The quintessential Alberta Beef BBQ Bumped up a Notch!
Al Picketts is a Canadian Food Hero. There is no doubt about that. I met him when I was in Prince Edward Island in May and spoke to him at length on the phone before that. This is a farmer with character, dignity, and a truck load of creative intelligence guiding his farming and produce practice. He makes the best black garlic in the world. Don’t just take my word for it. Order some from him, and try it yourself. Read his story here.
Black garlic? What is that, you may ask? The process of producing Korean black garlic does not involve microbial action and is a form of slow cooked garlic. It is often called a fermented form of garlic, though that isn’t known to be accurate as “something”, such as a yeast, bacterium, mold, or enzyme must cause fermentation and this isn’t known to be the case with Al’s garlic, either. Al is a garlic farmer and produces black garlic from a few of the varieties of garlic her grows. More details in my post about Al’s story. Today is a celebration of his creation in this very simple summer black garlic butter recipe. Can you see it glistening on the steak, above?
Al’s garlic and a very good organic cultured butter.
The cloves released from the garlic papers. Think about one clove per two tablespoons of butter. I have a little more than that in my mix, but that is a good amount to get a great flavour developed in the butter compound. It would be important to note that Korean Garlic is 60-80 dollars a pound. Al’s black garlic is only 30 dollars a pound. That is still very expensive, but considering it is the best, a steal of a deal. He takes orders and will send it right to your door. If you buy 4 pounds, he charges only 100 dollars. That is the way to go. One pound will not be enough and the lifespan of the black garlic is unknown, but well over a year out of the fridge. Buy it from Al: al@eurekagarlic.ca
If you have tasted this, you couldn’t look at this photo without salivating. The umami punch in this morsel hits all the high notes while strumming all the low ones at the same time.
Korean black garlic has been around for centuries and is hard, like jelly bean without the outer layer: difficult to work with. Yet, Al’s smooshes into velvet bliss with a fork.
And mooshed into the butter… well. Wolfgang Puck once said that the best sauce in the world is a combination of Soya Sauce and Butter. I beg to differ. It is Al Picketts Black Garlic with Butter.
Formed into a long, and refrigerated it will keep a few weeks, if you can ignore it that long. It will keep in the freezer much longer. Slice off a disc and melt ontop of a hot steak or a baked potato. Oh, Glory Day!
Or land a dollop on top of a hot steak before it is refrigerated. Guide it to melt all over the surface of that caramelized Alberta beef strip loin steak.
Add the classic accompaniments to this meal. Keep it simple so that this black garlic butter compound reigns supreme. Though, it would be difficult to overshadow, regardless of what was on the plate.
I will be scoping out all kinds of black garlic recipes, and I now know that others have also discovered black garlic butter – as great minds do think alike, for, after I “thought it up”, I checked to see if it was “out there”, and of course, it is. However, as a child calls a broccoli stem a tree and his parent thinks he is the first in the world to think this way, I feel as triumphant.
This is definitely my GO TO company recipe this summer. Bring it on! Come on over! I will treat you to this incredibly novel and addictive new to your palate experience. You will be hooked. I guarantee it.
Eureka Black Garlic Butter
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup or 115g organic butter , unsalted
- 4-6 cloves of black garlic , to taste
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt , to taste (I used Maldon and it makes a nice difference)
Instructions
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Combine all ingredients together, until smooth
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Roll into a log in parchment paper
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Store in fridge for 2-3 weeks and in freezer for months
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Serve by slicing a disc off the end of the log; melt onto steak or baked potato
Recipe Notes
Ratio: about 1 clove of black garlic for every 2 tablespoons of butter
I definitely met Al on a field trip during culinary school, too funny! I love the idea of using black garlic to flavour butter, rather than just plain old raw or roasted garlic.
I love raw garlic butter with salt, too – but this is a completely different experience. Difficult to explain. The best way for me is to say that black garlic would be to garlic like a truffle is to a mushroom.
🙂
Valerie
Tell me more about meeting Al!
🙂
V
I have heard about black garlic, but have never had the opportunity to try it…so far.
You would LOVE Al’s and can order it from him, Val.
🙂
V
This sounds absolutely amazing. I can imagine a dish of homemade fettuccine tossed with this butter, with a simple salad of baby greens with olive oil and lime and a loaf of fresh herbed cheese braid. Add a robust red and it would be the perfect summer dinner. Brendi
Brendi
You got me there. You should have been a writer!
🙂
V
Valerie, I wish I had more time to write. I’m slowly writing a family cookbook, all our favourites that we have passed down over the years and new ones we have created. We all love to cook and this will be a way of preserving our family’s love of cooking and enjoying the bounty of our land. When its finally finished I will talk to our local printer about turning it into copies for everyone. One of my brothers is a gifted amateur photographer so I will enlist his help, in exchange for his getting to feast on the treasured foods he will be photographing, a task I’m sure he will enjoy. i will make sure there is a copy especially for you if would like one. Brendi
Sounds yummy!!!
Élaine
It really is!
V