Momma's Garlic Broth

Garlic broth is one of those "go to" things in our house when colds/flues come a knocking at our door. I have a scratchy throat today and a pot on the stove! Fresh garlic is something I always keep on hand. I discovered this broth when I was a vegetarian living in San Fransisco (another life time ago!) It cooks up surprisingly sweet (like roasted garlic), not spicy like one might think. I realized I never shared this on the blog, so here goes:

Garlic Broth

A generous hand full of garlic cloves, sliced or roughly chopped *(to better clarify - try a handfull of garlic for a 2qrt pot, increase accordingly to the size of the pot.)

A pot full of filtered or purified water (*A stainless steel pot is preferred. I would never use aluminum, or Teflon!)

Put your ingredients in your pot with clean water and bring to a boil.

Turn down to a low simmer and cover (this helps trap you volatile oils and nutrients, always cover you pot!) How long is up to you. The longer the better, as it extract more goodness from the garlic. You can turn the heat off and let is steep covered too, if you can't tend to the stove. I would do this a minimum of 30 minutes, but you could do it several hours if you wanted to really attack a strong cold hard.

That's it! Sip it as often as you can. Best to sip it while warm, as warming liquids are more restorative to the body. (not real hot, just real warm to room temp) If you store your broth for another time you may refrigerate it for about a week or so or freeze it or can it. It is so easy to make though...I find I just make is as needed.

Optional variations in or a combination - but again not necessary:

Splash of Olive Oil

Squeeze of Lemon

Parsley (fresh or dry)

Fresh Ginger

A Bay Leaf

Onions (a well known decongestant!)

Greens (super food!)

salt and pepper to taste

This is a very tasty broth to use as a base for your every day cooking too! So I encourage you to use it in place of any chicken or vegetable broth in a recipe. I think you will be very pleased with it!

* A garlic peeling tip: To get the skin of the garlic clove take a wide knife (like a chef's knife or similar) and lay it on its side and push or pound firmly on the side of the knife blade with your fist side or palm to "smash" the glove. (It doesn't really smash the glove.) It releases that papery skin easier than trying to peal it off. Or you can cut off the bottom tip of the clove where the skin is attached and this makes it much easier to peel too.

La Heim! (To Life!)