Elephant Garlic

A few weeks ago we had a friend coming for dinner. I was prepping for the meal and realized I was missing two items. I had been to the grocery that morning, but had forgotten them. I hate when I do that. Oh well... J was out and about so I called and asked if he could bring me the orzo pasta (for the Elegant Orzo Pasta recipe - kind of an important ingredient that I forgot to buy) and some garlic. Just a head of garlic. And that's it.

He ran by the store and picked up the items. He came home and handed me the bag in the kitchen. I started unpacking it and had a great surprise as I reached blindly into the bag. I think I even let out some sort of exclamation.

"Holy cow! That is the biggest head of garlic EVER!"

And then I laughed really hard for a minute.

And it had this identification tag on it: Elephant Garlic

As you can see from the photo - it's as big as a coffee mug. Who knew this sort of thing existed?!?! And I have had seasons of being a FoodNetwork junkie. J got it because he did the math and felt like it was a better deal - which I love. =)

I used a whole giant clove in the recipe, but you can because it's much more mild than regular garlic. So there you go - Elephant Garlic. A value play, and also a great conversation piece.