Tuesday’s Cupful: Garlic Powder

Keep this substance at the ready
This ingredient really comes in handy if you don’t want to handle or mishandle fresh garlic, which can be pungent with the scent remaining on well-washed hands. Garlic powder is simply dried garlic that’s been finely chopped or pulverized into a powder form. This food item also has slight and subtle flavor differences compared to the fresh ingredient. Garlic powder tends to be more concentrated and sweeter than freshly chopped garlic. Furthermore, do not confuse garlic powder with garlic salt. Some chefs swear by garlic powder and may prefer to use it. The Mixed Stew crew recommends that you keep at least a small amount in the pantry since garlic can go rancid. Garlic powder has a long shelf life.

Helpful Hint: A shortcut to make garlic bread is to spread butter (or margarine) on sliced bread or French bread and then sprinkling some garlic powder on the butter before toasting the bread.