Green Herb Oils

This instructable will walk you through making a nice green herb oil. Use the oil to make any oil-based condiments or sauces, to add colour and flavor to a dish, or any other time, you need a flavourful oil! The oil keeps for several months, if not longer, if kept in the fridge.

I used this dill oil to top some sunchoke soup - try it out!

Most herbs will produce some delicious and useful oils, but apart from dill, my suggestion would be to try tarragon or basil, as both are very versatile.

75g fresh herbs (in this case dill) 

25g fresh spinach

200g flavour neutral oil (I prefer canola)

If your blender can heat while blending, simply add all three ingredients, set the heat to 70C (158F) and run at high speed, until it reaches the target temperature. 

Otherwise put your herbs and spinach in the blender, slowly heat the oil to 60C(140F) in a pot, then add to the blender and run at high speed for ~8 minutes (the heat should rise a bit further due to friction, but if you have a very powerful blender, test the temperature every once in a while, and stop if it reaches 70C (158F).

Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove the pulp. Pour the oil in a piping bag or a transparent container and leave for at least a few hours, to allow the water, impurities and oil to seperate from each other. 

Bonus tip - save your herb pulp! It still has quite a bit of flavor in it, and depending on the herb, can be brilliant in pesto or other spreads, baked into bread, added to marinades and so much more!

If using a piping bag, hold it above a sink, cut a small hole in the tip to allow the liquids water and impurities to drain out first, then pinch it shut, when it gets to the oil - drain the oil into a small bottle or other container, and store in the fridge.

If using any other kind of container, carefully pour the oil into your new container, and stop before getting to the water and impurities.