Excuse me for a second while I waltz down a garlic-laden memory lane.
I used to live in New London, CT. Right down the street there was this bar/restaraunt called “Hughie’s”. This place was a shrine for garlic lovers. Nothing fancy or posh. Half the place was a bar where you could get the coldest mug of beer in town, the other half was a restaraunt where you left all pretensions at the door. The decor was sports memorabilia, mostly boxing, as the owner’s father used to be a professional boxer in the days of yore. The menus were shaped like boxing gloves and contained the promise/warning “All items on the menu are seasoned with garlic unless otherwise requested.”
The food was surreal, the shrimp scampi would make you weep with joy. The signature dish however was the “Love Salad”. I drool just thinking of it. Picture a large old-fashioned wooden salad bowl. Fill it with ice-cold iceburg lettuce. Top it with tomatoes, slices of wonderful salami, provolove cheese, fresh cracked pepper, and then top it off with a dressing that defies a proper tribute. It was a simple vinegraitte, infused, nay saturated with garlic. Serve it with a basket of the most amazing galric bread, bread where the garlic covered it like corn on a Nebraska plain. Truly a maginficent meal. After a trip to Hughie’s, garlic would be coming out of your pores for days.
Sadly, the place is no more (maybe). Pfizer built a huge office park down the road and Hughie’s location was needed for traffic improvement. He held out for a while, but eventually decided to sell and retire. There may be a glimmer of hope though. It was announced recently that Hughie will be reopening in a new location about two blocks away. I can’t wait.
I want Peyton Manning’s bruschetta recipe… that looked pretty damn tasty!
I sprinkle grated Romano on Melba toast and broil lightly. Then I’ll add garlic sauted in butter on top and cover with minced olives and tomatoes dripping with olive oil.
Huzzah huzzah, it’ll make a chihuahua break his chain.
So the Devil is one-sixteenth Swedish? Very sobering news indeed.
pcubed, Hughie’s sounds like it was my kinda place. If you ever hear of it opening again, let me know so I can make a pilgrimage.
And yeah, most of what is passed off as garlic bread in restaurants doesn’t even deserve to think about deserving the name. They probably got a big ol’ tub of Lawry’s back there or something.
Garlic is good, but I don’t understand the people who say “there’s no such thing as too much garlic.” Personally, I think garlic should augment or enhance the taste of food, not be the taste.
It is like saying there is no such think as too much salt. Or too much pepper. Or too much oregano.
That said, the Stinking Rose in San Francisco is no where near as garlicky as advertised (plus, the food is only slightly better than T.G.I.Fridays or Olive Garden).
Well, if you are in the area ever, you could try Johnny Garlic’s (I know that there is one in Santa Rosa, CA, but I think that there are other locations as well.) I, personally, have never been there, but I have been told by some very reliable sources that it is quite good. The only thing that has kept ME from trying it myself is the lack of funds. (I am a poor college student, so I don’t eat out much.)
Take four big bunches of garlic- fist sized if you can find them- put in glass baking dish. Cover with College Inn chicken broth (or good homemade chicken stock). Bake at 350-375 until garlic begins to liquify- usually 30 min. but YMMV.
Drain balance of stock. Use liquified garlic on bread like butter. Invite me over for some.
b.
[sub]Looking for the right mixture of chocolate to make chocolate covered garlic.[/sub]
one big fat loaf of french bread, the FAT ones not that skinny crap.
4 sundried tomatoe halves (the kind in olive oil)
one cup (more or less, probably more) olive oil
8-12 cloves garlic.
put everything but the bread in a blender and hit liquify.
pour into a small bowl, slice the bread in half lengthwise and apply with a brush.
pop it in an oven on bake for a few then switch to broil and PAY ATTETION olive oil will burn in no time flat.
makes some damn good bread.
My first instinct upon reading this thread was too say, “You can never have too much garlic”, but you’re right. It should just enhance what’s already there.
The roasted garlic used as a spread is wonderful, very subtle, but full of flavor. It’s very different from that raw garlicky flavor.
Making garlic bread this way (as suggested by Lemur and Billy Rubin) is positively orgasmic.
In downtown Cincinatti there is an Italian restaraunt called Roma’s. Their garlic bread literally has whole pieces of garlic atop it in addition to the thick layer of finely ground garlic which covers the entire piece of bread. The galic is so strong that you pass out from your own breath after one bite. After regaining consciousness, you’ll take another bite anyway cause it’s so tasty. Then you’ll pass out for a longer period.
I have not been to the Gilkroy (CA Garlic Festival but I am determined to make there one day. Just looking at this website turns me into Homer Simson …[drool]aaggggghh, gar-lic[/drool]
I love garlic. I love it on bread, I love it on pasta, I really love it on bread. I am also allergic to garlic. If I’m not scratching like a demon, it doesn’t have enough garlic.
