This recipe was prepared by Chef Tammy Brawley on Real Virginia, Virginia Farm Bureau’s weekly television program. 

 

Garlic Confit Scalloped Potatoes

½ cup peeled garlic cloves
about 2 cups canola oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish
1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled
3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and thinly sliced
1¼ cups whole milk
1¼ cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon garlic cloves from confit, smashed
1 teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon coarse ground pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Prepare a garlic confit by cutting off and discarding the root ends of the garlic cloves. Put the cloves in a small saucepan, and add enough oil to cover them by about 1ʺ—none of the garlic cloves should be poking through the oil.

Set the saucepan on low heat and simmer. The garlic should cook gently: very small bubbles will come up through the oil, but the bubbles should not break the surface. Adjust the heat as necessary, or move the pan to one side of the burner if it is cooking too quickly. Cook the garlic for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the cloves are completely tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and allow the garlic to cool in the oil.

Heat oven to 350°. Melt butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish, mash two of the garlic confit cloves and spread them around the inside of the dish.

Layer potatoes in the dish, overlapping slightly. In a small saucepan, mix milk, cream, a few cloves of mashed garlic confit cloves, salt and pepper. Warm until bubbling slightly, but NOT boiling.

Pour cream mixture over potatoes, and dot with butter. Cover with foil.

Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake on the top rack until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Uncover, and bake until top is golden in spots, 30-40 minutes. Let rest 20 minutes before serving.

Leftover garlic confit can be refrigerated In a covered container for up to a week.