confit of garlic
So I didn’t really harvest this garlic…unless you count picking up a bulk bag of it at Costco….I think we’ve all lost our minds at Costco (or other similar stores) at some point…you know, leaving with giant bags of “what was I thinking?” that would take a free standing freezing unit to hold everything and you only have a small refrigerator freezer….giant bags of lettuce, most of it ending up in the compost later because, lets face it, I don’t eat that much salad….giant boxes of olive oil and cereal that seem to last forever and you start to dry heave at the sight of Special K boxes…
I use a lot of garlic in recipes…but not enough, I discovered, to warrant a 5 pound bag. Luckily garlic last a long time, but not really long enough when you have so much. If you’re overwhelmed with a harvest of garlic there are many options for preserving it so that it last longer or can be used in more dishes. You might roast it and make roasted garlic butter or make a garlic paste. I chose to make a confit of garlic (cause it sounded fancy and it used the most garlic heads of the recipes I had–plus it was the easiest).
You’ll need:
5 garlic heads (not cloves…HEADS)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 small dried red chili or 8 whole peppercorns (I used peppercorns)
1 1/2 cups olive oil (of which I have gallons)
Step One: Divide and conquer. Separate all the garlic cloves and peel them.
Step Two: Low and slow we go. Put the peeled garlic and all of the remaining ingredients into a small saucepan. Set over low heat for 1 hour.
Step Three: Transfer. Remove from heat and let cool. Transfer to a sterilized jar and cover tightly. Store in refrigerator.
Can use the cloves and oil on pasta dishes, potatoes, veggies, or spread on toast. Use the oil for cooking or in salad dressings and marinades.
