Green Garlic and Roast

I don't know about you, but at a certain point after Thanksgiving, I decide that if I have to eat one more bite of something that had feathers in its lifetime, I will scream.

SCREAM.

I do love turkey - don't get me wrong - but sometimes a girl just needs some good old red meat. So I decided to make one of my favorites, an English Roast. I sliced the onion, I peppered the meat. I chopped the garlic and mixed it with the wine, vinegar, and spices. I carefully stacked the meat on top of the onions, poured the liquid and garlic on top, set the timer, and went on about my day.

About two hours later I decided to give it a check, and I could tell there was something odd even through the condensation on the lid. The meat was speckled with bits of green.

GREEN.

I mean SUPER GREEN.

Belongs in a salad GREEN.

WHAT THE HELL DID I DO TO THAT MEAT?!?

After the initial panic subsided, I realized that the green was actually the garlic. The smell was good. The taste was good. Still. Ugh. It looked awful. Like the green cheese grits that Mom makes every St. Patrick's day that taste absolutely awesome but you have to eat them with your eyes closed because part of you sincerely believes they've molded.

So I looked it up on the internet.

According to WikiAnswers, immature chopped garlic will sometimes turn green when exposed to air, copper, or acidic liquids like vinegar. It is perfectly safe to eat, just a terribly unappetizing color. To fix the green-ness, you can cook the hell out of it (which I did), and eventually the color will go back to normal. Or to prevent the color altogether, store your garlic at room temperature for four weeks or more to allow it to completely mature before using it in dishes.

It's true-blue, old-school food coloring.

So use your old garlic first. Except on St. Patrick's Day.

Photo courtesy of David Rusling.