Product Review: Garden Fresh Garlic (and a Leftovers Recipe!)

What's the one thing I can't live without?

(acorkabove.com)

Garlic. Especially the marinated, ready-to-eat kind.

Last summer we took one of many day trips to Cedar Key, along with some of my very favorite friendly coworkers, to their annual Seafood Festival (check it out Floridians - Cedar Key Events). Between the stalls selling fried fish, fried shrimp, fried oysters, fried clams, just about anything fried, there were some real gems of little businesses selling some of that great flavor for home use. We were especially taken in by the couple selling Garden Fresh Marinated Garlic and opted to taste a few - options include Original, Greek, Italian, Jalapeno, Mediterranean, Roasted Red Bell Pepper, and Spicy - and the shop guy was really pushing that Greek for salads! This garlic is so mellow and tasty can be eaten all by itself as a snack, and we were so impressed we took the Cajun flavor home.

A Cork Above describes this as "Garlic blended with lemon pepper seasoning, oregano and a touch of Cayenne pepper for that authentic Louisiana flavor." It's not spicy, but it does have a little something extra that makes this worth the flavor instead of using regular old garlic. I don't actually eat it as a snack (most times) but I have taken to putting it in any food that can use a little spicy-sweet kick.  Salads, sandwiches, chicken dishes, anything that calls for regular garlic - and leftovers!

This year our parents sent us home from Christmas with pounds and pounds of food - hash brown casserole, mexican dip, sausage stuffed pork, turkey, and two kinds of dessert. We didn't buy groceries for a week, bless our sweet families. But after a few days all that turkey starts to taste the same, so I opted to spice up our leftovers a bit by making BBQ turkey sandwiches.

Ingredients:

Cooked turkey meat (both dark and light, or your preference)

BBQ Sauce - I love Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet Vidalia Onion BBQ for its tangy sweetness

A handful of Garden Fresh Cajun marinated garlic cloves

Sliced cheese - I always use the sharpest cheddar available. TBird had his with 2% provolone.

Whole wheat buns

 The stars of my show. The sauce IS the boss.

Preparation: 

Easy peasy. Chop up your leftover turkey meat and toss it in a skillet (this was our first opportunity to use our fancy new ceramic skillet, and it worked beaaaautifully). Slice your garlic cloves width-wise into smaller pieces, using as much garlic as you prefer - I used about 5-6 cloves for an entire skillet of turkey. Saute the turkey and garlic together a little bit until the flavor of the garlic melds in (you can also pour a little of the delicious oily sauce from the jar into the skillet for an extra kick :). When it's warm and about ready to eat, toss in your BBQ sauce, mix it all up, and voila - shredded turkey sandwich filling! I served these on toasted whole wheat buns with sharp cheddar slices and some regular ole lima beans. 

Successes:

- You could really taste the garlic in this, and it was so complimentary to the onion BBQ sauce. Would this work with regular garlic? Sure, but you'll either need to roast the garlic before adding it to the turkey, or saute it longer in the pan to make sure it's mellow and not overpowering. Using the pre-marinated garlic, the taste comes through the BBQ sauce surprisingly well without making it unpalatable or bitter.

- Fantastic for leftovers of leftovers. We were able to use silly amounts of turkey before it went bad and we took more sandwiches to work the next day for lunch. It didn't lose any of its flavor or dry out.

Failures:

- Next time, I'll carmelize some sweet yellow onions to put on top for a more substantial sandwich, but for only using what we had in the house this turned out delicious and satisfying. It would also be good with typical BBQ sandwich toppings like coleslaw if you're into that, but I'm not.

- As ever, TBird wants to make this in the Crockpot next time. I'll probably do that to appease his love for that convenient little machine, since everything's already cooked and just needs to be heated up.

BullsBistro Recipe Rating: B+

BullsBistro Product Review Grade: A, for sheer versatility and flavor.

(PS - Anyone else doing the Bodyrock.tv 30 Day Fitness Challenge? Part of us being healthy is eating well AND balancing that by working out - We are only on day 2 and I know this is going to be a killer month!)