Monday, August 2, 2010

Everyday Yumminess: Garlic Confit

This is actually a recipe from my awesome new Greek cookbook, How to Roast a Lamb, but I'm listing it under "Everyday Yumminess" instead of "Cookbook Adventures" since it's one of those simple, awesome things that you'll find yourself making all the time without having to even reach for the book. Behold the beauty of Garlic Confit:
As I mentioned, this comes from my fabulous new book, where Michael Psilakis writes, "If you get nothing else out of this book, you are going to thank me for this recipe." I've already gotten plenty more out of this book (as you'll see in my next post), but I'm still pretty darned happy to have this recipe under my belt.
It couldn't be much simpler. All you need is 3 cups of peeled garlic cloves (I went with pre-peeled because I had a lot on my plate this weekend, but feel free to knock yourself out peeling a couple hundred cloves of garlic if it makes you happy...), about 10 sprigs of fresh thyme, a fresh bay leaf or two (or a couple dried), a scant tablespoon of kosher salt, and about 20 black peppercorns.
This all goes into a dutch oven...
... and you add enough oil (equal parts olive oil and canola oil) to just barely cover the ingredients.
Throw it in a 300°F oven for 60 to 90 minutes (until the garlic is looking pale golden and feeling tender), and allow to cool to room temperature.
At this point you're ready to go. Any garlic that you're not using immediately can go into a sanitized jar with the oil and be kept in the fridge for up to a month. (I was wishing at this point that I had thought ahead and bought a nice jar instead of having to sanitize a pickle jar with its garish blue lid showing up in my pictures... Sigh.)
As an added bonus, the recipe makes your house smell like heaven as the garlic cooks, and also leaves you with a nice batch of delicious garlic oil to use in your salad dressings and whatnot...
I remember when my family first discovered the joys of roasted garlic schmeared on a toasted slice of baguette. I've loved roasted garlic ever since, but I will honestly never make it again now that I know about garlic confit. The garlic from this recipe is tender and sweet, perfectly seasoned, and without a hint of the bitterness that can sometimes be an issue with roasted garlic. If you're a fan of roasted garlic, too, then I highly recommend that you go make yourself a batch of this. You can thank me (and Michael Psilakis) later...

4 comments:

Jun Belen said...

Roasted garlic is one of life's simple pleasures. But I may have to give this garlic confit a try. Soon!

emmo said...

This doesn't really take any more effort than roasted garlic (just a big pot and some oil... which you can re-use as amazing garlic oil...), but it's remarkably better...

As a former fan of roasted garlic, I'm not sure I would have believed me either... but it's kind of like how you can think you love a nice 12-year-old single malt scotch, and then the first time you try an 18-year-old single malt you think to yourself "How did I ever drink that swill?!?" =)

Miss Kathy said...

I just ordered this very cookbook from Amazon. Can't wait to try the gyro's. Can you please tell me where I can find the cookbook holder you have pictured? I need one desperately. My books are starting to get stained and splattered from sitting on the counter.
Thanks and keep writing. Love the recipes and pictures.

emmo said...

You know, my mom gave me that cookbook holder more than 10 years ago, and I can't seem to find the same one online. I really do love it.

I've finally learned over the years to just see the splatters and stains on my cookbook pages as a sign that they're being used with love (although there are still a few that are too precious for me to let them get dirty). =)

I can't wait for you to try the Gyros. They are AMAZING. =)