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I think my days of peeling garlic are behind me.
I realize that peeling garlic can provide a few peaceful, zen-like moments of serenity, but do any other garlic lovers here share my distaste for this tedious, sticky task?
Many markets now sell small bags of already-peeled very fresh garlic for very little money, and it's these that I find myself buying these days. These bags of peeled cloves have completely changed the way I think about garlic, because they make it so easy to poach a hundred or so cloves in oil.
Why would anyone poach garlic in oil? Because hot oil mellows it; it rids it of its harsh, acrid properties, yet still provides plenty of garlicky goodness. It allows cooks to use this mellowed garlic in all kinds of wonderful ways. Garlic poached in oil and then stored in that same oil in a jar in the fridge is also called garlic confit, with "confit" referring to any cooked food that is covered in fat of some kind, serving as both a seal and a preservative.
The garlic confit is in the upper right.
Here is how to do it:
- Place about 50 cloves of peeled garlic in a shallow saucepan.
- Cover the garlic completely with oil. You can use almost any kind of oil, but olive oil is good; canola oil is also good.
- Heat the oil very, very gently; ideally you want the bubbles to slowly rise and barely break the surface.
- Cook on the lowest possible heat setting for about 40 minutes, turn it off, and let it cool in the pan.
Transfer the garlic and the oil to a lidded jar and refrigerate. It will keep in there for months at a time (probably longer), but it's so tasty and convenient that it tends to get used up quickly.
Use the cloves exactly as you would fresh garlic cloves. Use the oil, too -- its garlic-infused wonders will become a staple for stir-frying or sautéing, and you can make lovely pestos with it. Drizzle some on a baked potato. It's great on popcorn! If you want to get fancy you can even throw in a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary, but I like mine straight up.
Once you get used to the idea of having garlic confit in your fridge at all times, you may, like me, find yourself forgoing garlic any other way.
Photo by Annabelle Breakey
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