National Garlic Day - April 19

Tomorrow is National Garlic Day in the USA.

My mother always includes garlic in all her cooking. Somehow a dish would not taste good without the aroma of garlic in it. When I was studying for my diploma, Ms. Moh, one of my lecturers advised me to take garlic capsules to prevent flu and colds when she noticed that I got sick often. The effects were quite amazing when I took garlic capsules for a while and I wasn't getting sick that easily.

According to this web site, here are some interesting facts about this 'breath-taking' plant:

• Garlic is believed to ward off heart disease, cancer, colds, and flu. The consumption of garlic lowers blood cholesterol levels. and reduces the buildup of plaque in the arteries.
• Garlic is a member of the onion family which also includes leeks and shallots.
• If your rose garden is being attacked by aphids, an excellent home remedy to get rid of them is to spritz the leaves and blooms with a mixture of crushed garlic and water.
• When picking out garlic at the grocery store, choose firm, tight, heavy dry bulbs.

Here is a French classic recipe for cooking 40 cloves of garlic with chicken, taken from this web site:

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic (Makes 4 servings)

Poulet aux Quarante Gousses d'Ail

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 50 min

Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic was a recipe that allowed us to be provocative without being downright offensive. It presents the softer side of garlic — the "stinking rose" — mellowed by long, slow cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 (4-lb) chicken
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 scant cup olive oil
• 2 fresh parsley sprigs
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 1 fresh thyme sprig
• 1 fresh sage sprig
• 1 bay leaf (not California)
• 1 celery rib
• 40 garlic cloves, peeled (from 3 to 4 heads of garlic)

Accompaniment: toasted baguette slices
Special equipment: kitchen string

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper. Tie legs together with kitchen string and fold wings under chicken.

Heat oil in a 6- to 8-quart wide heavy ovenproof pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken, turning it carefully, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.

Tie herbs and celery together with string to make a bouquet garni and add to pot along with garlic cloves. Put chicken, breast side up, on top of cloves and bake, covered tightly, in middle of oven, basting twice, until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted 2 inches into fleshy part of a thigh (avoid bone) registers 170°F, 30 to 40 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a cutting board, reserving pan juices, and let stand 10 minutes. Cut chicken into serving pieces and spread roasted garlic on toasts. Serve chicken drizzled with some of reserved pan juices.