What would the world be without garlic? I use it in almost every dish. Well, maybe not the strawberry tarts we are making tonight, but I have made garlic ice cream and roasted garlic chocolate chip cookies. All this excitement is due to my garlic garden that is growing by leaps and bounds. I planted it last fall. Covered by snow all winter, it was just sitting there chilling out waiting for the first warm days of spring. Spring came early this year and the garlic started bursting out of the ground. Now it’s almost 2 feet high! This is my first attempt at growing garlic and, so far, I’m quite impressed.
Garlic is used around the world. It is a native of Central Asia. Egyptians worshiped it, Transylvania’s Dracula feared it, and the Italians adored it. Americans were not in love with it until after the 1940’s and now we eat more than 250 million pounds a year. Garlic has always been considered good for you. Now scientists are 
proving the medicinal properties. Studies have shown that it slows the growth of tumors, is a powerful antioxidant that is good for your heart and can reduce the LDLs or “bad” cholesterol. What’s not to love?
In another life my husband and I worked at The Gardens, a family steak house in Iowa. One of the best loved items on their “non-existent” menu was the garlic bread. I’ve changed the recipe a bit. In the day…it was margarine with garlic salt spread on fluffy French bread, grilled on the big flattop griddle. A crusty rustic loaf of bread with fresh smashed garlic and olive oil is the way I make it now. Garlic toast is used as the “bun” of this midwest tenderloin sandwich. It’s a taste of home and reminiscent of the first date with my husband, eons ago. (I should have realized then what a frugal guy he was…taking his date to his dad’s restaurant for a free meal!) Must have been love.
Print Recipe Here
The Garden’s
Pork Tenderloin Sandwich
Serves 4
Prep time: 30 minutes
1 small pork tenderloin, cut into 4 2-inch thick slices
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup crushed saltine crackers
1/2 cup canola oil
Smash the tenderloin with a meat pounder until it forms a large thin scallop, about 1/4-inch thick. Dip in milk and press into the cracker crumbs. Roll the crumbs into the meat with a rolling pin, or as my father-in-law did, with a beer bottle. (The Gardens was a bar before it was a steak house.) Heat the oil in a heavy skillet and fry the tenderloins until golden brown on each side. Serve on garlic toast with dill pickles and mustard.
Garlic Toast
8 slices rustic bread
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Smash the garlic in a mortar and pestle with the salt. Add the oil and mix well. Spread on each side of the bread. Heat a skillet and toast the bread on both sides until golden.
