Olive oil is an integral ingredient of many, many dishes. From tomato sauce to dressings, from being lightly drizzled on roasted vegetables to a dip for hard crusted bread. But the price tag of specialty olive oils such as herb infused olive oils is not cheap. Here is a way to make your own!
Instructions
1. Choose your herbs and spices. This is the fun part as you can make many variations of herb-infused olive oil. Some suggestions for herbs and spices are rosemary, garlic, basil, bay, chives, dill, mint, marjoram, tarragon and thyme. Again try a few different combinations and make a few different bottles.
2. Wash and dry your herbs. After washing, leave your herbs out to dry. Slightly tear or bruise the herbs so that they begin to release their aroma and flavors.
3. Heat the oil. Over a low flame, heat the oil until it is warm. Not hot, simply warm. This can best be done in a small stock pot or sauce pan.
4. Stuff herbs into bottles. Place your chosen herbs and spices into the bottles. A little goes a very long way, so don't overdue it. There's no need to overly stuff each bottle.
5. Pour oil into bottles. Pour the warm oil into the bottles over the herbs and spices. Let the bottles sit for a while until cool.
6. Place cork or rubber top onto bottle. Then set the bottle in a cool dark place for about a week.
7. Strain out herbs. After a week, strain out the herbs and spices. If you use garlic, be sure to refrigerate the oil rather than store it in a cool dark place to avoid botulism. Again, this oil should continue to be store out of direct sunlight and in a . Congratulations, you have just learned make your very own herb-infused olive oil!
Tags: herbs spices, into bottles, cool dark, place, dark place, your herbs