If you’ve ever talked to me about food or cooked with me – you know my obsession with fresh garlic. If I post a recipe on here or share a recipe with you personally, and it calls for minced garlic/chopped garlic/garlic in any form  – I ALWAYS intend for that to be fresh garlic! Fresh garlic makes such a difference in so many meals. The minced garlic that you get from the store is not a good substitute and will not render the same delicious flavors from your recipe.

Cooking with fresh garlic can also be a little tricky. You want to make sure that your heat is not too high or your garlic will turn brown. Brown garlic can taste fairly rancid and you loose the delicious garlic taste and fragrance. So when cooking it by itself in a pan, add a little oil to your pan and cook it for about 30 seconds over medium low. And, you want it stay white the entire time. The idea is for the low heat to bring out the fragrance and taste of the garlic. Usually in most recipes you add something else to the pan that will cook with the garlic and it becomes tender and the flavors can meld together.

I know chopping your own garlic can be so intimidating. I have been to many “kitchen gadget parties” where they try to sell something to help with chopping garlic. I will tell you – it is so much easier and less clean up to just do it yourself with a chef’s knife and a cutting board. It may feel awkward at first but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be chopping garlic like a pro! I made this little video below to try and help show a step by step on chopping garlic at home. I would love your comments and thoughts!