Herb Infused Oil

Infused oil is sold at the grocery store but you can make your own at the fraction of the cost especially if you grow your own culinary herbs.

There are many ways to infuse herbs in oil. I would describe one of the ways.

Recipe

Fresh herb of your choice ( I used sage and winter savory from my garden)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Glass bowl or Pint jar

Mortar and pestle

Direction:

Rinse the herb of your choice and remove the stems.

Pound in a mortar with a pestle until the leaves are in small pieces. No liquid or oil is needed to pound the leaves.

Transfer to a glass bowl or a pint jar. Add olive oil to completely cover the herb. Stir to mix everything. Cover and store in the fridge or freezer for a longer storage.

Herb infused oil can be used to saute vegetables at the beginning of cooking to impart the herb flavor to the dish. It can be served on steaks as well.

The leaves can be processed in a food processor. In that case, Olive oil can be added to it while the leaves are been processed. However, some food experts tend to say that leaves crushed in a mortar and pestle have a better taste compared to when chopped in a food processor. I like to use my granite mortar and pestle better than my food processor because I don’t like electricity powered gadgets in my kitchen. I like thing the old fashioned way. Growing up in Africa, we used a granite stone grinder to blend peppers and tomatoes. We also used wood mortar and pestle to pound dry spices into powder. Using a mortar and pestle, makes you exercise your arms muscles as well but you can use a food processor if that what you are comfortable with.

If a mortar and pestle are on your purchasing list, do a little research before placing your order. Mortar and pestle can be made of wood, larva rock, marble, and granite. Granite mortar is the most sturdy one in my opinion. It grinds better than marble. It is not porous like lava rock or wood mortar and won’t harbor bacteria. Wood mortar can have food particles stuck in its crevices and harbor bacteria if you don’t wash it well after each use. I use my granite mortar and pestle to crush graham crackers for pie crust, to grind dry spices, dry herbs, fresh herbs, and to shell black walnut.

I use my lava rock mortar and pestle also called molcajete to grind fresh chili pepper.