Easy Roasted Garlic & Garlic Infused Olive Oil! Check out these 2 methods

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Jean Roman

“Food, to me, is always about cooking and eating with those you love and care for.” – David Chang

This is one of our new favorites! After Dave & I experienced this at a wonderful restaurant, Mint 29 in Dearborn Michigan, we were hooked. This is so easy to do, I just had to share it with you… along with a bonus on how to make your own garlic infused olive oil.

Today I’ll show you how to roast a whole bulb, as well as cloves in olive oil to produce your own infused oil. So easy & so yum!

Watch my YouTube Video to watch me demonstrate!

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Our Favorite Recipes

Ingredients: Yields 1 roasted bulb AND ½ cup infused oil with ½ cup roasted cloves

See ingredients & step by step below for both recipes!

Watch as I show you the finished product! Watch below at my YouTube channel on how to!

Roasted Bulb~ You will need:

1 whole bulb of garlic
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp pink Himalayan salt
Parchment paper

Carefully cut the top of the bulb off, about ½ inch until you see the cloves.

Place on parchment paper and drizzle the olive oil over the visible clove; sprinkle with the salt.

Fold parchment paper around the bulb, and tuck underneath.

Place in a preheated 250 degree oven and bake for 2 to 3 hours depending on the size of the bulb.

To store: Place the bulb in a plastic container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Infused Olive Oil & Roasted Garlic Cloves~ You will need:

Pre Peeled & packaged garlic cloves, about 4 of the bags. This is equivalent to about 4 bulbs of garlic

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp pink Himalayan salt

In a small baking dish, place the garlic cloves in a single layer; pour olive oil over top of them ensuring they are fully covered. Add more oil if needed.

Sprinkle with salt and bake in a preheated 250 degree oven for 2 to 3 hours or until mashable.

To store: Place infused olive oil in a container with lid and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Place cloves in a plastic container with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Baste meats or veggies with your olive oil and serve cloves with steak or chicken or add to any vegetable dish!

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Added bonus: You can go to my blog at http://www.fordragonfliesandme.com to purchase my original cookbook, Lovingly Seasoned Eats and Treats in either a spiral bound soft cover OR NEW, a Downloadable PDF version. The cookbook has almost 1000 recipes on almost 500 pages! Check out the Cookbook Testimonials while you’re there!

Until next time remember to,
Eat fresh, shop local & have a happy day,
Jean

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All text and images on this site are copyright of For Dragonflies And Me. Unless otherwise noted, you may not use this content.

Shish Ka-bob with Marinade over Rice

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Jean Roman

“From morning till night, sounds drift from the kitchen, most of them familiar and comforting…. On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it; it dries the wet sock, it cools the hot little brain.” – E.B. White

This is another all time family favorite, and I am confident it will become one of yours as well! If you own a copy of my popular cookbook, Lovingly Seasoned Eats & Treats, you will find this recipe on page 155. If you don’t own a copy and would like to, click this link to purchase either a beautiful spiral bound softcover or NEW, a Downloadable PDF version!

To watch me make this super delish recipe, click the video below to watch on my YouTube Channel!

Our Favorite Recipes

This recipe is very versatile and you can use any protein you prefer. Today I am using beef and chicken, but you can easily swap it or add venison, pork, or lamb. Or for my vegetarian friends, skip the meat altogether!

Over the years I’ve made some variations to the recipe, so my directions here & in my video are a bit different than the cookbook.

Ingredients: Yields about 8~ 2 cup servings

10 to 12 cups of cubed meat~ I used beef & chicken

2~ 1.5 pound bags of baby heirloom potatoes. I parcook these in the microwave until they are about 90 percent done.

4 large onions~ I did 2 of each red and a sweet yellow, quartered

4 large bell peppers~ mix colors if you’d like, cut into quarters

2~ 16 ounce containers of whole mushrooms

Marinade:

1 ½ cups canola or safflower oil

¾ cup soy sauce

½ cup red wine vinegar

⅓ cup lemon juice

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

2 fresh cloves of garlic minced OR 2 tsp jarred

2 TBSP dry mustard

2 tsp dried parsley

2 tsp pink Himaylean salt

2 tsp fresh ground pepper

PRO TIP: I used wooden skewers here because I make so much, but if you have metal ones I do prefer those.

1. Cut all your meat into about 2 inch chunks.

2. Make marinade; place all ingredients in a gallon size freezer storage type bag. I use one bag per type of meat, but you don’t have to. If you, you will need to divide the marinade or make a batch for each type.

3. Place the meat in the marinade and place in a large bowl; refrigerate at least 3 hours, but overnight is best.

4. Begin putting the meat on skewers of the same type together. I don’t combine any of the vegetables with the meat skewers. Reserve all the marinade;

Place on a heated grill brushing the skewers with some of the remaining marinade.

5. Begin putting all the vegetables on the skewers. I put some of everything on each one, however you can do all of the same on individual skewers; place on a heated grill and brush with marinade liberally.

6. Keep turning both the meat and vegetable skewers, basting with the marinade until it is all gone. Cook for about 20 minutes or until done. You can carefully cut into some of the meat chunks to see if they are cooked through.

7. Once all the meat and veggies are cooked, place everything in a deep electric skillet and add the reserved 1 cup of marinade; toss all together and heat on 300 degrees stirring for about 5 minutes.

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Serve over rice and enjoy!

If you enjoyed this blog, please LIKE, Follow, Share & leave me a comment! I love your feedback!

If you aren’t following me on Facebook & Instagram go on over & give a LIKE & Follow me for daily tips & tricks for your home & garden!

Until next time remember to,
Eat fresh, shop local & have a happy day,

Jean

Copyright Policy

All text and images on this site are copyright of For Dragonflies And Me. Unless otherwise noted, you may not use this content.

Garlic-Thyme Infused Olive Oil

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Jean Roman

I love to preserve my garden bounty as much as I love to garden and write! Whether it’s putting the good things in the freezer, on the can shelves or drying for the pantry, I relish in the accomplishment!

I thought I’d share my yummy Garlic-Thyme Infused Olive oil recipe with you today…

Ingredients:

Pint mason/canning jar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4-6 fresh cloves garlic to mince
1/2 cup thyme leaves
1 Tbsp. sea salt
Double ingredients except salt if you want to do a quart jar.

Method:
1. Fill your jar with oil leaving 1″ of head space

2. Take your fresh picked thyme and start striping the leaves into the oil until you have about 1/2 cup worth

3. Mince garlic into oil. Add salt

4. Stir all ingredients until well blended. Leave in a cupboard out of direct sunlight for about a week before you use it. This will allow the flavors to blend.

Now that you have your yummy oil ready, here are some idea’s on how to use it!

*Brush on bread before you broil or toast it for Brushetta
*Brush on any veggie that you want to grill… this is our favorite for zucchini and yellow squash.
*Toss into pasta instead of sauce

… these are just a couple of my personal faves… do you have any idea’s? If you do, please leave a comment here and share… be sure to come on over to my Facebook page and give it a like… we have lots of fun there!

Happy Day,
Jean

Bringing Children In The Garden & Yummy Veggies On The Grill!

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Jean Roman

“Any garden demands as much of its maker as he has to give. but I do not need to tell you, if you are a gardener, that no other undertaking will give as great a return for the amount of effort put into it.” Elizabeth Lawrence, 1904-1985, Gardening For Love.
I absolutely cherish the moments that I get to be in the garden with our children. It is quality time that I feel will make a lasting impression on their lives and hopefully create memories for them of special moments with mom teaching them about how God makes all this great stuff happen! I love to see them planting seeds, transplanting a tomato plant in the garden, tilling up the good earth and feeling that soft, rich soil squish between their toes! My children love to feel that they have their own little space in the garden, to grow the things that interest them, to experiment and to harvest what they tended. It can be a challenge sometimes to include them. It is often just easier to do it ourselves and just getting it done. It will usually add on some minutes, well maybe even hours, with the little helpers involved! But what memories you will make, what happiness will beam in their eyes when they pull out that carrot from the seed ‘they’ planted. That smile, that gleam in the eye is worth more than all the saved minutes of just doing it our self. I love everything about gardening… yes even the back wrenching weeding & hoeing, the sun burnt back of my neck and the stiff arms… I love gardening!
Here are some fun ideas to incorporate your children into your gardening ‘thyme’ 🙂 !
Gardening With Your Children~
*Be sure to have child size tools for the little folks. You can purchase such items at just about any store that sells gardening supplies. Make them responsible for their tools- to put them back, keep them clean, and be careful when using. Add a name plaque where their tools belong in the potting shed or garage, make them feel special.
*Keeping them interested is another challenge, especially with the ones that aren’t that interested. Allow them to choose what they would like to grow. Some suggestions would be giant sunflowers, pumpkins, decorative gourds or root crops. Radishes and lettuce are quick growers and can be ‘encouraging’ to the one that needs a little boost in interest. They are also available in multiple colors and sizes and can really encourage interest. If you choose a root crop I would suggest using some fun Heirloom things. Carrots for instance offer a multitude of shapes and colors, from Cosmic Purple to Lunar White and every shade of orange in between. Potatoes are also a fun crop. You can purchase red, white and even blue potatoes. Watch their eyes light up when they dig those potatoes.
*If you don’t have a spot for a garden, let them Container Garden. You can use anything~ some fun things for the little people would be a wagon planted with some pansies, an old shoe with some Hen’s & Chicks or any type of pot. They can plant herbs, flowers or veggies. Go back to my blog on Container Gardens in the archives to get more great ideas.
*Also in the archives you will find the blog with the Sunflower House so your child/ren can create a secret room or play house.
*Plant a cucumber plant; once the plant starts to form flowers it will not take long for it to start changing into a cucumber; once the cucumber is still small enough to fit into the hole of a 20oz. or so plastic bottle, carefully insert the cucumber into the hole. Make sure the bottle is clear; once the cucumber ‘fills’ the bottle, pluck it off the plant and carefully cut the bottle off! Presto, a bottle shaped cucumber. This would work with many types of veggies, try out a few and use different containers to make multiple shapes.
*If you grow a pumpkin plant, once the pumpkin is about 6 inches across, carefully scratch the child’s name and a silly face into the skin being careful not to puncture. Over time as it grows, the drawing will grow right along with it!
*With a stick, trace the child’s name into the soil in a planting area; sprinkle lettuce, radish or carrot seed in the name. Watch it grow!
*Be sure to take tons of pictures of your child in the garden and even photograph the planting, growing and harvesting process so those precious memories will not be forgotten.
Veggies On The Grill

As I have mentioned often, we love to grill and it is grilling season. I will probably be giving lots of grill time recipe’s so if you don’t have a grill, now’s the time to get one!

4-6 large red skin potatoes from The Garden Gate Farm, washed & cut into chunks with skins on
1 yellow onion from Garden Gate, cut into slivers
1 clove of garlic from Garden Gate, minced
1 cup spinach leaves from Garden Gate, washed & trimmed into bite size pieces
1 cup of Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes from Garden Gate
1 medium yellow squash from Garden Gate, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 tsp. Matt’s Mix Seasoning Salt
1/4 cup fresh Thyme from The Garden Gate
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
3 Tbsp. butter, diced
piece of foil wrap large enough to hold all ingredients and be folded over and sealed on top and sides.

1. In foil place all veggies; sprinkle evenly over top with seasoning and herb; drizzle Olive oil over top; put dobs of butter evenly dispersed over all.
2. Fold over the foil across the top and sides so it doesn’t leak.
3. Place on top rack of grill and let cook about 45minutes to an hour.

This goes great with any type of meat, so grill some awesome T-bones from Garden Gate to go along with it, and let your taste buds be taken to an all new level!

Happy Day,
Jean

Preserving Spring Herbs, Grilling Tips, Yummy Grilled Pizza

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Jean Roman

Our family loves to grill and it doesn’t matter the season. Neil as well as the boys get the grill fired up winter, spring, summer and fall~ it is respecter of no season! The only difference is the location; in the warm days it’s on the patio, in the winter it’s in the garage. When the warm days of spring roll around it is our daily companion for cooking! Neil won’t let me touch the grill~ we, the grill & I go back a long way. You see when Neil & I were dating there were two incidents that banished me from the grill side. They now are quite funny. The first episode was when we were very newly dating. We went to a park and Neil wanted to grill some steaks. It was a beautiful day and we were having a very nice afternoon. Neil had to use the restroom so asked me to take care of the grill. Well, I had never grilled before, but I wanted to help where I could, so of course I said yes. I don’t really know what happened but suddenly one of the steaks was on the ground. Horrified I quickly picked it up and put it back on the grill, dirt side down of course- Neil would never notice, surely it would cook off. There comes Neil leisurely strolling back with all trust in his eyes having faith I had taken care of his steaks that he was quite hungry for. Well, it didn’t take him long to realize once he flipped the steak that something went awry while he was gone. I looked at him innocently and said it was a mistake and I was sure that it would cook off. He was not so sure, so I said I would wash it off. It was quite windy that day, and while I took it to the ladies room and diligently washed it, the coals had died out… so in the end, the sea gulls got the steak. I will tell the next story some other time…

Beautiful Oregano in the Greenhouse!

*Preserving Spring Herbs…
We use herbs a lot in our cooking and I am fortunate enough to have greenhouse’s and hoop houses to grow in year round. I do realize that not everyone has this luxury so here are some tips on preserving herbs starting right in the spring when many of the perennial ones are popping up right now~ chives, oregano, sage and parsley would be the main ones right now for us living in Michigan and similar climates.
*The easiest way is to simply dry your herbs using a dehydrator; baking on a cookie sheet in a 150 degree oven until dry- length of time depends on herb- don’t pile on the pan- just put in a single layer; you can also bunch and tie with rubber bands and hang upside down from drying racks, or rafters in the basement. Direct sunlight should be avoided. Parsley is the only one I don’t like to do this type of drying to- although I am not sure why, but it looses it’s color! To store, keep in air tight glass jars or plastic containers.
*Freezing is also easy & fast- chives and parsley work best with this method.
*We love Pesto- make your recipe in big batch quantity and freeze in plastic containers, baby food jars or jelly jars. Remember to leave at least an inch head space when freezing!
*You can also pack 2 cups of any fresh culinary herb with 1/2 cup oil~ I would use safflower or canola- olive oil will leave a strong flavor- fill baby food jars, small plastic containers or jelly jars and freeze this way as well. This works great when you want to baste on any meat, saute veggies or meat in, or brush on bread for brushetta, pizza crust or bread sticks.
Here are some grilling tips from Neil:
*If you love garlic like we do, try throwing a few fresh garlic cloves on the hot coals to add extra flavor to your goodies.
*Neil loves to smoke stuff~ if you want to wow your guests, try adding some hickory, apple wood or cherry wood chips or sawdust on the coals for an extra special treat. Make sure you soak the chips in water for about hour before you are ready to put them on the coals; if using sawdust just get wet.
*If you are using charcoal, then keep a spray bottle with water to spray on the coals to keep temperature down so it doesn’t get too hot.
*Neil likes to brush the grill with some olive oil before putting the food on, this helps it to not stick.

Yummy Grilled Pizza!
Last summer we fell in love with grilling pizza! The children enjoyed it both in the way of having fun because they created their own masterpieces and it was absolutely delicious. Here is my pizza crust recipe and some of our favorite toppings!

Crust:
2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 tsp. raw organic sugar
1 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3-4 cups flour, plus some for dusting

Toppings:
shredded cheese
fresh Portobella mushrooms
sweet peppers
onions
bacon, ham, sausage, ground beef or chicken
pizza sauce, ranch dressing
tomatoes
… these are just some ideas, use your favorite toppings

1. In a large, mixing bowl add yeast to water and stir gently; add sugar, salt and olive oil, stir in gently until dissolved.
2. Add 2 cups of flour, mix in until well blended; add 1 more cup flour, mix in well; and the rest of flour in 1/4 cups at a time until the dough is soft and doesn’t stick to hands. Add a bit more flour in until the dough feels right; Knead dough for about 2-3 minutes until all flour is mixed in well. Form into a ball and place in bowl, cover with kitchen towel and leave on the top of stove to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
3. While dough is rising get your toppings prepared. Sauteing the veggies is best and making sure any raw meats are cooked.
4.When dough has risen, punch it down using your hands and knead a bit more into a ball again. On a floured surface, cut the dough into 4 even sized pieces and roll out to about and 1/2 inch thick. The dough should be thicker so it doesn’t fall apart on the grill.
5. Brush the dough with Olive Oil and put on heated grill; grill on one side for about 2-3 minutes, checking to be sure it doesn’t burn; when the one side is done, remove from grill onto a cookie sheet, cooked side up; put your toppings on the cooked side; sauce, cheese, meat & veggies and add a bit more cheese; return to the grill to finish grilling- about 2-3 more minutes; put lid on for about the last minute to help melt the cheese.
Remove from grill and have your feast!

Happy Day,
Jean