Slowly getting back into the swing of this blogging thing and dusting out the cobwebs of my brain.  I haven’t done any serious writing since I finished off my thesis and have slipped into a lot of bad habits.  I mean, I cranked out an impeccable 210 pages and now my brain thinks it can stop paying attention to things like grammar and proper spelling.  Yikes.  Work has not done much on the report writing front –though it is coming.  Endless analysis, figure editing, and excel work.  I am a professional table creator.  Sigh.

On to the food!  I have a secret to share.  Two things that make everything they touch taste better.  One is really easy and cheap to make (garlic confit), while the other is more of a labour of love and does not keep as long (soffrito).   Both of these come courtesy of Bouchon, which is worth picking up (as I’ve said before).  Though there are many takes on garlic confit (a roasted version in Les Halles) which is just a fancy term for any sort of soft caramelized garlic.  Oh, reminds me, if you are are a garlic junky and looking for an easy appetizer this new years look no further than G.O.O.P. (the garlic olive oil plate).  Delicious and easy.

I particularly like the garlic confit from bouchon as it’s all done on the stovetop (rather than the oven), uses cheap oil (not olive), and lasts for a month in the fridge (though I eat it all before the expiry date).  The leftover oil is pretty fragrant and is a good base to fry potatoes or eggs in as well.  I put this stuff in everything: smeared on toast, added to sauteed spinach (which lets me reduce the amount of butter while still having a tasty product), in the sauce to duck confit, in any sauce, to mash potatoes, with green beans, etc, etc.   A few cloves adds a little oomph, while a lot of cloves adds a fantastic garlicky flavour.

The soffrito is tasty too.  I need to find more soffrito recipes as there appears to be endless variations.  This one from Bouchon is very earthy, and maybe even a little bitter.  Pungent.  Strong.   Great with mussels and clams, mixed into sauces,  on green beans, on spinach, cut with roasted peppers and spread on toast, mixed into mash, topping meats, grilled fish, etc.  A little goes a long way.  Unfortunately it takes awhile to make (but makes your house smell lovely) but is awesomely cheap to make.  It keeps for about a week in the fridge.

Garlic confit
(mostly from Bouchon)

You can make this stuff in a tiny batch if you want but it’s best to be doing a few heads at once as it keeps long and you go through it so fast.

- 1 – 5 heads of garlic (it doesn’t matter), separated and peeled into whole cloves
- some amount of oil (anything works really, I use canola, or olive, or whatever is on hand)

In the smallest pot you can find that can hold everything in a single layer, put in the garlic.  Put in enough oil to just cover the cloves (or mostly cover).  Put it on a very low element –you want the oil to have some lazy bubbles, but not to be really bubbling.  Shake every so often.  After anything from 50 to 90 minutes, they should be nice and caramelized and soft.  Remove from heat.  Let cool.  Store, in the oil, in the fridge for up to a month.

Soffrito

- 3 cups of onion, diced

- 1 cup of pureed tomato (I use good quality canned tomatoes, but feel free to peel tomatoes, seed them, and puree them in a food processor)

- 1 cup of olive oil (I use 50/50 olive oil and canola oil, it’s recession times and I’m cheap!)

- 1 clove of garlic, minced

- pinch of salt

1.  Put the onion in the pan with the salt and the oil and over low eat, caramelize for 2 – 2 1/2 hours.  You want a very low heat, a few bubbles.  This is a long, slow caramelization.  Stir every so often, and get the stuff that is stuck from the sides in there so it doesn’t burn.  If it looks done after an hour and a half, taste it.  It just might be.

2.  Add the tomato puree and cook for another 2 hours.  Or hour.  Or hour and a half.  Taste every so often.  When you think it is done, add the garlic, stir, and remove from heat to let cool.

3. Shove in a jar and stick in the fridge for up to a week.  Drain small amounts when you want to use it

Some things both of these made their way into:

Spinach sauteed with shallots, butter, soffrito, garlic confit, and lemon juice. My favorite way to now eat spinach.

Red sauce variation #eight million.  Tomatoes, thyme, chili flakes, garlic confit, soffrito, lemon zest.   Very earthy.