Fresh Herb Infused Oils for Spreading, Dipping and Marinating

Making fresh herb infused oils. Finally having my garden back this year was just wonderful and, as usual, some things exceeded my expectations while others… not so much. For some reason (and I’m not the only one it turns out) my cucumbers didn’t really show up though my green beans and peas did really well. My carrots, radishes and beats were a bit tragic but my squash gave us a nice crop. For the first time my tomatoes did wonderfully though this is the last time I’ll ever try to grow bell peppers again. I was reminded though that the produce is actually not what excites me the most about my garden. Its actually the fresh herbs!

Anyone who has ever gone to the store to buy fresh herbs has probably experienced the same sticker shock as I have. $8 for five basil leaves? Seriously?!

Fortunately growing them is super easy. (One year I even dried them.)

All summer I cook with them then, when I harvest in the fall, I usually finely chop them and freeze them.

Actually I find they maintain their flavor better freezing then drying and they certainly don’t take a lot of room in the freezer so that’s always been my go-to.

Now oils infused with different flavors is a pretty much ancient concept and they’re super duper expensive for a reason. They’re wonderful for dipping and marinating!

A few years ago I got really into making pickles and picked up a 100 pack of these cheesecloth bags.

Looking into making fresh herb infused oils the number one concern is shelf life. Anything left in the oil (especially any moisture) will eventually start to rot and ruin everything. Good infused olive oil kept in a cool dark place can last a really long time but leave a little fresh oregano in there and its days are numbered.

(Dried herbs are “safer” to use because of their lack of moisture content.)

I have a large jug of premium organic olive oil in my cabinet that my dad ordered when he decided the best way for him to be healthy and lose weight was to start drinking a couple of tablespoons of it a day… and that lasted… about a day lol.

Olive oil is shockingly gross when you just drink it…

It was a win for me though because I now have this gorgeous olive oil on hand in my kitchen!

So, the most important thing with making fresh herb infused oils is getting EVERYTHING out of the oil after no more than two weeks of infusing. They talk about doing ALOT of straining through cheesecloth but I just so happened to have those cheesecloth bags so why not use them and guarantee I leave nothing behind?

Seems like a no brainer!

First I harvested my herbs.

Oregano, Basil, Sage and Thyme. (Real bummer my Rosemary didn’t come up this year.)

I washed them and left them out to dry completely.

I plan on doing combinations in the future but right now I’m doing each herb separately. I want to know just how pungent each one is and just how well they infuse in the oil individually. This will give me the info I need for future combinations so as not to have one herb completely over power the other etc.

I put my four jars through the dishwasher (though they were clean already) as I was taught from the little bit of canning I did years ago: Your jars can NEVER be too sanitized!

I packed my little cheesecloth bags with as many herbs as I could fit and I was NOT gentle. I bruised them up hardcore and intentionally to release as much of their flavor as possible.

Then I settled the bags in the bottom of each jar and submerged them entirely in olive oil before covering them and putting them in the lower drawer of my refrigerator.

Two weeks later I carefully removed my satchels using sterile tongs to squeeze out as much oil from the cheesecloth bags as I could before discarding them. Though my hands were scrubbed clean I was VERY careful not to touch anything.

My gosh you guys they smell SO GOOOOOODDDD!!!

I immediately popped some crostini in the oven to toast.

I like basil but running into a whole leaf of basil can be… a bit much – this is just the perfect vessel to get exactly the amount of flavor you like.

We had a family get together coming up which is what inspired me to make these fresh herb infused oils in the first place. I wanted to try making some of that marinated cheese that’s so expensive!

I was going to use different types of cheese initially but standing there, looking at the options, I realized I wanted the oils to stand out as much as possible so I chose the mild but lovely mozzarella.

I cut it into bite sized cubes and filled the jars with as much as I could. They marinated in the refrigerator for two days before the party and my gosh you guys they were a hit!

I brought crostini for dipping and tooth picks to easily get a square of cheese at a time and there was barely anything left at the end of the day.

My mom kept the Sage infused oil to brush over her mom’s homemade rolls before baking them because she thought that would be just about perfect and I made her promise to save me some. (She also sprinkles salt over them before baking as well so yeah… that’s gonna be really good.)

What did I do with the rest of the leftovers? I spooned the mozzarella and oil over baguettes and baked them until they became melted, cheesy, toasted, herby gloriousness.

Yes, I will be making more!

I can’t wait to use them for meat marinades and sauces!