My friend said he would use it more often if it weren't such a pain to crush and chop at meals. That's when I shared my method for doing it all at once and enjoying the benefit for weeks and weeks to come.
Before we start, I know that you can buy garlic in the store in jars very much like this. My biggest complaint--beyond enjoying growing my own--is that jarred garlic is typically packed in water. Thus, when you throw it in hot oil, it splatters all over your stove. I pack chopped garlic in olive oil and refrigerate, so when cooked, it is--in every sense--just like peeling and chopping on the fly.
Start by peeling whole cloves. I typically do 2-3 bulbs of garlic at a time. That lasts us anywhere between 4-8 weeks and so far, I've never had it go bad on me.
I have a mini food processor. I highly recommend them for small jobs like garlic and herbs. I have not tried this in my full sized processor, so I don't know how well it chops cloves. The smaller processor is ideal. I process in batches and keep the processor running until it's not chopping much anymore.
This is my "garlic Tupperware" container. Once processed, I mix the chopped cloves in olive oil. Enough to fully cover all the garlic, but not leave it "swimming" if you know what I mean.
I then smooth out the top. Once in the fridge, this will solidify, which is fine. That will have no impact once you spoon out and cook with it.
I have not been scientific about how long this will keep. But I'm sure I've had a single batch in the fridge for more than 8 weeks. It's never gone bad or gotten moldy. But I will tell you, it is AWESOME having a container of fresh garlic in olive oil handy and ready for cooking!
As Jacque Pepin used to say, "Happy Cooking!"
