I've been doing quite a bit of cooking with garlic and olive oil lately. One of my favorite techniques involves getting the flavor out of fresh garlic into olive oil very quickly. Basically, all you do is this:
- Crush a few garlic cloves, using the side of a large knife or a garlic crusher.
- Finely mince the garlic.
- Place the minced garlic in a microwavable bowl with some olive oil. How much you use is of course going to depend on what you are cooking.
- Microwave the mixture for about 10 seconds on high power.
You can use this mixture any way to you like to bring olive oil and garlic flavoring to anything. For example, you can see how this is used in the recipe for Garlic Chicken.
You can also make garlic rolls this way, by coating freshly baked rolls with this oil mixture, and then sprinkling on some Italian seasonings along with some salt. There is an Italian restaurant in the area where I live that makes rolls in a similar fashion. They are a bit greasy, but very good!
There are probably countless ways of using garlic-flavored olive oil. Invent your own!
Storage and Safety
To avoid potential food poisoning caused by botulism, it's best to prepare this mixture fresh and use immediately, throwing away the unused portion. If you must store some of it, put the unused portion in the refrigerator immediately, and be sure to use it within a few days. Never store it at room temperature. Throw away any unused oil after it has been in the refrigerator a week. You may not be able to tell if the mixture has spoiled, since it will look and smell the same.