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A white pie dish filled with Garlic Confit. Garlic confit is a mix of olive oil, fresh garlic and herbs. The herbs are rosemary.

Beyond Easy Herbed Garlic Confit (2 in 1 Recipe)

  In the world of preserving foods most people know about canning and pickling.  But there is a long standing tradition in many cultures of preserving foods in oil as well.  One of my favorite recipes is a very simple one called Garlic Confit.  I love this recipe because it’s basically two recipes in one.  You get the joy of the actual garlic.  It’s soft and buttery.  Then you get an herb infused oil that can be used in a multitude of dishes.  Garlic Confit is like hitting the culinary lottery.  Two recipes from 2 or 3 ingredients.  Amazing.  Not to mention, the smell of this recipe when it’s cooking is incredible. Basically you take cloves of garlic and slowly cook them submerged in oil.  You cook them in the oven on low heat until fully tender.  You want a low and slow cooking method for this.  This low heat prevents the oil from overheating and breaking down.  It also preserves the garlic.  The pieces will be very tender and can be used in all kinds of recipes.  Fresh Garlic Vs. Peeled You can use fresh cloves of garlic or you can use pre peeled.  Either will work fine.  I have made this with fresh and pre-peeled and I can honestly say I would use pre-peeled.  Unless you really are one of those people who are extremely particular about freshness.  While it’s true that fresher will taste better, it’s a lot of work.  I mean a lot!  It took me an hour and a half to peel the garlic for this recipe.  It takes 30 seconds to open the pre-peeled.  The decisions up to you. Using Herbs to Infuse the Oil The oil can be used for many applications as well.  My favorite being rosemary garlic potatoes.  So in this recipe we will use fresh rosemary sprigs.  I find fresh herbs are easier to remove.  If you wanted to keep this recipe really simple, you could skip the herbs altogether.  But don’t be afraid to use any of your favorite herbs.  It makes such fantastic oil when you do.  You could use dry herbs but they will end up needing to be strained from your final product.  As long as you don’t mind that, go for it. Some of my favorite herb combinations are: Basil Oregano Rosemary Herbs de Provence Thyme Fresh chili peppers How to Make Garlic Confit Start by putting your peeled garlic in a baking pan.  Put in equal parts oil, or enough to completely cover your garlic.  Add your herbs and spices and cook low and slow for an hour and a half.  Make sure to check on these half way through.  If any of the cloves are not under the oil during cooking.  Stir them in.  You want to start checking if they are done after about an hour.  I find an hour and a half works well.    They are done once they can be easily pierced with a knife.  They should be soft but not mushy.  Once they are done remove any herbs and discard. An Important Word About Storage This is super important.  Once these cool, they must be stored in the refrigerator completely covered with the oil to prevent botulism.  If the olive oil solidifies its fine.  You can leave it on the counter to soften.  You can also run it under warm water as well. Just remember to put back in the fridge. When stored properly with the oil fully covering the garlic, these will last 4 weeks or more in the fridge.  But If they start to look off or smell off after any length of time in your fridge, toss them.  I repeat toss them!   This rule applies to most foods, but especially garlic and oil. If you are concerned about not using them fast enough, you can leave a small portion in the fridge and freeze the rest in an airtight container.  It should last 6+ months in the freezer.    Be sure to check out my other oil recipe for Lactose and Casein Free Butter Oil. Herbed Garlic Confit is an easy to make and highly versatile recipe. It makes both a wonderful flavored garlic that can be used on everything from garlic bread to stews. It also makes an incredible infused oil that can be used to make salad dressings and a flavored oil for everyday dishes. It only takes a little bit of prep and some patience.

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Fermented Garlic sitting in a bowl on a bamboo plate.

Simple Fermented Chopped Garlic

  I can’t for the life of me remember why I started making this Fermented Chopped Garlic recipe. It could be because it only requires two ingredients, Salt and garlic.  Maybe it’s because I hate messing with and chopping garlic.  It could also be that I forget to purchase it from the store when I run out. This recipe serves all of my lazy girl needs. I only have to make this once every 6 months because it lasts forever in the fridge. Which also means I only have to deal with garlic every six months. Win win. If you don’t wish to deal with fresh garlic at all you can simply purchase the pre-peeled bags of it to make this recipe. I’ve done it. Both ways work. Just know fresher is always going to taste just a little better. In this recipe I use either Kosher Salt or Himalayian Pink Salt.  If you are unsure of which salt to use read my post on Types of Salt.  It will explain more. A Word About Airlock Jars The only piece of hardware I really recommend is an Airlock jar. I have used many different jars for fermentation. Airlock jars are my absolute favorite. My husband handmade mine. But, if you aren’t into that you can simply purchase them on the World Wide Web. If you don’t know which kind of fermentation jars to get be sure to check out my post all about them HERE.  I like to leave this to sit for at least two weeks. But it’s usually longer. The garlic will change in color slowly. It will naturally darken. I’ve had some of it turn green. It’s totally fine as long as its not moldy. This usually has to do with either the age of the garlic or the compounds in the garlic changing from the fermentation process. Make sure not to fill the container less than an inch to the top. The garlic will expand after several days due to the fermentation process. If you over fill the jar, the garlic will attempt to escape your container. This is why I love airlock jars. Most fermentation needs as little air as possible to prevent mold growth. So typically you want your product either submerged under liquid or filled near the top of the jar to prevent oxygen. But with the airlock it removes most of the oxygen due to the expanse of gases pushing more air out of the one way valve without the need for extra food in the jar. It prevents mold and you don’t need to overfill the container.   How to Fill the Bubbler Once you have the product filled make sure to fill the top bubbler to the designated line.  Most people use water which will work fine.  I however, like to use vodka.  Vodka tends to keep it mold free and more sanitary which I’m all about.  For some reason I also find it makes it the airlock work  better. Either way, make sure if you keep the jar fermenting for several weeks you check on the liquid level in the bubbler and refill as needed. Do I Need a Weight for This? So I use fermentation weights for most of my ferments.  This is one of the exceptions.  It is a very dry ferment.  So there is not a lot of liquid.  There really isn’t anywhere for the fermentation weight to go.  So it really isn’t necessary or very functional. Making the Next Batch and Storage Once you have leftover garlic from your first batch, make sure to mix a little with the new one. This will help the fermentation process to go much faster on the next batch. Be aware that when you break the seal to open it, the scent of garlic will knock your socks off. The garlic scent as well as the flavor increases with the fermentation process.  So you can reduce the amount of garlic in your recipes if you like. Storage and Cleanup Once you are all done, store it in the refrigerator and use as needed.  It will keep for around six months.  I recommend keeping one airlock jar just for garlic if you can.  I also recommend hand washing your container and airlocks even if they are dishwasher safe.  If you don’t it will make your dishwasher smell like garlic for a week.   This recipe is easy to double or even triple. I make a pound and a half at a time. Don’t forget to use it to make garlic bread. You’ll never want store bought again.  Fermented Chopped Garlic    

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A table with flowers on it. Next to the flowers is a jar of Avocado oil mixed with ghee.

Simple Lactose and Casein Free Butter Oil Blend

  Okay so the hardest thing about having a mostly dairy free house is finding substitutes that make you feel like your cheating on a diet. You know what I mean. There are tons of substitutes for the things we can‘t eat but most of the time they really disappoint.  One of those things for us was Butter.  We used butter on everything. Lactose and Casein Free Ghee I was so grateful the day I learned about Ghee. Depending on your dairy intolerance or allergy Ghee may be an option for you. For many people the issue with dairy is with Lactose. In our house the intolerance is Casein. The amazing thing is that you can purchase Ghee that has had most if not all the Lactose and Casein removed. For us the worry of a reaction is enough that I do not make Ghee myself. I used to but now I purchase it. The reason is that companies are able to test their product to ensure the amount of Casein and lactose is below 1% which I can not do at home. Sorry guys no testing facilities in this house. There are more than a few of these companies out there, just look for a label that specifically says Lactose Free and or Casein Free Ghee. So here’s the thing, if your issues with dairy are more than just a small thing, consult your doctor first. I am not one nor will I ever be one. Far to much work for me. Making Ghee Taste More Like Butter So once we discovered Ghee was available to us it changed our world. The downside to this was that Ghee is like butter on steroids. It tastes so much like butter that it can literally overpower anything you eat. Not in that wonderful way you hope for either. But I discovered that if you cut it with a very neutral oil, you can make it taste very close to butter in whatever you are eating. My oil of choice is Avocado Oil.  A good quality avocado oil is not only neutral in flavor, but healthy as well.  What’s awesome about this recipe is that it makes your Ghee go even farther.  This is a wonderful cost cutting way to extend how far your oil will go and it tastes great. Mix together and use it on everything from pancakes to shrimp linguini. My absolute favorite way is on popcorn.  The taste is fantastic.  If you try this make sure to let me know what you end up using it on. This recipe takes almost no time at all to make. It’s a wonderful butter substitute for those who are intolerant of casein or lactose. Tastes wonderful on everything from pancakes to popcorn.

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