How to Clean Leeks

1. Fill a long deep pan with water and add a few drops of lemon cooking juice or wine vinegar.
2. Cut off the root end and the top few inches of green. (most recipes call for only the white part, so save the green for broth, if you like) Slit it lengthwise so it unscrolls.
3. Loosen the layers, and soak the leek for about 10 mins. Rinse it well with fresh water and pat it dry with paper towels.

Garlic Salt

Make your own garlic salt by burying three cloves of peeled garlic in a ½ cup of salt in a sealed container for a few days. Add fresh ground black pepper and ground ginger to taste. Remove garlic cloves before using salt in soups, stews, and on roast meats and vegetables.

Storing Garlic

If you use garlic often, chop several heads of garlic at once. Place the chopped garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in an airtight container. Store in the coldest part of the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Tears

Freeze or refrigerate onions briefly before chopping, peel under cold running water.
Cut the root end last.

Peeling Garlic

An easy way to peel garlic cloves is to smash them on your cutting board with the flat side of a large knife, or blanche them in boiling water for a few seconds.

Storing

To extend the freshness of garlic, peel it and then store it in salad oil, in the refrigerator.

Garlic Odor

To remove garlic odor from your hands, rinse with fresh lemon juice or scrub with a bit of salt, then rinse with cool water.

Easy Peel Garlic

For easier peeling of garlic, microwave unpeeled cloves on HIGH for 10 to 20 seconds. Cool and store unpeeled cloves in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Grow Your Own Garlic

Growing garlic at home is very easy. Clear a small space in your garden or fill a few large pots with compost. Take a head of garlic and separate it into cloves. Push the cloves into the compost, pointy end up, to twice the depth of the height of the clove. Smooth over the compost and water gently. If you planted the garlic in your garden, mark the spot with a few sticks.

In large parts of the northern hemisphere, summer is not long enough to ripen garlic properly. To overcome this handicap, plant your garlic bulbs in late October or November. They can handle the frost and will reward you with full-size, sweet-tasting garlic come June or July.

Pick Your Own Wild Garlic

In spring, follow your nose and pick wild garlic leaves. They are usually found in shady hedgerows or under trees. Chop the leaves and mix with softened butter for really superior garlic butter. Or peel an orange and whizz in the food processor with a handful of wild garlic leaves. Reduce the resulting slush over a low heat until it reaches a jam-like consistency. Mix this will an equal amount of softened butter - wonderful on a grilled steak!