Confit Garlic – A Delicious And Simple Treat For Your Daily Cooking

Confit garlic is sweet and buttery and can be used as a spread, added to dips and most importantly added to your sourdough

I love garlic. If anything I use the most in my day-to-day cooking, it must be garlic. Garlic is not only highly nutritious but also has several proven health benefits, from reducing blood pressure and cholesterol levels, boosting the immune system, preventing heart disease and dementia, to detoxifying the body, just to name a few.

When garlic is chopped raw, it produces a distinctive and pungent smell, whereas being cooked, this odor turns into a mellow, sweet and buttery flavor that surprises many first-time eaters including me.

I enjoy making bread with extra ingredients besides flour, water, yeast (sourdough starter) and salt. Since I tried the confit garlic for the first time, I can’t get enough of it. It is so convenient to have in the fridge and use it in everyday cooking. Also the byproduct- oil infused with garlic- brings your cooking to the next level!

What is confit garlic?

Confit is a French term, referring to a method of slow cooking to preserve food. Fat or oil is used during this long period of low-temperature cooking when it comes to meat or vegetable confit. As for fruit confit (known as candied fruit), fruits are preserved in sugar.

Confit garlic is garlic being cooked in oil under low heat over a long period of time. After cooking, the pungent aroma of raw garlic is done. Instead, you get this buttery, sweet and mellow flavor that boosts almost everything you cook with.

Ways to use confit garlic

• make dips/soup/dressings with it
• use as a spread on toast/crackers and enjoy as it is
• add to focaccia bread/pizza as a topping
• use it in pasta/mashed potato/ salad/ wraps/ sandwich
• use it as an inclusion in sourdough bread

Ingredients for confit garlic

• garlic
• oil: I prefer olive oil. Canola or vegetable oil are also suitable.
• spices and herbs (optional): chili/bay leaf/thyme/rosemary etc

Method

1. Peel garlic or use pre-peeled garlic.
2. In a saucepan, place garlic and enough amount of oil to submerge. Add in spices or herbs of your choice.
3. Cook on medium heat and once there are some bubbles coming from the bottom of the pot, turn the heat down. Simmer and cook the garlic for 30 minutes to 1 hour (until the garlic is soft and lightly brown).
4. Cool down and transfer the confit garlic to a jar. Store in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.

• tip 1: Ensure to cook the garlic under the lowest heat. Barely simmering. If overcooked, the taste of bitterness will appear
• tip 2: Don’t throw away extra oil from the confit garlic. Use it for salad dressing or bread dips. I promise you will love it.

At the end

I love how simple it is to make confit garlic. And it can be used literally everywhere from salads, entrees to mains. And, of course, in my sourdough bread.