Garlic crack

This weekend, when we were on a boat having an epic picnic in Seattle, our friend brought forth a jar of oily brown spread. It did not look delicious, but oh, let me tell you, IT WAS. Whole garlic cloves, simmered in olive oil until broken down, caramelized with a bit of sugar, made savory with salt and vinegar. We ate a jar of it in one afternoon. And that is why our friend calls it garlic crack. 

Monday night, two days after our first garlic crack fix, we made it at home using this recipe. Bubbling on the stove, the vinegar-garlic fumes were so strong they made my eyes water and I had to open the back door, but it was 100% worth it. I used pre-peeled garlic for convenience, and cooked the garlic down a bit more than is shown in the recipe post, so that only some of the cloves were still intact. And I didn’t preserve it, as called for in the recipe; it won’t last long enough in our house to necessitate canning.

So far I’ve eaten garlic crack on toast, mixed into a brussel sprout hash, on poached eggs, dribbled into a sweet potato soup, and in a warm kale salad. But I’m not nearly done. I’ve got big plans, people, big plans.

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