Garlic Confit

Garlic Confit is used in so many preparations that many consider it to be a pantry staple. It's a wonderful flavoring addition for many dishes from mashed potatoes to seafood, or stirred into soup or spread on a crusty piece of bread. Don’t forget to use the oil and not just the garlic cloves.


Garlic Confit
Yield: 2 Cups     Total Time: 1 Hour


Ingredients

• 4 Head of Garlic or as much as you will use in two weeks
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preparation Steps

Step 1. Separate all of the cloves from the heads. Cut off the stem end and peel each clove. Place the cloves in a small saucepan and add enough Extra Virgin Olive Oil to cover them by ½ inch.

Step 2. Put saucepan over medium-low heat until bubbles just begin to form in oil.

Step 3. Reduce heat to the lowest possible simmer and cook slow and gently for 40 minutes, stirring every five minutes until the Garlic is tender when pierced with a fork. Adjust heat as necessary - do not allow Garlic to color, other than what the color of the Olive Oil imparts.

Step 4. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the confit into a heat/cold proof bowl. Set this bowl in an ice bath and stir the contents to cool as rapidly as possible.

Step 5. Store the Garlic, in a sealed container, submerged in the oil for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

Cooked Garlic in Ice Water Bath

Tips and Trending

~ Use Garlic Confit as you would fresh garlic; the flavor is more subtle than fresh and similar to roasted garlic in nuttiness, so you may wish to increase the amount you use in some dishes.

~ Try serving warm to spread on crusty bread with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese and some Kalamata olives as a simple appetizer.

~  This recipe requires constant attention – if you allow the Garlic to brown at all, you will not have Garlic Confit, but simply deep fried garlic.

~ If you are not particular about the appearance of the finished Confit, you may smash the cloves with the side of a knife to facilitate peeling. Just avoid smashing so hard as to pulverize the cloves – we want to keep them as whole as possible.

~ There are a few gizmos and gadgets for sale to remove the results of handling raw garlic from your hands, but we’ve found the best method uses something you have on hand. Wet your hands under warm water and shake table salt all over them. Rub together, rinse and repeat and voila, no more garlic smell!

~ Care must be taken to insure that all of the ingredients and utensils you use for this recipe are washed to avoid contamination. Only prepare the amount that you will use in a span of two weeks. Do not store Garlic Confit unless under refrigeration.