Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Peeling Garlic

Ok, first off, let me just say that I've been told, numerous times, that I'm a little weird. I know it. I'm fine with it.

Second thing- my preferred way of peeling garlic is just to not do it at all- I like to buy those 1+ lb. containers of already-peeled cloves and just use those. Saves time, and you never end up with all those tiny little cloves that are too small to bother with in the first place (or if you do, so what? They're already peeled). But I just happened to have a sleeve of bulbs that I bought recently at the Asian store that needed using, so I thought I'd share my newest way of peeling garlic. You've maybe seen those E-Z garlic peeler tubes that sell for $6.99 (and could possibly double as a cheap sex toy for men, not that I would know anything about that)? Yeah, I've seen 'em too and I've heard they work really well. I wouldn't know, I'm too cheap to buy one. Plus, my old method for peeling a bunch of garlic was either just to do them individually by hand, or to put all the separated cloves in a stainless steel mixing bowl, cover with another bowl and shake it all like the dickens (my brother learned that trick off of Dinner: Impossible. It works ok, but unless you're doing a whole bunch at once, or just need a decent upper body workout, I'd just stick to doing them by hand). So anyway, having been doing some kitchen wares shopping recently for my new apartment, I was at Bed Bath & Beyond not long ago and saw that E-Z garlic peeler sleeve/sex toy contraption, and it reminded me of something- I just happened to have an old bicycle inner tube sitting around at home that I wasn't doing anything with. Actually, I had already hacked it up a bit for some other project I was working on, but I thought, 'Why not?' and so I gave it a try (after washing it thoroughly, of course). It probably would have been better if I'd not sliced it open lengthwise, but what was done was done, and I didn't have any more. But hey, it works! Generally only a couple cloves at a time, but but you just slap them on at the lower end, fold over the length of the tube, and slide up once or twice.





Once is usually enough, though. The skins are pretty well shredded off of the clove, and all you do is brush them off and throw away.



Again, if I hadn't sliced it open lengthwise, it would probably be even better, since you could fit in as many cloves as the length of the tube would allow and roll 'em like a rolling pin. Anyway, if you're weird and cheap, like me, and don't buy the pre-peeled cloves, unlike me, it's worth considering since an inner tube generally only costs about $2.50. Just remember not to slice it open lengthwise.


***

In unrelated news, do you like Tostitos® with Hint of Lime tortilla chips? I love 'em. So I came up with a recipe for making your own at home. They're really good. Hopefully that post will be up later today. If not today, then soon (sometime this week). Stay tuned.

5 comments:

Cooking Asshole said...

Dude. Cut off the node, smash with the blade of a large knife and done. I don't need no stinkin' product made for suckers.

How's it Taste? said...

I knew you were going to say that. And you're totally right, of course. But I think deep down I really just wanted point out to whoever happened to be reading this that should they be thinking of buying a $30 sleeve (speaking of suckers) over at Babeland, or Adam & Eve, or wherever, they can get a similar one for about $7 at Bed Bath & Beyond. Whether it's any good for that or not, I don't know. Just wanted to make folks aware.

Cooking Asshole said...

It's okay. I admittedly have a tub of pre-minced garlic in the fridge for when I get lazy...which is most of the time. I fucking hate using my garlic press because my hands smell like that crap for days. It is almost worse than cutting up a jalapeno and then grabbing your dick right after to take a piss.

How's it Taste? said...

I owned a garlic press once. Maybe it was just a crappy model (likely, since I probably bought it at Target; all their kitchen tools have been shitty for me) but it didn't work well to begin with and then the handle broke after only a few uses. As for the smell on your hands afterwards, surely you know about the chrome/stainless steel thing, right? They sell (of course) those stainless steel things that look like bars of soap, but I've always just used the faucet tap, or if I'm at work, the sides of the sink itself. Works great for garlic, onions, and even after handling raw fish.

Cooking Asshole said...

Huh! I have not heard of the stainless steel thing! Cool.

My garlic press is old as shit, made of metal, and really heavy. I like it.