Whether you are a fervent football fan, who chants along with every scoring drive or a casual viewer who is more intrigued by the halftime show, we can all agree on one thing: game day food is just as crucial to the event as the game itself. How about swapping the traditional hot wings or chips and dip for a culinary game changer: epic gameday crostini with garlic confit? In this post, we'll not just provide a recipe for this, but also transform you from the average sideline snacker to the MVP of game day gastronomy. This recipe not only provides a simple garlic confit that can be enjoyed with your crostini, but the crostini themselves are made with the garlic-infused oil from the confit! Whether you plan on serving dips, soups, or salads, this Epic Gameday Crostini will serve your needs...Let's Get Cooking!
To make some Epic Gameday Crostini, you have to go a little above and beyond the average Joe and instead of using olive oil to season the bread, use garlic-infused oil. In order to do that, we have to begin by making a garlic confit. What is confit, you may be asking? Well, simply stated, it is something cooked at low temperature in a bath of oil essentially. Find a small oven safe container, fill it with peeled garlic cloves, and cover it with olive oil. Any oil will actually work for this, but since we are staying at lower temperatures you might as well use olive oil, which has a bit more flavor than other neutral or nut oils in my opinion. Set the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the garlic confit for 2 to 2.5 hours, until the garlic is soft and smashes easily with the press of a spoon.
This not only takes that bitter bite out of raw garlic, but adds that warm, roasted flavor that can be used in other recipes and compound butters. Speaking of which, once your garlic confit mixture cools a bit, transfer it to a sealable container and it can be stored in the fridge for a few weeks. The oil may solidify under the cooler temps, but should return to a liquid state once exposed to room temperature or higher.
While the garlic confit is baking away, grab a 2-3 foot long baguette and slice it into 1/4-inch thin rounds. Arrange them on a baking tray so when your garlic confit is done, you can brush both sides of the bread slices with that garlic-infused oil.
Increase the oven temperature up to 375 degrees while you are basting the baguette slices. Speaking of which, you can use either fresh bread for this crostini recipe or just slightly stale. I tend to save my fresh bread for normal consumption and use a baguette that is a few days old or just turning stiff for this recipe so it doesn't go to waste. Anyway, once your slices are basted on both sides and the oven is up to temp, simply slide your tray in and bake for 5-7 minutes, before flipping each slice and repeating the process. 10 to 11 minutes will produce a firm toast-like crostini while 14 minutes or so makes a nice crunchy, crispy, hearty dip-ready crostini. Check them after 10 minutes total and determine how crunchy you want your batch to end up. After all, you can always bake them a little longer if necessary.
Once your Epic Gameday Crostini are done, let them cool and transfer to a sealable container. These will keep fresh for about 5 days so you can make them ahead of time and be ready for the big game. Additionally, serve them room temperature or reheat them in the oven a few minutes to warm them up! This simple, yet elevated crostini full of that garlic-infused oil and umami goodness is perfect for dips, soups, salads, and just about anything else you can dream up. Not only do you end up with the crostini, but that garlic confit is a great spread on them as well. Smash one of those cloves and spread it across a crostini and you have a 2 for 1 appetizer! And that's your playbook on creating an Epic Gameday Crostini with garlic confit. Remember, the key to a successful culinary spread is to be adventurous and playful with your choices. These crostini might score more points with your crowd than the actual game...Just Keep Cooking!
EPIC GAMEDAY CROSTINI
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