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If you want to have an easier time of using fresh garlic, opt for peeled cloves. I know I probably reach for garlic a whole lot more since we started buying them.

I subscribe to the "garlic should not be browned" school because I think that turns it bitter. There is a really small window between "browned" and "burned."

Another thing that turns cooked garlic bitter is the sprout. Older garlic cloves may have a green sprout in the center of the cloves. I tend to whittle out this sprout, not because it's bitter while raw, but it seems to be the first thing to burn in the pan. It's worth a minute to halve the clove and use your knife tip to remove the sprout before cooking.

Cook garlic on low heat or it will get away from you (burn).

Stephie - there is nothing, nothing like the aroma of fresh garlic wafting through the kitchen. It says "savory" and reaches through your olfactory senses clear to your ears; and will get your stomach growling for whatever goodness you're creating.

I'm sure others will have many more suggestions to encourage you to use real, fresh garlic. :D

I like a garlic press....i think it releases more oils than just chopping it up......buying the peeled cloves sure makes it a lot easier to use....especially if you use a lot at one time like I do !.....i lightly saute the garlic in some olive oil and a knob of butter.....but never brown it.....i'm gonna try and make some pickled garlic one of these days too ....

You'll find that fresh garlic has a taste much cleaner and purer than the powdered. I wasn't raised "Italian" so didn't learn how the fresh taste adds so beautifully to dishes and figured the powder was just as good. Boy, was I wrong!

A tip for making the papery peel release more easily - using a heavy butcher knife, press straight down, firmly, on the clove with the flat of the blade. The peel separates nicely.

As you start cooking with it, you'll get a feel for how you like it. That's the beauty of the whole cooking process. Personally, I'm not overly infatuated with garlic, especially raw. I usually mince it pretty finely or put it through the garlic press. Or, I'll often smash a clove, remove the paper, and put the garlic clove in oil while it's still whole. That way, I can remove the clove after the oil (and the air in the kitchen) get the right amount of garlic flavor for me.

To prevent burning garlic, I used to start garlic in cold oil (put the oil and garlic in the pan just before turning the burner on). Then as soon as the garlic had a minute to cook, I'd start adding other ingredients to dissipate the amount of heat directly on the garlic. Now, I usually preheat the pan and just start with the onions or whatever else, then add in the garlic for a minute when the onions are almost done. Frankly, it's usually fine either way.

Even though I'm not obsessed with garlic, it is a great part of cooking a meal. I can't tell you how many times someone has walked into the kitchen and said how great it smells when the only things in the pan are onions and garlic.

Thanks everyone! I cooking garlic in a pan last night and the taste of my food was incredible! I'm roasting it in the oven as I type! AWSOME! You're right chiff0nade, there's nothing like it!

Easiest way to prepare fresh garlic (aka, not standing around with a pairing knife and fiddling with the filmy bits of papery skin), IMO is to break the head into cloves, then give each glove a good solid smack with the back of a heavy chef's knife. This will crush the garlic, releasing the aromatic oils and make it all but fall out of its skin. You can chop up the garlic from there to desireable size, or just use the smooshed garlic as is. This way, the pieces remain large enough to pick out of food if you don't wish to eat it later.

Rachel Ray's been known to do it this way, but I got it from my mom!

A super easy way to jazz up veggies is to perfume hot oil in a pan with smashed garlic cloves, then toss in blanched greens and stir fry. Almost disgustingly simple, yet its hard to imagine why anyone dislikes veggies when they can be prepared this way.

@LiveToEat, I do the same thing! And learned it from the same source!

I saw JP mince a clove of garlic, sprinkle salt on it, mince a little more, then use the flat part of a chef's knife to smear the garlic across the cutting board. This is step 1 in my technique to make vinaigrette or for use in any type of prep where garlic is not cooked as it combines thoroughly through the other ingredients.

I do tend to chop garlic for sauteing, vs. mashing it to a paste. Sometimes I just halve the cloves and I generally don't remove them from the cooked dish, instead opting to enjoy the softened, sweet garlic.