#confit garlic

[theroyaltenenblarghs]

Confit garlic focaccia

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #384

I still seem to be in a bit of a funk. The empty feeling persists. Oh well.

Today, it seemed to manifest as a sensation of being disconnected from everyone and everything. I figured maybe my body just needs resources for whatever it's trying to do. So I made myself a tea...

...I also made myself a salad to go with the tea. It's got mixed greens, bell peppers, cilantro, and scallions in it. I put salmon, the rest of that burrata filling, and some ranch dressing on top:

At some point, I did some dishes, and that was cool. J did a bunch of them, too.

This feeling of disconnect is not reflective of my reality. I am loved and understood by M and J. My brain is just... being a brain right now. And that's all right; we'll just wait for it to go back to normal. We can still do stuff in the meantime.

...Stuff like making confit garlic. I dunno if you remember me writing about it, but I wanted to try to see about making the garlic cloves really dark – I think I talked about leaving it in the oven for some 6-8 hours instead of 3 or 4. I wanted to see if I could make confit garlic that has more of a black garlic type of flavor to it – one in which all the sugars are deeply caramelized and any proteins have had the Maillard reaction occur.

...I don't actually know if it'll work. It could be that I'll just end up ruining some butter and some garlic. I guess we'll see how it goes. It's been in the oven since around 2pm, and it is still in the oven now, at 8:30pm. My kitchen smells AMAZING right now.

That said, the garlic cloves, they tend to float up in the butter once everything gets hot. I tried figuring out some way to prevent this, because if the cloves aren't submerged, the side that is in contact with the air will roast instead of get soft and mushy in the oil. It's not a bad thing, necessarily, but it's not quite what we're going for. So... I improvised a way of keeping the cloves weighted down:

...Yes, it is just a bunch of small mason jar lids layered inside a larger mason jar with silverware keeping it held down, ahaha... I know it's very silly. I know. But it seems to be working, at least for now. Though I think I'm gonna hafta find a more practical way of doing this in the future.

...I'm looking forward to the results. For sure, they smell good so far.

I made another food today, too, out of the various leftovers in the fridge. This is some rice cooked in the leftover chicken drippings, filled out with water:

Here is an omelet that J requested; it's made of eggs, tomatoes, and the leftover cheesy broccoli I made before.

...And here is the bowl of yummies I put together with these things. I added some heated-up frozen meatballs to it to fill it out...

At the moment, I kinda feel a bit like a wind-up toy – just clunking around and going through the motions of whatever. Rationally, I understand that the weirdness will pass, but... well. The thing to do in the meantime is to just endure. I can do that, no sweat.

In a bit, J and I are gonna try to play StepMania on my laptop. We tried to put it on his laptop, because my laptop hinge is broken, which makes it difficult to move it around. But his laptop is Apple; mine is Windows. Apple can't run StepMania, but it can run a similar program called OutFox.

While the pad does work on J's laptop, the OutFox software does not properly recognize it when two arrows are pressed at the same time. So, at least until the developers of OutFox fix it, J's laptop is a no-go. Oh well.

He's thinking to move the pad over to the dining area where my laptop is set up, from the living room area, so we can play StepMania on my machine. Maybe some movement along with some jaunty tunes will help me a little. Who knows.

...Well. I had a nice time. I don't have the endurance that I used to, but... it's still fun.

Anyhoot! Here's how the garlic turned out:

This was in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for around 6 hours. It's deliciously sweet and savory. This is probably the best batch of the stuff I've made yet. And... I think it could stand to stick around in the oven for even longer, still. Here's why:

It looks burnt, maybe, but I promise you it's not; it has a sweet, almost chocolatey flavor with all the savory of the garlic, but with very little of the allium zing. It's rich and intensely flavorful. And, given that it comes off of the surface easily when moisture is applied, I think it's primarily made of sugar.

...If all the cloves of garlic could reach this consistency...!!! Oh my goodness...!!!

I'll have to try to make something out of wire to keep the garlic cloves submerged next time. Because there will be a next time. I think this jar isn't gonna last very long; it was everything I could do to avoid eating it all in one sitting; it really was that delicious.

...There are so many things I wish I could share with you. Confit garlic, lovely tea, rice cooked in chicken drippings, and StepMania are just a few delights I wish I could show you. I have so many more...

...It almost seems unfair...

...I guess that's it for today. My brain feels kinda like it's blocked up like a clogged sink, so... I guess I'll stop writing now.

I love you. And I'll write again soon. Please stay safe out there, okay?

Your friend, Lumine

[aliens-stim-too]

🧄🧄🧄🧄

[sixtocarreon]

Confit Garlic (Slow-Cooked Garlic in Olive Oil)

Allergens: Gluten-Free | Dairy-Free | Nut-Free Cuisine: French Technique (Modern Pantry Staple) Follow on Instagram: @simplycookingx Silky, spreadable confit garlic made by gently slow-cooking garlic cloves in olive oil. A simple, versatile flavor booster for pasta, soups, roasted vegetables, and dressings—plus safe storage tips and allergy-friendly swaps. Garlic confit is a classic French…

Confit Garlic (Slow-Cooked Garlic in Olive Oil)

[magazynkulinarny]

Konfitowany czosnek

Jedni go kochają, inni nienawidzą. Kochają za intensywny smak i aromat oraz moc właściwości prozdrowotnych. Nienawidzą za intensywny smak i aromat oraz charakterystyczny dech, jaki utrzymuje się długo po jego zjedzeniu.

Należę do grona tych pierwszych. Zapach i moc czosnku zupełnie mi nie przeszkadzają, jestem ich admiratorką. Jeśli moja aura jest zbyt przykra dla wrażliwych nosów, proponuję stosować maseczki. Pomagały w pandemii, sprawdzą się i teraz. Daj Boże wampiry, strzygi i inne potwory będą się trzymać z daleka!

A trochę bardziej serio, czosnek to samo zdrowie! Zawiera cały wachlarz dobroci: flawonoidy, fitosterole, minerały (potas, fosfor, żelazo, cynk, siarka, magnez), mikroelementy (kobalt, chrom, nikiel), witaminy (C, B1, B2, B3), beta-karoten, enzymy (allinaza i peroksydaza), polifenole, aminokwasy, kwasy organiczne oraz błonnik pokarmowy.

Warto przyjrzeć się allinie, która pod wpływem rozgniatania i krojenia oraz działania enzymu allinazy przekształca się do substancji czynnej allicyny. To właśnie temu związkowi czosnek zawdzięcza swój specyficzny aromat, a także wiele wartościowych właściwości. Allicyna uznawana jest za naturalny antybiotyk ze względu na działanie bakteriobójcze na wiele bakterii (w tym Gram-dodatnich i Gram-ujemnych), a także na szczepy oporne na antybiotykoterapię. W przeciwieństwie do antybiotyków, nie uszkadza naturalnej mikrobioty przewodu pokarmowego.

A konfitowany czosnek? Czy jest równie ostry i zdrowy? Niestety, w procesie gotowania w tłuszczu jego odżywcze własności ulegają degradacji. Zyskuje natomiast wyjątkową, lekko dymną, karmelizowaną słodycz. Rozsmarowuje się na pieczywie, jak masło i idealnie sprawdza jako czekadełko przed głównym posiłkiem.

Ale to nie wszystko. Możecie go dodać do hummusu, makaronów, zup, domowego majonezu, sosów, a nawet ziemniaczanego purée.

Pychota (która wprawdzie nie uzdrowi, ale miły posmak po sobie zostawi)!

Składniki:

3 główki czosnku ok. 400 ml oleju (u mnie rzepakowy) przyprawy: liście laurowe, suszone czerwone papryczki, suszony (lub świeży) rozmaryn 1/3 łyżeczki soli

Wykonanie:

Czosnek podzielić na ząbki, pozostawiając w łupinach. Włożyć do małego garnuszka, wsypać przyprawy i zalać olejem. Doprowadzić do wrzenia, zmniejszyć płomień do ledwie mrugającego i gotować ok. 30-40 minut.

Łyżką cedzakową wybrać czosnek, a po ostudzeniu wycisnąć miąższ z łupin. I gotowe.

Można od razu zrobić większą ilość i przechowywać w wysterylizowanym, szczelnie zamykanym słoiku (długo nie postoi). Olej odcedzić z przypraw i wykorzystać do codziennego smażenia.

[quieteating]

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Brunswick East

There is definitely something to be said for creating expectation.

Look at that decal.  Promisingly, something not mainstream.

Motif repeated on rather snazzy copper plaque at the door if you missed it.

The theme continues into the waiting room.  Got to keep it real.  Some reacted in a bit of surprise.

It also has spiky things to amuse yourself with.

Or provide something to facepalm with if the food quality meant that my companion laughed at me.  If you have met her, you will understand.  Her deranged laughter can drive some weak minded people (like me) almost to the grave.

Latte.  To enjoy while waiting for our seat.  It was rather earthy and rather nice.  Smooth without sour twang, it was good coffee.

This is the dining room.

This is the kitchen.

A-MAIZE-ING, homemade feta & padron pepper corn bread served w / whipped harissa feta, stewed cherry tomatoes, avocado, homemade corn relish and kataifi crispy poached egg.  This is the food.  Excellent.  The crispy poached egg was a work of art, so much so that I paused a bit to admire it.  That is before my hunger got the better of me which took about 5 seconds.  The whole ensemble was greater than the individuals sum of its parts.

The hash, potato, blue cheese and polenta hash w/ walnut and celeriac puree, seasonal wild mushrooms, confit garlic aioli and a poached egg.  I think they got the names of the dishes mixed up.  As this was amazing not that A-MAIZE-ING was bad.  The potato hash was crispy on the outside, meltingly smooth on the inside.  Combined with the confit garlic (I love garlic but this was something else!), mushrooms and nutty and earthy puree, this is hands down the best hash I have ever had.  Oh and it comes with a bit of egg to finish it off.  With such deliciousness, we had to go for round two.

Lemmington.  Astounding.  The cake was so airy, at times I had to check that I actually had something in my mouth.  With chocolate and coconut, this Australian cake was something else.  As I bit in, I could almost hear the “G’day mate” as if brought back to my youth.

Building on expectation, this really was something else.  I anticipated something alternative from the signs and decor outside but it exceeded my expectations.  This was something new for me.  Although there was not a meat to be found, I left fully sated and satisfied.  Thinking back to my way in, this was a good thing too given the various sharp plants on offer.  As the food was not so bad that I would be tempted to do a facepalm into one of them.  Then again, maybe there is another use for such sharp objects.  Maybe I need to prick myself to check I’m not dreaming. If I have to go vegetarian on account of global warming, maybe it won’t be so bad with Brunswick East around the corner.  

  A quiet eating 8.5/10.

Lunch (a coffee and a main) was GBP15 excluding service.

  Brunswick East

Unit 3D Stamford Works, Gillett Street, Dalston London N16 8JH