Life is better when your snacks are slathered.
So here is a super quick dip (try saying that three times fast) for you to throw out on the side of a table when you just want some homemade bits. Roasting the garlic bulb takes away the acrid bite of raw garlic and what happens is, the steam created in the foil package caramelises the garlic within their skins, making them almost sweet. In addition to that though, baking them in a glossy pool of balsamic vinegar ensures the steaming process drinks up the fumes of that bitterly sweet liquor. Perfect combination with the cooling tang of the dip.
It’s also the perfect accompaniment to some cold cuts of meat and cheese or consumed with an entire tube of ready salted Pringles. The whole tube. Don’t ask me how I know that.
I have also drizzled this into sandwiches as well as taking a small pot of it into work and dipping carrot sticks into it. But that’s when I’m feeling virtuous, which only happens the first two months of the year. Hence the Pringle can.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Grab a whole garlic bulb and slice off the top so that the tops of the garlic cloves are showing (picture above). Wrap this in a loose foil parcel before splashing in a tablespoon of sweet balsamic vinegar – but when you splash this in, be careful not to cover the garlic, only creating a small pool underneath it. Tightly seal the foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes.
Grab a bowl and pour in a cup of natural yoghurt. To this add some salt and black pepper before adding some finely chopped fresh chives. Once the garlic has had its roasting time, take from the oven and allow to cool slightly to the point of being able to handle the foil. Take the steamed garlic and using your fingers, squeeze the entire syrupy garlic cloves out of their skin in one squeeze.
I can’t describe to you how incredible this feeling is. It’s like popping someone else’s zit. Only it’s garlic. Stir this into the dip and serve.
With or without the entire tube of ready salted Pringles. No judgement.
MIKEY AND THE KITCHEN. 