Roasted Garlic

The other day I was walking through Whole Foods admiring their salad bar area (I often cruise by to get ideas) and I saw the biggest station of roasted garlic cloves that I had ever seen -- hundreds of little cloves in a light amount of olive oil (just enough to keep them from sticking together) and sprinkled lightly with pepper. I thought, "I can do that." This trip around the Whole Foods salad bar inspired me to serve roasted garlic, olive oil, and fresh bakery bread as a starter for a dinner party I had this past weekend. Here is how I roasted a bunch of garlic bulbs!

Roasted Garlic

6 bulbs of garlic (I figured one bulb per person would be plenty and I wouldn't cry if there were left overs)

2 Tablespoons olive oil (one teaspoon for each bulb)

1) Peel off all the paper possible from each bulb without removing any cloves

2) Cut the top most portion of the garlic head off, and cut any of the outer individual garlic clove tips off

3) Place bulbs in an oven safe dish and slowly drizzle with 1 teaspoon of olive oil each

4) Cover dish with tin foil and place in a preheated 350 degree oven

5) Roast for 60 to 75 minutes

Serve as is with a garlic bulb on each plate or...

6) Cool completely and carefully remove the roasted garlic from 5 of the cloves with a small cocktail fork.

7) Place the roasted cloves in a bowl and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil sprinkle lightly with pepper and use the the last whole clove as the center of the "flower."