Garlic Confit

I can't say enough great things about Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home cookbook. I would, in a heartbeat, recommend this as a shower gift. Paired with a basic arsenal of cooking equipment, someone who knows absolutely nothing about cooking (okay, maybe absolutely nothing), but anyone with internet access and a desire to learn can make simple and delicious food with very little effort. (The internet is priceless for answering stupid little questions not written into recipes.)

This garlic confit and oil recipe yields garlic cloves that are ever-so-soft and ready to be mashed into anything that needs a jolt of das garlic. This is so simple...well...a cave man could do it.

I will say that if you don't really need a whole cup confited garlic, and want to halve or quarter the recipe - you can. Simply set your oven to 225 and use whatever little bowl you want a totally cover the cloves with oil - this allows you to use less oil and less garlic. Cook the garlic cloves for the 40 minutes outlined in the recipe only . The problem with using the partial recipe over the burner is that you'll probably end up using more oil than you need to. You also run the risk of not being able to control the temperature of the oil because there is so little of it.

Garlic Confit and Oil

Garlic Confit and Oil
by Thomas Keller from Ad Hoc at Home

• 1 C peeled garlic cloves
• About 2 C canola oil

1. Cut off and discard the root ends of the garlic cloves. Put the cloves in a small saucepan and add enough oil to cover them by about 1 inch - none of the garlic cloves should be poking through the oil.

2. Set the saucepan on a diffuser over medium-low heat. The garlic should cook gently: very small bubbles will come up through the oil, but the bubbles should not break the surface; adjust the heat as necessary and/or move the pan to one side of the diffuser if it is cooking too quickly. Cook the garlic for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the cloves are completely tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the garlic to cool in the oil.

3. Refrigerate the garlic in covered container, submerged in the oil, for up to 1 week.