Garlic Confit

Garlic confit
After a daunting project like Soffritto or the time consuming caramelized onions, this garlic confit will come as a great relief. It is one of the simplest and simultaneously wonderful ingredients in my arsenal.

It is ridiculously simple: take up to 10 heads of peeled garlic (for an industrial amount) and place them in a sauce pot, add olive oil (not extra virgin, it burns too easily) to cover the level of the garlic, a pinch of salt, and cover the pot with a lid.

Once the garlic starts to bubble, turn the heat down from to medium to low, and let simmer. Once the garlic is soft, brown and delicious, it is finished!

See how easy that was? Strain off the garlic and let the oil cool. After everything has cooled separately, pour the oil over the garlic and place in a container with a lid in the refrigerator. These little nuggets of sweet flavor will become indispensable to you in your cooking. From spreading on toast, an addition to omlettes and frittatas to take brunch to the next level, to adding a subtle sweetness to soup, sauces and salads, garlic confit is a world class flavoring agent as well as a wonderful dish all by itself. (Yes I even put it in my salad, and I recommend you try it as well).
I also will tell you that while the garlic got all delicious while it was getting cooked, you were making an infused garlic oil which can be used to flavor things with a subtle garlic flavor. An enterprising chef can use this oil for all kinds of things from making salad dressings to scrambled eggs to perhaps its most perfect use is drizzled on toast points to be served as a canape…

Simple and elegant is the name of this dish. If you figure out other uses, please let me know, I love to hear what people use to make their food special.

Cheers,

Erik