Garlic in olive oil - For cooking

There are a couple things I do after grocery shopping.  I not only put the groceries away, but I leave out certain items to prep for the upcoming weeks, like fruit, veggies and so on.

One thing I always make, is my garlic for cooking.

I find it easier to have it readily available to add to whatever I'm cooking at the time, and I also don't like the store bought minced garlic, it has a weird taste to me.

This is so easy to throw together, takes but a few minutes and it cuts down on prep time when you are needing garlic for a specific recipe.  I'm Portuguese, so garlic is pretty much in every single dish I make.

Garlic in Olive Oil

1 head of garlic
Olive oil


First thing you're going to do, and this is merely to make it easier to peel the garlic cloves, is to place them all in a bowl of water.  Let them sit for about an hour.  I do this first thing when I get home, and then let them sit while I get the groceries put away.

Peel the garlic cloves, you'll notice that the skin comes right off. 

Next, chop them up finely.  You can do it by hand, or pop them in a blender, I use my handy Pampered Chef Chopper.

Give them a really good chop, then transfer them to a small mason jar.  Now the size of the jar will depend on the amount of garlic you have, I find that for one head of garlic, the small 4 oz. jar works fine.

To finish off, pour in some olive oil just until it covers the garlic.  That's it!!!

Pop it in your fridge and it's ready to use. 

It really is an easy way to have your own fresh minced garlic ready to use.  If you want to make a larger amount, just use the same process, remembering to cover with olive oil to the top.

Lemon Chicken

My 15 year old gets easily bored with food, and for some reason he has an issue with chicken.  It's not that he doesn't like chicken, it's just that he finds it boring at times, so I'm always looking for new ways to prepare it.

This is a super easy and simple way to make chicken in your cast iron skillet.

It is chock full of flavor, and perfect with a salad, rice, mash or buttery garlic noodles which is what I served with it last night.

If you're interested in how I make the noodles, I just cook them al dente, and feel free to use whatever noodles your family prefers, I use the same method whether I'm making spaghetti, fettucine, rigatoni or penne.

Once the noodles are cooked, drain them and then add a tablespoon or two of butter, little drizzle of olive oil, chopped garlic (you can use powder if you don't have fresh on hand) and a sprinkle of parsley.  That's it!!!

Now onto the chicken....

Lemon Chicken

1 pound chicken breasts
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic

Place the chicken breasts in a ziploc bag, add the remaining ingredients and shake well.  Let rest in the fridge for an hour or overnight.

Heat a cast iron skillet and when it starts smoking a little, add the chicken breasts.  Discard the marinade.

Cook for about 5 minutes on each side until nice and brown.  Transfer to the oven, and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

To serve, sprinkle with fresh parsley and some sliced lemon.

Serve with rice, mashed potatoes or pasta.