Garlic Confit

Garlic confit may be the most important condiment to have in your refrigerator. Yet many have never heard of it. What's not to love about cloves of garlic cooked in oil?


While you may not have heard of it, it's actually very popular in modern foodie publications like
Epicurious, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit and The Kitchn.  Garlic confit is one of my all-time favorite ingredients to give any vegetable dish a flavor boost. It takes its name from the French dish, duck confit which is duck leg slowly cooked with garlic, seasonings and rendered duck fat. The purpose of confit (which means candied in French) is food preservation, while providing a tender, moist, and extremely flavorful meat. Slow cooking a batch of garlic in fat, like olive and canola oil, produces tender and sweet cloves, along with a  fragrant and delicious oil. Hence the name Garlic Confit.

I use a 50/50 blend of canola and olive oil. You can use only canola for perfectly clear oil during storage, but if you use only the olive oil it will solidify in your refrigerator. I prefer a half and half blend which keeps the oil from becoming a solid when chilled. 

Uses:  Use garlic confit to add flavor to a dish of steamed or grilled vegetables by smashing a few cloves and mixing them with the infused oil and pouring them over the vegetables. Do the same thing for a salad dressing but add some vinegar and honey as well. Spread some goat cheese on a crisp toast and add a clove of garlic confit. What a special appetizer or snack that is. Slice it and place it on a sandwich or your homemade pizza. The bite of raw garlic is gone and only the delicious flavor remains. Mash it into a paste with a fork and stir it into your favorite soft cheese or even Greek yogurt and you have a great cheese dip. One of my favorites is to whip it into mashed potatoes. The possibilities are endless.

Ingredients

Fresh Garlic Heads
Olive Oil
Canola Oil
Fresh Rosemary Stems (optional)
Fresh Thyme Stems  (optional

Instructions

Cut just the bottom and top ends off of each clove of garlic. (This will make peeling easier.) Peel the dry skins from the cloves (2 heads or more) of garlic, large heads/jumbo elephant garlic, preferred. Place the cloves in a small saucepan and pour in a 50/50 mix of olive oil and canola oil to cover the cloves. Cut the optional herbs so they will fit in your storage container and add to the pot if using. Over medium heat bring the oil to just a simmer, then reduce the heat as low as it can go. Use your low output / precise simmer burner if you have one turned all the way down. Even this may be too much. If so, use a diffuser Your goal is to gently poach the garlic, not simmer it. Cook for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is soft and tender, but not falling apart. Transfer the garlic (and optional herbs) with a slotted spoon to a jar or glass storage container with a tight fitting lid and pour the oil in to cover the cloves.

Cool the mixture to room temperature. Cover the container tightly and keep refrigerated for several weeks, or freeze for several months. (Keep the cloves covered in oil and use a clean spoon to remove them from the container each time so as not to contaminate the batch.)

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