Instructions:

• Step 1 - Gather your ingredients. In the photo below: #1 - 1 Cup of Olive Oil, #2 - 7 Heads of Garlic, #3 - 1 Stick of Butter (1/2 Cup)
• Step 2 - Remove the outer garlic skin. Twist each garlic head in your hands and the skins will fall off until you can see the garlic cloves, but there will still be some layers - don’t worry.
• Step 3 - Smash the garlic heads. Once the garlic heads are void from most of their skins, put the head on a solid surface, like a cutting board, and begin to press down and at a slight angle. This will dislodge the cloves quickly and easily. Repeat for all the garlic heads. I know what you are thinking. Why don’t I just buy the preprocessed cloves devoid of skins? Preprocessed garlic cloves are treated with preservatives to increase shelf life, and I’d rather do without preservatives in my food.
• Step 4 - Saute garlic cloves. Get out a saute pan and add all the garlic cloves from the seven garlic heads you just smashed to it. Turn the stovetop on as low as it goes. I have a back burner that is ultra-low, so I put the cloves on that one to slowly heat up. Be careful if you don’t have an ultra-low burner because the cloves can burn - even on low. You’ll need to toss them every few minutes. The goal is to get the skins off, not brown them yet. That happens later when we confit the cloves. This should not take more than 10 minutes before you are ready to peel. Go too long and your garlic could burn and that’s bad. You should have between 60-90 cloves.
• Step 5 - Remove final garlic skin. Once your saute pan warms up and the garlic cloves heat up, the skins are easy to remove. You can tell when they start turning light brown, they are ready. Just pick up a clove and start at the tip and begin to peel back the skin and it should pop off. If it does not, the garlic cloves are not hot enough yet. Wait a few minutes, then try again. Once they are warm, peel the outer skin off, then separate them until you are done. While you are peeling, think about all the fantastic food items you are going to make with your garlic love mixed in. It’s so much fun.
• Step 6 - Confit begins. Clean out the saute pan with a dry towel. Add in the peeled garlic cloves, stick of butter, and cup of olive oil and saute on medium-low. Keep checking every 5-10 minutes to prevent too much browning. The cloves will cook for 30-45 minutes and sometimes up to an hour before they turn a golden brown color. Keep an eye on it. The longer you can go, the better the result. Bubbles starting is good. The cloves will begin to float as they bathe in the fat. Your home will begin to smell like garlic heaven. It’s a magnificent smell.
• Step 7 - Rest the mixture. Now that you have your golden brown garlic cloves sitting in olive oil and butter, wait and chill out. Let it cool for 30 minutes unless you are using a blender that can handle hot items.
• Step 8 - Blend the mixture. Once it’s cooled, get out a food processor, magic bullet, or blender. Put the cooled garlic cloves, olive oil, and butter mixture into your mixer of choice and add 1/4 cup of water. Now blend until smooth. If it’s too thick, add more water and continue to blend until it’s smooth.
• Step 9 - Store mixture. It will appear like applesauce when first blended, then once chilled, the garlic love will have the consistency of soft butter. After blending, I use a spatula to clean out the blender and transfer the final garlic love mixture to a reusable container that I can easily pull out of the refrigerator and use it whenever I want. When you have garlic love on hand, you’ll find reasons to use it. I mix it in so many recipes.