Confit Garlic from the Wood Fired Oven
It’s lovely to be given a load of something but when it starts looking like it wants to sprout like our bumper haul of 10 large bulbs of garlic did, it was time for action.
Using up the gentle heat of the wood fired oven after a cooking session seemed an ideal way to confit the garlic.
This is what we did.
1. Peel all the cloves from the garlic bulbs individually. This is the most laborious part so huge thanks to Kate for doing that for us!
2. Put the peeled garlic cloves in a pan and cover them with olive oil.
3. Bring them up to heat so the oil is starting to bubble. We did this on the kitchen hob.
4. Shut the door and leave them until the cloves are completely tender. You want to braise the cloves not fry them so make sure the oven is very gentle.
5. In the meantime wash a storage jar and lid in hot soapy water, rinse in hot water and then put in your kitchen oven to dry completely and sterilise. The oven should be at around 100c and it will take around 20 minutes.
6. When the garlic is tender, take the jar out of the oven making sure you don’t touch its insides.
7. Use a slotted spoon to put the garlic cloves in the jar and then cover them with the olive oil they were cooked in. We use a jam funnel for this which stops the oil spattering everywhere. Seal the jar, let it all cool as quickly as possible and store in the fridge.
8. You can also store them in a clean plastic box with a tight fitting lid.
9. Use the garlic up within a month. If you don’t think you’ll use it all up, put in small plastic boxes and freeze them until you want to use them.
10. It’s crucial that everything is scrupulously clean and kept chilled as botulism just loves to grow in olive oil at warm temperatures. Don’t let that put you off as it’s a really lovely way of using up garlic.
Here’s what you can do with your garlic confit –
- Mash and add to mayonnaise for garlic mayo.
- Spread on to toast and use as a base for bruschetta with tomatoes added on top; or any other topping.
- Use in mashed potatoes – just add 3-4 cloves to your hot potatoes and mash them altogether.
- In pasta dishes
- On pizza or garlic bread
- Salad dressing
- Chopped through green vegetables
- In sandwiches
- In hasselback potatoes
- In hummus, tapenade and pesto