I love oils. Walnut, grapeseed, sesame, mustard, olive. You name it, I use it.
So when 64 square ft kitchen wrote about making garlic oil, I was there. While I was sick, I increased my garlic intake to fight infection – and as I had a surfeit of garlic sitting on the kitchen bench, that was no trouble for me. It was only trouble to my neighbour as I breathed garlic fumes in his direction.
There is some concern about garlic and oil. Make sure you do your research and make a decision based on the data and what is right for you. In any case, keep everything well refrigerated and use quickly.
I followed the recipe by 64 square ft kitchen except that I used curry leaves instead of thyme. Be sure to visit her blog, she has wonderful photos of the process and oil.
The roasted garlic I used in a basil pesto, giving it an unusual but good twist. I used a little of the oil with some ghee for a tadka in a gentle dal dish and it gave it a little garlic undernote. Nice.
And best of all, making the oil in the oven meant that the oven warmed the room on a cold wintery day.
How to Make Roasted Garlic Oil
Source : 64 square ft kitchen
Cuisine: French? Italian?
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour
ingredients
2 heads of garlic
2 cups good olive oil
2 sprigs of thyme
1 tspn black peppercorns, dry roasted in a frying pan
method
Cut the garlic heads in half crossways. There is no need to peel the garlic cloves – you can leave the head in tact.
Place the garlic heads cut side down in a small ovenproof dish. Pour the olive oil over them and add the thyme and pepper. Cover with a lid or foil and bake in a preheated 150F oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the garlic is soft enough to mash.
Strain off the oil and allow to cool. Place in a bottle or jar and keep in the fridge or a dark place. Use within a week or two.
Take the roasted garlic and squeeze the garlic mash from the heads. Mash into a paste and spread on bread or crackers, or use in soups, sauces or dips. It has a wonderful nutty taste and is quite different to raw garlic.
Read some more:
- Since writing this post, before publishing, I found two lovely posts from Closet Cooking. One on making garlic oil, with beautiful photos. The other on hummus using roasted garlic. A good use for the left over garlic.
- Mahanandi has a method of making garlic infused ghee. Oh deliciousness.
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8 responses so far ↓
amberjee // May 18, 2008 at 6:46 pm |
mmm, i love roasted garlic as it becomes so sweet.
hi amberjee. Try pesto or hummus made with roasted garlic. Amazing. It looses a bit of its bite but it adds an earthy note that is quite unusual.
ranji // May 20, 2008 at 1:46 am |
wowo thats a lovely post….great garlic section click:)…looks so beautiful…looks like so many eyes watching u:)
Pomodori con Riso - Tomatoes Stuffed with Rice: A recipe « A Life (Time) of Cooking // May 26, 2008 at 6:33 am |
[...] used my recently made garlic oil to drizzle over the tomatoes before they [...]
coolienne // May 26, 2008 at 11:22 pm |
My recipe was a bit different. Place some amount of cut garlic heads in a glass bottle of oil. Microwave for some time. Done!
I left the gralic heads in the hot oil.
Noticed that while removing the bottle from the oven, I saw bubbles coming from the garlic chops to the surface. It was such a delicate smell. Purely garlic, nothing else added.
Just be so careful using oil in the microwave. I love doing things in the oven, esp when the weather is cold.
coolienne // May 26, 2008 at 11:24 pm |
“Hello” should have preceeded my comment, off course.
coolienne // May 30, 2008 at 11:28 pm |
Caution: proceed bit by bit. Minute by minute. Plus, I filled the bottle till its half, leave enough height for the oil to boil (in case it happens – hasn’t by my end so far).
The first minute, I was worried it would splash. Then, I retrieved the bottle. Then, waited for some time before inserting it in the oven again for a second round. Then retrieved. Then let it pause.
I used to think that as long as there were bubbles, there was still something to pull out of the garlic heads. Then, I kept on heating the oil.
One could even start with 30s (depends on maximum heat of the oven) and proceed the same way.
Thanks for clarifying, coolienne. I don’t use the microwave much beyond warming or defrosting things, and I love slow cooking in the oven (any time except summer), so will probably stick to the oven method. But it is good to know there are alternatives, esp for emergencies.
khan // June 9, 2008 at 12:41 am |
any one tell that how to make coking oil in home i hard that its also make from some raw metrial
This Past Month in Review - May « A Life (Time) of Cooking // June 14, 2008 at 9:32 am |
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