How to Make Gourmet Oils and Vinegars

Oils and vinegars that have been infused with herbs are a great way to layer flavor into your prepared dishes.

Flavored vinegars, such as Tarragon Vinegar, can add a great, healthy zip to a room temperature (sans mayonnaise) potato salad, or a quick, homemade vinaigrette. Herbal oils, like rosemary oil, are great when paired with chicken that is browned before baking. Basil Oil is fantastic for softening vegetables. Floral Vinegars are a bright surprise in fruit salads, and Spice Oils are easy to make and add very interesting flavors to a dish.

But these delicious kitchen secrets don’t come without a price tag, and in some locations they can also be hard to find.

My answer to this is to make my own, and you will be surprised at how easy it is to do.

To make savory herbal oils, loosely fill a clean, clear jar with dried fresh herbs and cover with any unheated oil except a strongly flavored one---I like to use either sunflower oil or safflower oil.

Cover with cheesecloth and let sit in a sunny window sill for 2 weeks to allow the herb to infuse the oil. Stir daily. After two weeks, strain the oil through the cheesecloth, then test the flavor.

If you like it, bottle the oil. Otherwise, repeat the process by straining the oil and replacing the herbs with fresh ones.

To make sweet herbal oils, such as lavender oil or rose oil, use almond oil with scented flowers.

Begin by loosely filling a clean jar with 'bruised' fresh herbs.

Bruising the herbs releases their oils which is where most of the flavor is. It is a cooking technique that is used when you want the flavor of the herb, but you don't wish to eat the herb itself. To bruise them, you don't need to send Mike Tyson in to work them over. Instead, gently roll and rub a bunch of sprigs in your hand.

Once the herbs are bruised and in the jar, pour in enough warmed (warm, not hot!) cider or wine vinegar to fill the jar. Cap the jar using an acid-proof lid, of course.

Set the vinegar in a sunny window and shake it every day. Test the flavor after a couple of weeks. If the flavor isn't strong enough, replace the herbs with fresh ones and repeat the process.

Once you are satisfied with the flavor, strain it through cheesecloth and re-bottle it. I like to add a fresh sprig to the bottle for aesthetics and identification.

For Tarragon Vinegar, also add a sliced clove of garlic for the first day. On the second day, remove the sliced garlic and add two whole cloves which you will leave in for the remaining two weeks.

Remove stems, floral stems and heels from the petals, loosely fill a clean jar with the bruised petals.

Pour in enough warmed cider or wine vinegar to fill the jar then cap using an acid-proof lid.

Place the vinegar in a sunny window and shake it every day. Test the flavor after a couple of weeks. If the flavor isn't strong enough, replace the petals with fresh ones and repeat the process.

Once you are satisfied with the flavor, strain it through cheesecloth and re-bottle it.

This easy to prepare method takes only minutes and the herbal oils are very flavorful and attractive.

My favorite version of this is one I found in "Gourment Cooking for Dummies" by Charlie Trotter. Here is his version:

Preparation time: 5 minutes, plus overnight refrigeration

Yield: 1/2 cup

• 1 cup chives
• 1 cup Italian parsley
• 1 cup watercress
• 1 cup canola oil

Directions:

1. Blanch the chives, parsley, and watercress in boiling, salted water for 20 seconds to release the essential oils. Immediately shock the herbs in ice water to stop the cooking process and then drain off the ice water. Squeeze out any excess liquid and then coarsely chop the herbs.
2. Puree the herbs in a blender with the canola oil for 3 to 4 minutes or until the mixture appears bright green.
3. Pour into a container and refrigerate overnight.
4. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and discard the solids. Refrigerate for 24 hours and decant the oil (remove just the clear oil and discard the impurities that have settled on the bottom).
5. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month. Remove the amount needed from the top, being careful not to disturb the impurities that have settled on the bottom.

I have discoverd with this method that you can use one herb or any combination of herbs that you like. Simply keep the ratio the same: 3 cups of herbs to 1 cup of oil. You can also use other oils, just stick with neutral flavored oils, ie: grapeseed, safflower.

Making spice oils is super easy and they add fantanstic flavor to your dishes.

Simply saute spices with a little bit of oil---this causes the spice to release its flavor.

Next, blend the sauted spice mixture with oil and allow it to steep until the oil takes on the desired degree of flavor.

You can use pretty much any spice, and it is fun to experiment. For oil, I always use one that doesn't have any flavor like canola, safflower, or grapeseed.

Homemade herbal oils and vinegars are not only less expensive and more flavorful, they are also quite attractive --- especially the vinegars, as you can leave a fresh sprig of the herb in the bottle for visual appeal.

I became interested in making these when I started making my own dressings. But not long after I started using them in dressings, I soon discovered that they would enhance the flavor of everything I cooked. Of course, I also enjoy the money I save by making my own too!

Herbal oils and flavored vinegars also make great gifts for your ‘foodie’ friends. In fact, I don't know any cook who doesn't regularly use infused vinegars and oils.