Fresh garlic confited in light oil. Sometimes called "preserved garlic". This has a multitude of uses. You can add it to salads. Use it to make SUPERCHARGED garlic bread or add it to dishes requiring sweated garlic. I love this as part of a roast meal or even on it's own... (when no one is looking)! Makes a great gift to a garlic loving friend.
Clean the paper husks off the garlic bulbs.
Wash the bulbs thoroughly to remove any dirt transfered during the shelling process.
Dry the garlic with paper towelling.
Place garlic bulbs into a suitably sized saucepan and add enough oil to just cover them.
Place the saucepan onto LOW heat. You don't want to fry the bulbs but cook them very slowly.
Cook the garlic bulbs until they are just tender. You can test this by pushing a skewer into the bulb. When it passes through with little or no resistance the garlic is ready.
Once cooked, carefully pack the garlic into hot sterilised bottles and add the remaining oil to fill to the top.
Cap the bottle and leave for at least a week to mature.
The type of garlic to use is the young bulbs that have not yet formed segments. I use so called "Russian" garlic but you can use whatever type you can get.
You CAN use the cloves of fully mature garlic but it takes more time to prepare each individual clove for the confiting process.
Use the remaining oil, if any, to make fantastic salad dressings and, for garlic prawns, you will never find a better marinade.
You can add some peppercorns and perhaps a Bay leaf to the bottle if you are going to store it for more than a couple of months. This will add yet another flavour dimension to the garlic.
Like all of my recipes this is GLUTEN FREE.
