mason jar, cover with honey (I used local Woodland Honey), use a glass fermenting weight to keep the garlic below the honey, and cover it with a pickling lid.
The small jar on the end is for the fridge and normal cooking.
Have you bought similar garlic? and What did you do with it?