Confit garlic

Garlic is good, and confit garlic...

Garlic is one of the most popular ingredients in the world, it grows everywhere and is used in virtually all cuisines. Garlic has a huge number of pluses, but it needs to be used carefully, otherwise it can end up making a dish too sharp or bitter, and it can overpower subtler ingredients.

Confit garlic is a good way to overcome those problems, it has a mellower and more subtle taste than raw garlic, but can be used in all of the same ways.

I really like garlic, and I love confit garlic. You can do just about anything with it, substitute it for fresh garlic in any recipe, just use double the amount.

Personally, I like to add it to pasta sauces, make a simple dip by combining it with natural yoghurt and lemon juice, make the best garlic butter in the world, or just squish it straight onto hot toast.

Making confit garlic also has an additional bonus of ending up with a fantastic garlic infused oil as a byproduct.

The French word confit literally means conserved, and is most often applied to duck or other meat that has been slowly cooked in its own fat.

Things, like garlic, which don?t have their own fat can be slowly cooked in fat or oil for a similar result. For this confit garlic recipe, we are going to use olive oil.

There are a couple of different ways of making confit garlic, some people do it in a pan on the hob, but I prefer to do it in the oven. Once you have peeled the garlic you just throw it in and forget about it.

Absolutely nothing is difficult here. The only hassle is peeling all of the garlic cloves, I know that you can buy pre-peeled garlic cloves in Asian shops, but I?ve never tried them.

Preheat your oven to 90°C.

Peel all of the garlic cloves.

Place the peeled garlic cloves in a small oven proof dish, and pour in enough oil to just cover them.

Bake the garlic for about 2 hours.

You can store the garlic in the oil for about a month in the fridge, and once you have finished the garlic you are left with the lovely garlic infused oil, which is perfect for adding to salad dressings.