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Herb Oils
Appears in
Published 2002
There are two schools of thought regarding herb oils. One says to “blanch” (as in parboil) the herbs for ten seconds (basil) to thirty seconds (rosemary), then plunge them into ice water, squeeze them dry, put them in a blender, and then infuse the oil of choice (olive, grapeseed, canola, or almond) with the resulting puree. This produces a very nice, stable, and colorful infused oil for restaurants, perfect for filling squeeze bottles and putting little dots of oil on plates.
Of course, you can do this at home, but there is the alternative, if you have fresh herbs (thyme, tarragon, rosemary, chervil, parsley, hyssop, winter savory, fennel, mint, basil, or a combination). Cover them with olive oil in a jar or bottle and soak for three days. I prefer this method since I think the flavors are cleaner and more perfumed. You can also use just the stems if you have used the leaves in cooking, although you will need more stems than whole sprigs and it will take longer to infuse the oil.
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