Garlic Confit
Garlic confit is one of the building blocks of my cuisine, and it’s so easy to make. Not only that, but it also keeps extremely well; when properly refrigerated, garlic confit can last over 6 months, although it’s so delicious that it’ll never last that long anyway!
“Confit” refers to the preparation, much like frying or baking. When you confit something, you are essentially preserving that thing in fat. Before refrigeration, confit was a way to keep things fresh and edible, because the layer of solid fat prevented any bacteria from entering the food. (This was particularly common with meats, such as duck). Nowadays, confit is less of a preservation method as it is a flavor enhancer, since fat is delicious!
I quite love garlic confit over simply roasting garlic for a few reasons:
You don’t have to deal with the papery bits that get stuck to everything
You yield 100% because the cloves are already peeled (as opposed to squeezing the roasted garlic out of the bulb)
Confit gives you double the product - soft, spreadable garlic cloves AND flavorful garlic oil
Saves time for many preparations and avoids a cutting board
One of my favorite meals is angel hair with a little garlic confit. You can zhuzh this up with some anchovy and chili flake, maybe a squeeze of lemon too. But the point is - a little goes a long way, and for how easy this recipe is, there’s no reason to not have garlic confit on hand. To me, it’s one of life’s pleasures. Here’s how you make it:
Ingredients:
2 cups garlic
2 cups olive oil
Method:
Place the garlic in a saucepan and cover with the oil. Heat the pan over medium low heat to slowly bring the garlic to a simmer. Once simmering, adjust the heat as necessary to allow the garlic to slowly simmer. Stir occasionally, and remove from heat once the garlic is golden brown and can easily be smashed with the back of a spoon, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Pour the cooled contents of the saucepan to a glass jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.