You know you want to infuse! Read more to see how its done :)
I recently bought a large bottle of some very nice extra virgin olive oil, while alone it does in fact taste fantastic, infused with delicious and fresh herbs just takes it to another level of awesome. I have always wanted to try oil infusions so when I got this bottle I thought here is my chance. I made three different types, You don't have to Copy what I did here, oil infusions are so easy that you can make all sorts of flavored oils to suit you, and your palette, but if you feel like you want a sure thing for your first time infusing then be my guest that's why I've posted a recipe. I chose to make a spicy olive oil, a savory oil and a kind of mash of Mexican flavors which is actually an infusion of canola oil, with herbs in it (seeing as its got a very subtle flavor to it, it really takes on the flavors of any herbs you put into it making it a very delicious oil after infusion.) Experimenting with different flavors that you like is the best way to make your favorite oil taste AMAZING! I know that making infused oil is generally made to be dipped into with bread and what not, but I also very much like making oil infusions to use while cooking and in marinating food.
I love Rosemary and Thyme, they are two of my favorite herbs when cooking anything, I also have a thing for chives, I bought these in the organic section in the produce area of our grocery store, generally they run on the more expensive side, but sometimes you can find them on sale which is usually when I love to buy them (I will also be posting soon on how I dry my herbs so that I get the most out of them.) You can also use dried herbs if you want to just use some that you have at home on hand, it might not look as pretty in the bottle but it does do the same thing. I also bought those little bottles you will see that I have put my oil in at Wal-Mart for about three bucks a piece, they have a couple of other styles I just really liked the ones I got because I thought they were super cute.
Remember to always give your herbs a little rinse if you have bought them from the grocery store you never know what those little guys had to go through before they made it to the store. You also do not need a whole heck of a lot for infusion, depending on the type of oil your using any way, if your going to do an infusion with canola oil you will definitely not need a lot of herbs/spices going in again it takes on the flavors you put into it rather well with less.
For the extra virgin olive oil I used about half a sprig of rosemary, maybe five or six little stems of thyme and two or three halves of chive, I rubbed the rosemary and the thyme just a little bit and then put them all in my little oil bottle and poured the extra virgin olive oil over top.
Now my bottle of extra virgin olive oil had one of those little spouts on it so it made it easy for me to pour it into my little glass bottle, I would recommend getting a small food grade funnel so that you don't make a slippy mess every where. After I pour the oil in i generally give it a little shake to make sure that I got the oil all over the herbs, you really don't have to do that if you don't want to, I just do it to again make sure it got evenly coated on the herbs.
The next one I did was a spicy mix, I did again add about the same amount of the rosemary, thyme and chives as I did to the first one, but I also added about a teaspoon of minced garlic, a pinch salt, a pinch of pepper, and half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. This one was very experimental because of the salt and pepper I was going to make it more of a spicy dipping oil instead of a cooking oil.
This last one was made with canola oil instead of the olive oil, this too was something of an experiment, the out come was fantastic. This one has more of a Mexican flavor to it, I manly used two ingredients about a tablespoon of the minced garlic, and a pesto that I got from my mother that was just cilantro, I used about two tablespoons of that.
I let all three sit over night before I tried them, generally they can be used half to an hour after making it but the oil won't fully take on its flavors for a few days, I could only wait one. So far out of all of them I love the cilantro and garlic one the most with cooking and marinating. I love the rosemary, thyme and chive one with chicken, and beef, either in the cooking process or even drizzling a bit on after everything has been made. The spicy one is definitely a kicker and is great with bread.
I hope that this helped you in some way to start infusing your own oils. Try a number of different flavor combos, and leave me a comment on what you tried.
Thanks for stopping by, until next time, may your food adventure be great!!!
Rosemary Thyme and Chive Oil Infusion Recipe
1/2 Sprig of Fresh Rosemary
4-5 little branches of Thyme
2-3 Halves of chives
About a Cup and a half of the oil of your choice, either Canola or Olive, Veg oil does not work well with infusions.
Spicy Oil Infusion Recipe
1/2 Sprig of Fresh Rosemary
2-3 little branches of Thyme
2-3 pieces of chive
1 Tablespoon of mince garlic
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon of Red Pepper Flakes
about a cup and a half of the oil of your choice.
Mexican Oil Infusion Recipe
2 Tablespoons of Minced Garlic
3 Tablespoons of Cilantro Pesto (or 3 sprigs of fresh cilantro)
-Red pepper flakes can be added as desired.
About a cup and a half of the oil of your choice.
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