My father used to say, “I’d rather have an ounce of garlic than a pound of truffles.” And he wasn’t kidding. My parents put garlic in just about everything: mashed into salad dressing; rubbed on toast; and simmered into soups, stews and pasta sauces. In those days before the Microplane, our battle-hardened garlic press never even found a home in a drawer, instead drafted straight from the dishwasher to the counter for its next tour of duty.
We often neglect the ones we love best. Garlic remains so ubiquitous in my own cooking that I nearly forgot to add it to my B.I.F. (Best Ingredients Forever) grand tour. But garlic, you pungent little marvel, this one’s for you.
Part of what makes garlic so indispensable is its range. The pale cloves can be fiercely biting when eaten raw, but soft, sweet and earthy when cooked long and slow.
Eric Kim’s garlic-braised chicken showcases garlic’s gentler side. The recipe calls for 20 (yes, 20) cloves of garlic, but since they’re left whole and simmered in white wine for an entire hour, they turn mellow, candylike and suffused with schmaltz (another one of my childhood B.I.F.s). You can get containers of peeled garlic cloves at many supermarkets, but I find it meditative to peel them myself, and it takes only a few minutes.
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Garlic-Braised Chicken
Ali Slagle’s roasted cauliflower and garlic soup also leans into garlic’s softer qualities. Ali gets the most out of her two main ingredients by roasting them until caramelized and then simmering them until they practically fall apart. The key is to add enough olive oil for a silky texture, and enough salt to draw out the rich, complex flavors of the garlic. It’s minimalist magic!
You can serve either of those with some of Ali’s garlic bread. Overkill? I think not, because this lovely recipe shows off the racier end of the garlic gamut. In a clever twist on the usual technique, she slices the bread Hasselback-style and then slides the garlic-herb butter into the vertical slits. This allows the top of the loaf to get crisp without the garlic burning. Ali recommends tucking slices of mozzarella into the bread as well to make it like a giant toasted cheese sandwich, with a garlicky punch to boost the warm pillows of cheese.
Fry some thinly sliced garlic in olive oil and you have a crisp, sweet snack that’s impossible to stop eating. Carolina Gelen uses garlic chips to great effect in her garlicky Alfredo beans. Inspired by the classic pasta sauce, she mixes the Parmesan-filled sauce into canned white beans and then tops it all with fried garlic. It’s a simple, 20-minute recipe with deep flavors and a snappy crunch.
For me, though, it’s garlic’s assertive side that makes it irresistible, and that’s what I bring out in my brussels sprouts Caesar salad. I grate three whole, raw garlic cloves into the dressing, which also features pecorino and lemon for a salty, bright tang. That pungency enlivens the sweet sprouts, some of which are shredded, some roasted whole. I love this for dinner all by itself, but it’s also a zippy companion for roast chicken or salmon.
Garlic for dessert? I haven’t yet gone there, though I’m open to suggestions if you want to drop me a note at hellomelissa@nytimes.com. Meanwhile, now that we’ve had our garlic, I’ll take the truffles my dad eschewed — chocolate truffles, that is. David Tanis’s chocolate-bourbon truffles are bittersweet treats with fudgy, booze-scented centers. You can roll them in crushed nuts for added texture or leave them plain for a softer feel. And if, like me, you still crave some bite, an ounce or two of bourbon on the side couldn’t hurt.
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That’s it for now. See you on Wednesday.
