Minced Garlic

From time to time, we have been garlic snobs. One year, with the help of a friend, we even planted and grew our own garlic. It was delicious. But it took work. We still use fresh garlic sometimes, such as when I make and bottle pizza sauce every summer. But we have embraced so many garlic-intensive dishes that we've seen the light: we now stock minced garlic from (where else?) Costco.

We aren't at all attached to this brand, and I know that you can buy smaller containers at your average grocery store. Truth be told, we discarded a number of containers of this garlic before they were completely consumed because we felt that they had passed their prime. But in recent months we have been polishing it off without a problem.

This works really well for garlic-intensive recipes as you might find in Vietnamese food (see here and here). We also use it for recipes requiring a much smaller amount. We love being able to use garlic to our hearts' delight without all that peeling and crushing.

Cooked Carrots

For the past several years we have been on a quest to effectively cook carrots. We've eaten delectable carrots at parties, restaurants and family gatherings. We've eaten them glazed. We've eaten them buttered. We've tried any number of recipes that have fallen just a little bit short of our dream.

This weekend I discovered the secret of perfect cooked carrots. Perhaps all of you already know these secrets, but in case you don't, I'll let you in:

1. Cook the carrots in a little bit of chicken broth and
2. Don't cook them for very long.

The children were singing and dancing as they ate these carrots, even the ones who habitually avoid vegetables. Here's the complete recipe:

Cooked Carrots
1 pound peeled, sliced carrots (as you can see, I resorted to baby carrots)
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar (I used brown sugar, but I'm sure white sugar would also work)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the carrots in a sauce pan with the chicken stock and salt over medium heat until tender crisp. You only need about 7 or 8 minutes. You should be able to stab them with a fork, but just barely.

Drain off the chicken stock. Add the butter and sugar and simmer until the carrots are lightly glazed.

Note: I haven't tried the carrots without the sugar yet, but I'm betting that they would be delicious simply buttered after they have been cooked in the chicken broth.

Rice Pilaf

We arrived home from a vacation at the beach late Saturday night. I went through most of the day Sunday believing that we had ten pounds of russet potatoes in our pantry that would make a perfect baked potato complement to our roast chicken dinner (no, not even our family goes through an entire 10 pounds at one sitting). When I came to the realization that we in fact lacked potatoes, I made a double batch of this rice pilaf. We've used this recipe for the past several  years. It's a family favorite, and goes well with chicken, fish, or almost any other kind of meat. It dresses up the rice just enough to make it a standalone side dish.

I think the original recipe calls for either orzo pasta or spaghetti broken into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch lengths. Someday I will use orzo; it's prettier than broken spaghetti, but we never have it on hand. We always have spaghetti, and Jenny and Anna are well trained in the art of breaking it into tiny pieces.

Rice Pilaf

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup orzo pasta or spaghetti broken into small pieces

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup long grain rice

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Add the onion and saute until it is clear. Add the pasta and cook with the onions and butter on medium heat until the pasta is evenly browned. Stir in the rice and continue cooking until the grains look clear. Add the chicken broth, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to its lowest setting and continue cooking, covered, for 30 minutes or until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Place two paper towels beneath the lid and let the rice cook on low heat for another 15 minutes.