Darlings, why would you pay extra moolah for gourmet herb infused-oils, when you could so easily make your own? Yea, you could use boring old olive oil when you cook, but why not reach for hot pepper oil or truffle oil to kick it up a notch? Mixing together savory herbs like thyme, rosemary, peppercorns and bay leafs is be divine for roasting or stir-fries or sautees. Other must try herbs: sorrel, lemon thyme, sweet basil, parsley, chili peppers, caradmom, cinnamon, cumin etc – basically try them all (in mixtures that you are fond of.) Fresh herbs will get you a way superior flavor, but dry herbs are fine too. If you choose to us fresh mushrooms, garlic, or ginger in your oils – you should use them almost immediately, as they go off much quicker than dry/ fresh herbs do.
How to: Blanch your herbs (fresh only) in boiling water for 2 minutes to bring up their delicious smells. Then run them under cold water, and chop ’em up (you can can leave chili peppers, thyme, bay leaves, and rosemary sprigs whole to make it purty.) Allow the herbs to dry completely – we mean all the way – this will extend the life of your oil and make sure you don’t get icky bateria up in therrre. Then fill around 1/4 of the jar or bottle with your herbs and fill the rest with olive oil (or sunflower, sesame, and macadamia oil) and seal that shit up. Best to use jars with rubber stoppers that seal tight as can be. Let the oils set in the fridge for a few days, and then eat ’em. And these aren’t only delicious – they make amazing gifts if you use sweet bottles.