Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Garlic Confit


Ok it’s true. I’m a nut for garlic confit.
I use it constantly.

I can’t help it.

It’s my most favorite discovery in years…well, other than Groom, but that’s a different story. Yes, I did blog about it last year, but the requests from readers and friends led me to make it the subject of its own post. It is most definitely post-worthy.

It’s quick, easy to make and the benefits are huge.

You get wonderful garlic oil that can go in salad dressings, or drizzled over home fries, brushed on grilled lamb chops…or even swirled through a bit of cream cheese (it was late and we were hungry!).

Not to mention soft sweet garlic cloves that mush beautifully in tomato sauce, or thrown artfully on a pizza, or stuffed in tomatoes topped with grated Manchego cheese and bread crumbs for a quick broiling to accompany roast chicken. I’ve swirled it into macaroni and cheese that is made by someone other than myself and has been known to be a lifesaver.

I could go on forever, but you need to get out and get a bag o’ garlic and start your own love affair with confit.

You’ll thank me for this over and over.

Garlic Confit
Inspired by A Chicken in Each Granny Cart (thank you again, Ann)

You’ll need 20 heads of garlic, separated into cloves, paper husks rubbed off with your fingers, last husk left on.
Put into 2 quart saucepan. Cover with extra virgin olive oil.
Set over medium low heat and bring to a good simmer. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for at least 30 minutes. Oil will be cooled and you can test a clove to be sure it’s soft. If not, you can put back on the stove, bring up to the simmer and repeat the process. Drain the garlic, reserving the oil. Take the cloves and squeeze them into a quart jar. When you’re through with this, pour the reserved garlic oil over the cloves in the jar, put the top on it and store in the refrigerator.

I usually call for “a good spoonful of garlic confit” in the recipes on Feeding Groom. At our house, it’s a soup spoon. You’ll get to where you know how much to use. You’ll be making this as much as I do before you know it!

One Year ago on Feeding Groom
Share/Save/Bookmark

8 comments:

Mary Coleman said...

Yes, you are. Enjoy!!!!!

pam said...

How long does this keep in the fridge?

Mary Coleman said...

Well, for us it doesn't last more than a month cause we tend to use it in everything. Some people say two weeks, other versions say as long as it's refrigerated it can last two to three months. I think the key is the refrigeration process. You might want to cut the recipe in half and experiment with how long it takes you to use it up. The spoonful I talk about usually has 5 to 6 cloves in it. The garlic flavor is so mild you can use it a lot more freely than fresh.

Peter M said...

Mary, I think I'm going to make a big batch...makes almost every dish wicked-awesome!

Anonymous said...

Thank you tons for this one - I was lusting for it from the first time you mentioned it, and i can think of about 30 things to do with it. Yum.

una donna dolce said...

I'm definitely gonna have to make some of this!

Mary Coleman said...

It's definitely worth making and keeping on hand all the time!

roryrabbitfield said...

Thanks for the recipe, Mary! Sounds really good.