Making your own confit garlic doesn't sound like an appealing idea; however, once you make it once and use the garlic and the residual oil, you'll be a convert too. Confiting means to cook in fat (usually a meat cooked in its own fat) - and instead of frying at a higher heat, a confit cooks over a longer period at a lower temperature.
You can use confit garlic on, well, anything. It's delicious. It converts the raw, pungentness of garlic into a rich, sweet clove that can be crushed between your fingers. Throw some into a hummus, with roast vegetables, or with any protein to add a subtle garlic richness to the dish. By making this, you'll also be left with garlic oil - so use this liberally across everything, too.
Ingredients:
- Garlic bulbs, peeled (buy them this way to save time). You'll want to make at least two bulbs worth at a time, or even more, so buy in bulk here.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or an oil low in saturated fat
- Herbs (thyme or rosemary)
Method:
To make just the right amount, find a jar you'd like to store the end product in, and fill it with garlic and top with oil. Tip all of this into a small saucepan with a lid. Alternatively, cover the bottom of a small saucepan with garlic cloves, covering a single layer.
Cover the cloves with enough olive oil. Throw in a couple of sprigs of rosemary or thyme, cover, and set over a medium/medium low heat for 25 minutes. You don't want big bubbles - this means you're deep frying, and they'll burn - but little bubbles from the cloves are perfect. Once the cloves have a light colouring, remove from the heat and allow to cool.