Flavored Oils

"Don't throw anything away...The only thing I can't use is a bad attitude." - Chef Chris

Anyone can cook well with expensive ingredients. The difference between a good cook and a great cook is the ability to make something extraordinary with ingredients no one else wants to use. Chef Chris is a great cook and he is trying to teach my class how to be creative and resourceful like himself. Today we learned how to make an infused herb oil with herbs that some of the other classes were throwing away. We also learned how to make garlic oil, green oil, tomato coulis, and tomato water.

For the herb oil, you can make as much or as little as you want depending on how many herbs you have laying around. We had a lot of herbs so we made a lot of oil. The recipe below is meant for inspiration and probably should not be followed. Copy the methodology and be creative!

5 cups olive oil

5 cups canola oil

50 grams cilantro

50 grams parsley

20 grams marjoram

20 grams sage

15 grams rosemary

15 grams oregano

15 grams thyme

2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

5 bay leaves

2 heads garlic (~120 grams) with the roots cut off and sliced in half like a bagel

Combine all the ingredients and let the oil simmer on the stove for about one hour. Strain before using.

The green oil is essentially another version of the herb oil with an emphasis on appearance rather than flavor (although it tastes good too). In order to preserve the color of the herbs, you have to blanch them in lots of salted boiling water just like you would with any other green vegetable. You effort will be rewarded with an absolutely gorgeous oil that has a vibrant green color. Again, you can use any herbs you have laying around but this time try to stick to the more delicate herbs such as basil, cilantro, parsley, chives, and tarragon. Here are the proportions we used in class:

2 1/2 cups olive oil

2 1/2 cups canola oil

400 grams fresh green herbs, reserve stems for another use

Cheesecloth

String

Blanch the herbs in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove them from the water and plunge them into an ice bath until they are cold. Squeeze out as much water as possible, roughly chop the herbs, and place them into a blender or food processor with the oil. Blend until you have a very fine puree. Line a bowl with a few layers of cheesecloth and have a piece of sting on hand. Pour the herb puree into the cheese cloth. Gather the edges of the cloth and create a pouch by tying the ends together with the string. Watch as the beautiful green oil drips out of the cheesecloth and into the bowl. Don't rush the dripping process by squeezing the pouch or you will end up with a cloudy oil. Tie the pound to something in your kitchen and let it continue dripping for a few hours. Unfortunately this oil will turn brown after 2-3 days in the fridge. So after you make the oil, freeze it in ice cube trays and thaw out a couple of cubes every time you want to use it.

For the last few days I have been practicing my medium dice potato both in class and as homework. As a result, my fridge was overflowing with potato scraps so today I decided to try making some healthy mashed potatoes. I boiled my potatoes in salted water, strained them, and mashed them with a fork. I whisked in some of the herb oil we made today in class and about one cup of vegetable broth. I probably would have added some cream or butter because they obviously were not as good as the potatoes we made the other day in class, but there was none in the fridge and I was too lazy to go to the grocery store. I ended up mixing in the leftover spicy mayonnaise from yesterday. The potatoes still weren't as fluffy or as creamy, but they tasted good and I will definitely make them again the next time my fridge is bursting with potato scraps.