Confit Garlic

Nothing works in our kitchen without garlic. Sometimes you have to use the garlic raw and I like to use confit garlic. It loses its sharpness through confectioning, but at the same time develops an incredibly aromatic sweetness.

The confit garlic is ideal for avocado creams, pesti and dips. Today I took my favorite garlic "Ail Rose de Lautrec" from France, which already reminds a little of truffle in its scent. Not always available, but when you see it, you should definitely get it, it's worth it.

You can do this not only with fresh garlic, but also with other things in winter. Then you should blanch it for 3 minutes in boiling water and then chill it with cold, then the paper skin will come off by itself.

Separate the garlic cloves and peel them off - this is very quick and easy with fresh garlic. Cut off the woody side with a knife. Put the garlic cloves in a saucepan and pour the oil on them.

The quantities given for oil are approximate, I like to take olive oil and rapeseed oil in a ratio of 1: 1. But you can also only use rapeseed oil. If you only use olive oil, it should be a very mild oil.

Now put the pot on the stove and turn on the medium heat. The oil should NEVER get hotter than 80 degrees. The temperature should be between 75 and 80 degrees. I always have the roasting thermometer in the pot. When a temperature of 75 degrees has been reached, set the stove to the lowest setting.

It is a bit of fiddling, but it's worth it and you know how to do it. When the oil reaches a temperature of 80 degrees, I take the pot off the stove for a moment, turn off the plate and put the pot back on the hot plate when it has reached 75 degrees.

If the temperature threatens to drop below 75 degrees, simply turn the stove back to the lowest setting. The garlic is ready when it is very soft and can be crushed with a fork. This takes between 30 and 45 minutes.

When the garlic is tender, pour it into a sealable jar and cover with the oil. This means that the cloves can always be removed individually if necessary and the garlic can be kept in the refrigerator for approx. 6 months.

Do not throw away the rest of the oil. Pour the oil through a filter and fill it into a bottle or glass, so you have a wonderful garlic seasoning oil.