Garlic Confit

Hi friends. I figured it was time to check in. How are you all doing during this strange quarantine period? Does everyone have enough dried beans, rice, and toilet paper? It’s at times like these I’m happy I have so many things in my freezer from meals and cookies past. Because I’m avoiding grocery shopping unless I really have to go.

It’s odd to feel so isolate and alone…with everyone else. We’re all going through this together, and somehow that makes it feel less lonely. Do you feel the same way? And I’m hoping we come through this stronger together. Like a group from work that bonds after finishing the ropes course…or something like that.

I wanted to leave a recipe here for you all while we’re locked away in our respective homes. Are we sick of attempting sourdough and that instant coffee foam thing? Nah I didn’t think so. But, if you’re ready for a kitchen project that’s easy and utilizes those pantry ingredients, this is for you.

The process of preserving garlic is a good one because it renders garlic sweet and spreadable. Perfect for sandwiches, salads, stirring into pasta, etc. You name it, and confit garlic can make it better. It has an extra benefit of extending the shelf life of the garlic, which is something all of us are paying attention to now.

Oh, and bonus. The oil you cook and store the garlic in is beyond amazing and can be used for the most amazing bread dipping oil, pasta sauce, etc. etc.

The only other thing of note that I’ll write here is that you should be a bit careful of botulism. Clostridium botulinum is a pathogenic bacterium that flourishes under anaerobic conditions, and it creates a toxin that is hard to kill with heat. That toxin can cause some serious effects like paralysis…and death. The oil here creates such dangerous conditions—this is made worse because the garlic is not acidic enough to keep C. bot at bay on its own. This means, that you definitely want to keep the garlic in the fridge as soon as possible once it’s prepared. Never keep confit garlic at room temperature. And to be safe, don’t keep it in your fridge too long either. If we follow these rules, we should all be juuuust fine.

Now that we’ve covered that. I have a few favorite pantry recipes I’d like to highlight here, because I know we’re all looking for some kitchen inspo right now without using too many of our precious food resources. Enjoy! And stay safe.

Garlic Confit

Print Recipe

2 heads of garlic

Grapeseed oil or olive oil

1. Preheat your oven to 250°F.
2. Peel the garlic, removing all of the papery bits. Cut the hardened bottoms from the cloves as those won’t soften well. Also cut any other bad bits like brown spots or budding tops from the cloves.
3. Put the cloves into an oven-safe saucepan or small loaf pan. Add the oil to the pan until the garlic cloves are submerged. Cover the pan with foil or a heavy oven-safe lid.
4. Put the pan into the oven and bake for two hours, or until the cloves are soft and slightly browned.
5. When the garlic is finished, remove the cloves from the oil with a slotted spoon into a clean jar. Add the oil on top of it and seal. Cool the jar as quickly as you can in the fridge and keep the garlic in the fridge for a couple weeks. Always keep the garlic covered in oil. Alternatively, you can also freeze the garlic in oil for several months.