Making black garlic, per these instructions from Cortney Burns and Nicolaus Balla's new cookbook, Bar Tartine: Techniques and Recipes, is a simple, hands-off process. Only note that your neighbors may leave notes inquiring about the pervasive aroma. Say Burns and Balla, "Holding garlic at constant temperature of 130°F/55°C for 2 to 3 weeks renders the cloves as black as tar. All of the characteristic sharpness disappears and is replaced with a molasses-like sweetness and an aroma reminiscent of licorice. As the garlic is blackening it can be somewhat fragrant. This is one of many projects that have yielded a visit from a manager at the restaurant next to ours to ask, "What is the smell wafting through the walls?"

This garlic is used in the Black Garlic Vinaigrette, a component of their Smoked Potatoes with Ramp Mayonnaise.