When life gives you garlic, make garlic confit!

Garlic confit, which is cloves of garlic that one cooks in oil on low heat until softened, is easy, delicious and useful. The recipe below from Le Cordon Bleu and many other sources requires time and attention but very little skill. Your reward is unctuous cloves of mild yet flavorful, spreadable garlic which will keep awhile in the fridge along with its delicious garlic-infused olive oil.

I have several small variations from the original recipe and concept. I mix olive oil and canola oil, because it's cheaper and the garlic-infused taste makes it hard to taste the green, fresh taste of pure olive oil anyway. I halve the recipe, since I don't want to keep 80 garlic cloves in my fridge at once. I add water or red-wine vinegar and mash the cloves to make a delectable thick sauce to spread on bread, mix in with pasta or vegetables, bake with meats and use as a springboard for vinaigrette or garlicky mayonnaise.

Below is my version, followed by Le Cordon Bleu's recipe.

Garlic Confit Sauce
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup red wine or sherry vinegar
About 30 cloves peeled whole garlic
3 whole black peppercorns
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 fresh bay leaf
½ teaspoon kosher salt

In a deep skillet-size saucepan (mine is about 10 inches in diameter and 2-3 inches high) or dutch oven or 4-quart saucepan, place all ingredients. Do not cover. Start on medium-high heat until you see the first bubbles. Then turn down the heat to low to simmer-you still see small bubbles but they don't get bigger and bigger.When the liquid has almost cooked away, probably after 15 minutes, the garlic will look bigger and softer. It will smell like GARLIC. Stir gently, making sure most of the liquid is gone. Then cover and keep on low for about 20 more minutes. All the garlic should be soft. Take out thyme, bay leaf and peppercorn, if you like. Mash garlic cloves with a large fork. Let cool, then transfer into glass jars or bowls. It will make about 2 1/2 cups and will keep for at least a week in the fridge.

How to Make Garlic Confit-Le Cordon Bleu

One of the advantages of attending schools of culinary arts is learning cooking techniques that can be applied to any style of cooking.  One technique taught in culinary school is confit. 
Confit takes its name from the French word confire, meaning to preserve. Any similarities between the fruits and vegetables your grandmother puts up every autumn and garlic confit end right there. Traditional canning and preserving methods use vinegars and/or salts and sugars to preserve food.
Confit is a generic term to describe anything that is poached at a low temperature in a rendered fat. Duck confit, where duck legs are slowly cooked in duck fat, is probably the most famous example of it. For our money, however, the most delicious version of it is garlic confit.

Garlic Confit Recipe

Garlic confit and its garlic infused oil can be used on anything from homemade vinaigrettes to garlic bread and garlic mashed potatoes. The process of poaching garlic in oil is not that different from roasting garlic, where no oil is used. Both leave mellow and mild garlic cloves that can be spread on bread like butter, but with confit you also have the oil. Save it. After you’ve eaten all of the garlic, the infused oil can be added to nearly all of your favorite meat and vegetable dishes to add another layer of flavor.
This garlic confit recipe is filled with fresh ingredients and could not be simpler to make.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups peeled whole garlic (about 80 to 90 cloves)
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
• Combine garlic, oil, and seasonings in a braising pan or Dutch oven. Cover pan and cook for 1 hour or until the garlic becomes brown and tender
• Let cool completely and transfer to a glass jar for storage. It will last in the refrigerator up to two weeks. You can also use traditional canning and sterilization methods to keep it unopened on your shelf for up to six months 

http://www.chefs.edu/Student-Life/Culinary-Central/April-2012/How-To-Make-Garlic-Confit