Poached Garlic, Garlic Oil and Garlic Aioli

Wow is this ever so good... First of all, it's not just one thing or another. It's actually three awesome condiments in one shot.

1. Poached garlic
2. Garlic Oil
3. Garlic Aioli

We use the poached garlic in breads and pizza. We use the garlic oil on homemade French and Italian bread, whipped into homemade mayo and drizzled onto just about anything from quesadillas to soup to sandwiches. It has become such a staple that there is a near panic when the bottle runs low.

But the combination of the two, with a few other ingredients, makes a concoction altogether sublime: garlic aioli.

I've made this before with my ex husband and we enjoyed it very much. But I was recently inspired to make it again after seeing it used as a special ingredient to a monster hamburger on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. 

Our phenomenal burger was made with homemade bacon, homegrown onions, homemade dill pickle chips, homemade mayo, my favorite locally-grown beefsteak tomatoes and some of the best Stilton cheese you can get. Oh and of course, homemade hamburger buns. The super star condiment, though, as if there weren't many, was the garlic aioli. 

Poaching the Garlic (sous vide method = 131F/55C for 3 hours):

About a pound of peeled fresh garlic

A high quality extra virgin olive oil

I buy a 4 lb bag of fresh peeled garlic at Costco for about $4, I believe. It is a steal of a deal for this particular use.  I then freeze the rest in the bag as it comes in a resealable plastic bag that stores easily in the freezer.

**Garlic freezes well and I will usually keep this peeled garlic frozen for recipes that call for garlic but where garlic will be cooked and not necessarily used as fresh (uncooked) garlic. If you will be cooking it in soups or other recipe, frozen is just fine and it does not change the flavor in a negative way. In fact, frozen garlic seems to grate as well and is also easy to slice and chop.

Now, you can easily poach these in a skillet, pot or my new favorite method: in a jar using sous vide.

Whichever method you decide to use to poach the garlic, just be sure you don't get the oil too hot. It shouldn't boil, just gently simmer until the garlic starts to turn a light golden color similar to roasted garlic. Be careful not to let it burn as it will go fast once the coloring starts. This is easy to avoid if you happen to have a sous vide device, but if not just go slow and steady and you will be well rewarded.

If you do have a sous vide device, set your temp for 131 degrees F for 3 hours. When done transfer to a jar for storage or make the aioli and store the rest of the oil in a hot sauce bottle.

Garlic Aioli:

- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tsp of paprika
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- Batch of poached garlic
- Garlic oil from poaching the garlic

In a food processor, add all of the ingredients except the garlic oil. Turn the processor on low or pulse and slowly drizzle in the olive oil.  You only need to add enough garlic oil until you get the desired consistency of aioli. Think of it like mayo... if you like a thicker mayo, add a little more oil but don't overdo it. Too much oil, added too quickly, could "break" your aioli and that usually happens once the mixture has reached it's maxed oil capacity and then gone over it's threshold. So go slow and stop and test it to see how you like it as it gets thicker.

If you want to hold off on the seasonings until you get the emulsification done, that's ok, too. Then you can season it to your taste. My measurements are just suggestions as I don't exactly measure my seasonings either. It's just my best guess-timate to help give you an idea of where to start.

I transfer the aioli to a jar and it will keep for several weeks. We spread the aioli on our burgers, on our sandwiches, use it as a dip with celery sticks as a snack, you name it.