Contents
Herbal oil formula with olive oil and aromatic plants
HERBAL OIL PROPERTIES AND RECIPE
Homemade herb oil
This is a simple and practical recipe to prepare herbal oil. It consists of a high quality olive oil flavored with herbs, using the ability of the oil to retain the aromatic spices.
This recipe will serve to season and to add a touch of flavor to salads, breads, pizzas, and all kinds of preparations.
It is also nice to give it as a present. It can be easily prepared and it can be offered as a gift to share with other favorite flavors.
How to make an aromatic herbal oil?
Indeed, olive oil, as other fat, (sunflower oil, other vegetable oils, butter, margarine, etc.) is able to absorb the aromatic substances contained in foods and herbs.
Many dishes and sauces would not be the same without this particular preparation. It consists on heating the oil and adding the herbs you want for the dish, like onion, parsley and garlic. By action of heat, the oil permeates the aromatic substances of herbs.
This is the same process that happens in herbs maceration, which involves placing the spices in oil and marinate them for 1 month. In this recipe, we will accelerate this process by means of heat.
The oil will catch all the properties of the aromatic components which will impregnate it.
HERBAL OIL RECIPE
Ingredients for a homemade herbal oil
- Oil: Olive oil
- Spices to taste: rosemary, thyme, marjoram, sage, oregano, pepper, cayenne pepper, etc.
Preparation of a herbal oil
- Select a container of a few milliliters (ml) to fill with oil. We can use an oil bottle, or a decorative glass jar.
- Place the spices we want inside. The spices should be clean and completely dry. It is not recommended to use fresh herbs and lots of garlic because these foods contain water and are perishable. In the case of garlic, it is preferable to use unpeeled garlic.
- For example, we can place a sprig of rosemary, another of marjoram, a clove of garlic and 4 grains of black pepper.
- Heat the whole container in a pan in bain Marie. It is not important for the water to cover the entire container. Covering only half is enough.
- Cook it for 1015 minutes.
- Remove from heat, clean and cool to room temperature.
- Decorate for gifts, or for domestic oil.
We use the bain Marie technique because the oil is cooked with the water at temperatures of 100 ° C (boiling water).
If we put directly the oil in pan, for example, the oil would bake at higher temperatures (150-180 ° C). In this case, oil will degrade and will be very perishable (oil returns prematurely rancid).
This recipe can not be performed in a microwave, as waves only affect water and oil is an oily liquid.
More information on medicinal plants.
