Garlic Confit
- 3 heads of fresh garlic
- Olive or canola oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 3-4 teaspoons black and pink peppercorns
Step 1 - Break the garlic heads apart and separate the cloves. Remove the thin, papery layers and crush each clove lightly. You can choose to peel them entirely but I leave the skin on. Wash and dry the cloves on a teatowel and rub gently to remove any excess water. If the skins fall off that's fine.
Step 2 - Place the garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns in a small saucepan. I use the smallest one I have so that I don't have to use as much oil. Cover with the oil so that all of the cloves are submerged and place a thermometer in the saucepan. Heat gently until it reaches 100C/212F and simmer for 10 minutes. Bubbles should appear on the surface of the oil.
Step 3 - Knock back the temperature. I put it on 1 out of 10 on my dial where 1 is the lowest increment where the thermometer stayed at 90C/194. Heat for another 30 minutes. Remove from heat and place in a sterilised jar. Cool and then store in the fridge. Use a clean spoon every time you remove the garlic. The soft garlic should slip out of the skin easily - the oil is delicious too!