It’s crazy not to have a constant supply of garlic confit on hand. Poach whole cloves slowly in hot olive oil for 10 – 15 minutes. Only small bubbles should be seen in the oil and the garlic should not take on any color. Store, covered in the cooking oil, in the refrigerator. It keeps forever. The hardest part is peeling the garlic. If only there was some sort of tutorial with images to explain that part. If only…
It’s like magic, it’s it? It’s like I planned that. There are many ways to peel garlic. The quickest is to smash it with your fist. But, that’s ugly. We are looking for Rob Lowe not Mickey Rourke. To start, I take a paring knife and dig it in at the root end of the inside arch (not unlike what happened to Mickey). Pinch the paper with my thumb and strip the inner paper off to the tip. In a continuation of the movement, make a small cut at the tip and pinch the paper again. Pull up and back to strip the paper off the outside arch. There will be two side pieces that should knock off with ease.
What would one do with garlic confit? Use it instead of fresh garlic? Please advise! I don’t want to be crazy.
Anything you would use roasted garlic with. Eggs, lamb, aioli, salad dressing. Basically it’s a mellow version of raw garlic, ready to go at any time. The bonus is that you have garlic flavored olive oil that you can use also.