Roasted Garlic Infused Olive Oil

If you read many of my recipes, you may have noticed

Bottled roasted garlic infused
oil with the roasted garlic

that I frequently will allude to using flavored olive oil. It's one of those things that isn't really necessary (in most every case, unflavored oil will work just fine) but I LOVE the extra flavor you get from using it - not to mention that using it as dipping oil is heavenly.

The first time I made this, I did a lot of research - and found that making infused oils can actually be kind of dangerous. Not dangerous as in "it might explode", but dangerous as in "it can give you food poisoning if you're not careful" (and this isn't true of making all infused oils - but it is true of garlic infused oil).  

Because of that, I opted out of trying to make just garlic infused oil and went with the ROASTED garlic infused oil.  That eliminates a lot of the risk - you are heating the oil in the oven (with the garlic in it) to 350 degrees for an hour which will kill most anything that could possibly make you sick.  I also store it in the refrigerator which seriously reduces the other main problem that can occur with the NON-ROASTED garlic infused oil - which is something "growing" in it when it sits out.  In any case, I've made this several times now and haven't encountered any issues whatsoever - but thought it was best to let you know in case you want to try it yourself. 

The side benefit I found from making roasted garlic oil is that I actually like it better - roasting the garlic gives the oil a mellower flavor than if it's not roasted.  The best part of all is what's leftover - the roasted garlic!!  This is absolutely awesome to spread on a piece of crusty bread. It's like butter, only better!

Ingredients

• 4 cups olive oil (I actually do something slightly different. I keep my oil refrigerated for the reason mentioned above, and pure olive oil can solidify in the refrigerator. This will NOT harm it in any way and will work just fine when it warms up - BUT I don't always have time to warm it up or simply don't feel like waiting, so instead of using strictly olive oil, I use two cups of olive oil and two cups of canola oil. I can't really taste the difference after roasting the garlic in it and it won't solidify in the refrigerator so you are able to pour it out for your favorite recipe without any "warming" time)
• 8 heads of garlic, sliced in half
• *4 fresh thyme sprigs
• *2 fresh rosemary sprigs

*Optional - add these ingredients or any others you may like if you want that particular flavor in your oil as well.  Feel free to experiment and vary the type and amount used to match your tastes.

Directions:

Just before being covered by foil and going in the oven

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place halves of garlic heads cut-side down in a baking dish and cover with the oil. 
3. Place thyme, rosemary or any other herbs you may be using in oil (this step is optional)
4. Cover with aluminum foil, then place the dish on a baking sheet. 
5. Roast for one hour.  
6. Pour the oil through a fine mesh strainer.
7. Remove the garlic from the strainer and set aside to drain on paper towels.
8. Pour the oil into a tightly sealed container or jar. It should last a minimum of a month - I've never been able to keep it much longer than that simply because it's all gone before that time comes!
9. Don't toss the garlic! After it has cooled, squeeze the cloves out of each bulb. Keep them whole or mash them with a fork, using as desired in a recipe or simply spread onto a piece of crusty bread. Don't let anyone else in the family know you have them if you want to have any for yourself (I have to hide them from my wife or they're all gone within a day)!
10. Enjoy!

    

    Fresh out of the oven - it also makes your house smell incredible!
    
    

    
    

This is a different batch with garlic, rosemary and oregano - best batch yet!