Ready for the oven. It's garlic and it will still emerge as garlic, but better: Soft, mellow, a little sweet, and without garlic's "garlic kick."
Garlic confit is made by slow-cooking garlic in an herb flavoured oil bath. During this process, the water content in the garlic is cooked out causing the garlic to attain concentrated flavour while losing its sharp acidic taste. The trick is to cook the garlic on a low setting so that it doesn't start frying. If it does ... Well, if it does, we get rid of it and begin all over again.
Let's face it: whatever its merits, the taste of raw garlic is heavy and may cause stomach upset. However, there is always that lovely concoction known as garlic confit which comes to the rescue by transforming raw garlic into a wonderful and mashable condiment. Yes, garlic confit changes the taste of garlic from pungent to soft, sweet, and mellow!
Confit, from the French, is a centuries-old method of cooking an ingredient in its own fat. However, since garlic contains no fat, garlic confit is cooked in an oil bath. The type of oil used is important; one needs something with a high smoke point. The best choice for the job is grapeseed oil.
How about some garlic confit on garlic bread??? Try it! Use it in marinades or use it to flavour vegetables and sauces. Try it in pesto sauce! How about the oil it's cooked in? Mix a couple of tablespoons into olive oil to flavour vinaigrettes!
Ingredient list:
Two heads of garlic (or three if they are small), separated into cloves; each clove should be peeled
Grapeseed oil to cover the garlic
Sprigs of thyme
One sprig of rosemary
Two bay leaves
About 10 peppercorns
How to make garlic confit:
I start by peeling two heads (or three if they are on the small side) of garlic. Peeling a lot of galic cloves can get very boring! Sometimes I whack the cloves with a knife so they're easier to peel, but I try not to whack too hard as I don't want to wind up with flattened garlic.
The oven is preheated to 275°F/135°C
I get ahold of a small baking dish. Inside, I place the peeled garlic cloves, two bay leaves, sprigs of thyme and rosemary, and peppercorns.
I add the grapeseed oil to cover. Then, I place aluminium foil over the dish and pop it in the oven.
Baking takes about forty minutes. When the garlic cloves become soft and slightly golden in colour, the metamorphosis has occurred: behold the garlic confit! Since every oven is different baking times will vary, therefore check the garlic a few times so that it doesn't get burned. And no leaving the house! Stay right there in the kitchen and keep an eye on your developing masterpiece because it can go from confit to unfit in mere minutes.
To store: Cool the confit and transfer it (oil included) to a clean resealable jar.
During cooking, the garlic loses its acidity, therefore bacteria will build up if the jar and its ingredients are not kept clean and refrigerated. The jar must always be kept refrigerated and care should be taken that the lid and mouth of the jar aren't contaminated. Each time garlic is needed, it must be retrieved with a clean utensil. Don't place the same utensil in the jar twice. If more confit is needed, another clean utensil should be used. The maximum storage time for garlic confit is a week to ten days at most. No need to waste it ... make only a small portion. And enjoy that garlic confit garlic bread!!
Proud I've finished this post without making any of the obligatory jokes about garlic and vampires ...
