It’s September. Have you put your whites away? Do you follow that rule? No white after Labor Day? I don’t follow rules. I wear what I want, when I want. And it’s still hot enough for white.
It’s also time to turn on my oven, even though it’s 90 degrees out there. That’s what September means to me. Time to fire up the oven. And bake some good, hearty stuff.
It’s also time to whip out my boots. All my boots. I own an insane amount of boots. It’s a problem, really.
But let’s focus on September. And garlic mojo.
What’s a mojo? Glad you asked, homies. Mojo is an herby olive oil based sauce. Latinos use it as a condiment, a marinade, or pretty much whatever the hell we want. No two Latino countries make it the same, yet we all rock at this mojo deal. For the purpose of this post, we’re using it as a dip. So yes, this means we’re eating an insane amount of olive oil today. And tons and tons of garlic. This mojo situation has 20 cloves of diced garlic.
Yes, 20 cloves.
Are you down with that?
You’re down with that.
The garlic gets diced and doused with olive oil. OK – Not doused. You just cover the garlic in olive oil. You add salt and pepper to taste – Then you bake this bad boy in the oven until the garlic softens and your house becomes all garlic-fied.
And who isn’t down with a garlic-fied house?
You have to resist the urge to face plant into this. It’s hot. You could suffer some degree of burning. RESIST. Wait a bit, then add a healthy dose of cilantro. Juice and zest a lime. Mix this jammy until combined.
Taste…
Mmm… That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout.
So… You’re going to need something to dip into this zesty garlic situation.
BOOM – Plantain chips. The perfect scooping vessel for this mojo situation. You can make your own, or buy them at your local supermarket. You know where… The Latino section.
I made my own. It’s super simple. If you own a mandolin, just pass a bunch of green plantains through it. Coins or strips, whatever floats your boat. Or you can sharp knife them thinly. If you have knife skillz. I don’t have real knife skillz.
Fry those jammies till they’re golden, and place on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the grease situation that inevitably happens when you fry stuff.
Get ready… Sit down or something. Or stand. Whatever… Dip a plantain chip into this zesty garlic mojo deal.
Take a sniff. There’s garlic and lime all up in your nose areas.
Embrace it.
Now eat.
Again…
Can you taste it? Can you really, really taste it?
This is fry up 4 plantains and hide in a corner, gorging yourself on what is essentially a boatload of olive oil and garlic, all zest’d (totally a word) up and cilantroed (totally a word) out. This is a slap a hand that touches your mojo situation ’cause it’s yours. All yours…
You feeling this?
Oh, you’re feelin’ it…
[purerecipe]
Zesty Garlic Mojo
Ingredients
- 20 large garlic cloves diced
- Olive oil enough to coat diced garlic in dish
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
- Zest and juice of 1 lime
- Plantain chips homemade or store bought
Instructions
- Preheat oven 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add the diced garlic to a small oven proof dish (I used a 4.5 ounce creme brulee ramekin). Add enough olive oil to just cover the garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste and place in the oven for about 25-30 minutes, watching the garlic every once in a while to make sure it doesn't burn.
- Remove from the oven, place ramekin on a baking rack, and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped cilantro, lime, and zest. Stir to combine and adjust salt and pepper if needed.
- Make or buy some plantain chips and dip into that bad boy until it's gone. Breathe on someone, 'cause garlic breath is something you share.