Crispy Garlic

Sometimes the best things happen by accident, and this was one of them….at least it seemed like it at the time.  I got distracted while intending to lightly brown a couple of flattened garlic cloves in some hot oil and ended up with some crispy medium brown cloves instead.  I went with it, and set them on a brown paper bag to drain while I barbequed the steak tips and blanched the green beans for a couple of minutes before running them under cold water.  I chopped up the crispy garlic, dried and cut the beans, then tossed with some halved Sun Gold Tomatoes, my best extra virgin olive oil, ground white pepper, and coarse salt.  Not sure what possessed me, it could have been the half bottle of Chianti, but I served the veggies over the steak tips so the salt and peppered oil, garlic, and juice from the tomatoes seeped down making for an absolutely incredible combination of flavors, textures, and temperatures.  Crispy garlic is now a regular addition at our house to all kinds of vegetables, starches, and meats.  In fact, aside for a bowl of breakfast cereal not sure you can go wrong.