Oh, we hate to let anything go to waste. To us, wasting food is a sin. So, we try very hard to make sure we use up everything we get in our CSA shares, and everything that we buy. That’s why we were in a dilemma just the other day. You see, we had a head of garlic that seemed as if it were getting a little soft, and at least one clove had gone bad. Well, we broke out the knife, peeled all the cloves, discarded any bad ones, trimmed off any dubious spots, and made up a batch of Garlic Confit to hold it a bit longer.
While we knew the basics behind making garlic confit — slowly simmer the garlic cloves in oil — we did look at Ad Hoc at Home, by Thomas Keller, just to see if we were forgetting anything. Nope. We nailed it. Simmer garlic cloves in oil.
Garlic Confit
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic
- 1/2 cup canola oil
Instructions
- Peel and trim cloves of garlic. Place in a small saucepan and add oil.
- Place over very low heat so the garlic just barely bubbles. If needed, move the saucepan off the edge of the burner, or use a heat diffuser, to keep keep the heat low enough.
- Let simmer for about 40 minutes, or until garlic cloves are very tender and can be pierced easily with a sharp knife.
- Transfer to a small jar and seal. Store in the refrigerator.
Ingredient discussion:
Rather than discussing the ingredients, let’s discuss what you can do with this confit. Brush it on bread to make garlic bread. Make Garlic Comté Breadsticks, add to soups in place of garlic, or, mash smooth to make a mild garlic spread; basically, Garlic Confit will work anyplace you want the flavor of mild, well- cooked — but not burnt — garlic.
Procedure in detail:
Prepare garlic. If you’re using a nice pristine head of garlic, just peel the cloves and you’ll be through. If not, trim away the ends and any parts of the cloves that look dubious. If your garlic is sprouting and has a green germ inside, we recommend slicing the cloves in half and removing the germ, as it can be quite sharp-tasting.
Simmer. Place the cloves in a small saucepan and add about 1/2 cup oil. The exact amount doesn’t matter much; basically, use just enough to mostly cover the cloves. The original recipe calls for enough oil to cover the cloves, and to make sure none of the cloves pokes out of the oil. Some of ours did, just a bit. Place over very low heat — about as low as you can go — and heat until you start getting tiny bubbles popping up around the garlic. Keep the bubbles small and few; you’re more or less poaching the garlic in the oil, not trying to cook it. If need be, slide the pan slightly off the burner or use a heat diffuser. Once simmering, continue cooking, shaking the pan every so often, until the garlic is very tender and easily pierced with a knife. If your garlic begins to brown, your heat is too high, or you’ve cooked the garlic too long.
Pack. Transfer the cloves and oil to a small jar, cover, and store in the refrigerator.
This has to get five stars because it’s so easy and it saves us from having to throw away food that’s heading past its prime. We’ve used this garlic oil before in the Garlic Comté Breadsticks; it’s rather mild from all the low-heat simmering.
