Infused Oils

Use infused oils in the kitchen to make tasty meals. Herb, pepper, and citrus infused culinary oils are a nice alternative to regular olive oil. While you can use fresh herbs to make your infused oils, they must be used the day of infusion, which is why I recommend using dried herbs. These infused oils are easy to prepare and can either be used in your own kitchen or given as a homemade gift.

what you'll need:

- olive oil

- peppercorns

- jalapenos (sliced)

- garlic

- citrus peels (I used lemon, orange, and grapefruit)

- dried herbs (I used thyme and dill)

To dry herbs:

Spread the herbs evenly on a baking sheet and bake at 175 for about 30 minutes.

Put oil and ingredients in small saucepan and cook until the oil reaches a temperature of about 250 degrees. Just like when infusing tea, there is a set point where you are not going to get any more flavor out of your ingredients. A good gauge to see when the oil is done infusing is when you can smell the ingredients that you are infusing. I did not measure the oil; I just poured enough oil over the ingredients in the saucepan to cover them. Be careful not to fry your ingredients.

Jalapeno infused oil:

I used one jalapeno (sliced), 1 garlic clove, and peppercorns. If you want the oil to be extra spicy, use more jalapenos. Prepare a bottle to store the oil. You can add fresh jalapenos to the bottle (just make sure that you do not use fresh garlic) or you can add the ingredients from the saucepan. When the oil finished infusing, I just put the cooked ingredients in the bottle and poured the hot oil in after. The jalapeno infused oil is done! Do not put the top on the bottle until the oil is completely cooled.

Thyme infused oil:

couple sprigs of dried thyme, garlic clove, and peppercorns

dill infused oil:

couple sprigs of dried dill, garlic clove, and peppercorns

citrus infused oil:

rind of 1 lemon, 1 grapefruit, and 1 orange

Store the oils in the fridge and use soon after infusing them. Before using them, allow the oils to return to room temperature.