Garlic Confit
I learned about garlic confit when working with a very talented chef in Sacramento. I met Matt when volunteering at the annual Pebble Beach Food and Wine event during culinary school. I stood back a bit and watched him and his crew work on their delicious foie gras appetizers and beautiful chocolate garnished multi-layered desserts. After a minute or two I could see I would learn a lot from these skilled cooks, so I offered my help. They soon found something for me to do and I glommed onto them for the rest of the day. After we spent hours serving customers these beautiful treats, I asked Matt if I could come up to Sacramento and spend some time in his kitchen. He happily agreed, so off I went a few times a week to learn as much as I could. And learn I did!
One of the most versatile recipes I took away from my time there was garlic confit, although I’m not sure you can actually call it a recipe since it’s so simple. When you confit something, you are slow-roasting it in its own fat. Think duck confit, which is cooked in rendered duck fat. Well, this garlic is cooked in grapeseed oil, both plants. I chose grapeseed oil because, not only is it neutral in flavor, but it also has a high smoke point, so there’s not fear of it burning and getting bitter during the cooking process.
Raw garlic just covered in grapeseed oil.
Garlic roasted until buttery soft.
When all is said and done, you end up with two products: buttery soft garlic cloves and flavorful garlic-infused oil. You can use both the garlic and oil together or separately. Spread silky cloves on thick toasted bread, dot a juicy steak with these gems, or blend them into Garlic Confit Hummus (recipe on blog)… the best damn hummus in the world, if I do say so myself. The oil can be used in vinaigrettes, made into an herby dip for flatbread, or drizzled over white bean spread. It’s addictive!
The fork test. Garlic should be very easily squished (an official culinary term) with a fork without any resistance.
It’s a lot of work to peel several heads of garlic, so I buy the garlic already peeled. You can find it in the produce department at your local market in jars or bags. It’s convenient and so good! So good in fact, I always have a deli container of this in my fridge.
Buying it already peeled with save you a lot of time and work.
Pick a neutral-flavored oil. After the cooking process you will have a delicious garlic-infused oil.
Garlic Confit
Yield: 1 ½ cup
6oz pre-peeled garlic cloves
¾ cup grapeseed oil – may need a bit more to just cover garlic cloves
Preheat oven to 350F.
In an oven-safe container, like a small cake pan or ramekin, place already-peeled garlic with grapeseed oil. You can gently shake the pan to move the garlic cloves around a bit to ensure they are all covered, but you may need to top off with a bit more oil.
Roast uncovered for 25-30 minutes until soft, like butter when pressed with a fork.
Cool at room temperature. Then, transfer to a container and store in the fridge.
