Olive oil is often recommended. Extra VirginOliveOil(extra virgin olive oil). This is the oil of the first pressing, that is, obtained directly by mechanical pressing of fresh olive fruits. Therefore, this brand of olive oil has a strong enough taste, which overpowers most aromatic herbs.

Advice: take as a basis light refined vegetable oil, or a mixture of refined and Extra Virgin.

All-purpose aromatic vegetable oil with garlic

General rules: To make a fragrant vegetable oil at home, you will need the same accessories as for. Namely, a saucepan, bowl, fine sieve or thin cloth (folded gauze or bandage can be used) and a funnel. Oil infusion bottles should be clean and dry, with natural corks.

Important! Eliminate any external moisture when preparing aromatic vegetable oil!

Advice: After insisting, be sure to remove the garlic and herbs from the oil, otherwise they will mold and ruin it. Use the herbal oil within a month. Flavored olive oil does not need to be refrigerated - it thickens and becomes cloudy.

Ingredients:

• Garlic - 2 large cloves
• Thyme - 1 sprig
• Rosemary - 1 sprig
• Red chili - 1 small dried
• Vegetable (olive) oil - 500 ml.

Preparation:

Peel the garlic, mash it in a glass bottle and add the herbs and pepper. Fill with oil and plug with natural cork. Insist aromatic oil for 1 week. This period is quite enough for all the components to give their aroma and pungency! Then strain the oil and pour it into a clean, dry glass bottle, again with natural cork.

Fragrant vegetable oil with thyme

The question often arises: "Thyme and thyme are the same plant?" And the answer to it is unequivocal "Yes". But, you need to clearly understand that thyme is in Russian, thyme in Ukrainian.

Oil infused with thyme not only goes great in salads, it is also suitable for enhancing the taste of meat and even heals.

For cooking 1 liter of useful aromatic oil will require a lot of thyme (thyme) - 200 grams of fresh twigs (shoots).

Fresh thyme (thyme) can be bought in a large supermarket, in the market, and it is not at all difficult to grow it yourself!

Preparation:

Rinse and dry the thyme, tear off the leaves and knead on a wooden board with a rolling pin. You will need a larger container, because the amount of thyme to flavor the vegetable oil is quite large (200 grams). Place in a bowl, cover with oil and cover with a cloth or plate. Insist 2 weeks.

Then strain the oil, pour into glass bottles and cork with natural corks.

For rosemary-scented oil put the fresh shoot in a glass bottle, cover with olive oil and leave for 14 days. Then the oil must be filtered through a fine sieve, poured into a glass bottle and corked.

Fragrant vegetable oil with basil

Many of us love basil, even dried! It is indispensable in many cuisines of the world, for example, Italians cannot imagine without basil.

The beneficial properties of basil have been known for a long time, and basil is also useful because of its ability to increase potency. The plant also contains vitamins A, C, B2, PP and others, minerals (copper, manganese, potassium, magnesium), essential oils, carotene, phytoncides, rutin. Basil and helps prevent the onset of cancer.

In India, it is believed that the use of basil helps to strengthen memory, improves brain function. Basil is revered by the Hindus as the second sacred plant after the lotus.

Ingredients:

• Basil (fresh leaves) - 150 grams
• Vegetable (olive) oil - 1 liter.

Preparation:

Rinse, dry the basil leaves (no stems) and place in a clean, dry 1-liter bottle. Heat oil to temperature 40 ° C (it will get warm but not evaporate yet) and pour it over a bottle of basil. Seal with natural cork and leave for 3-4 weeks.

Basil aromatic oil can be used for 2 weeks. If you want to keep it longer, you need to take out the basil leaves. To do this, strain the oil through a fine sieve, pour into a clean, dry glass bottle and seal with a natural cork.

As you can see, there is nothing difficult about making flavored vegetable oil. And everyone can add a touch of freshness, spice and subtle aroma to our daily cooking!

Unfortunately, those aromatic spicy herbs that come to our table in the warm season directly from the garden are not available in winter. Parsley and dill, as well as some other herbs, can be bought in winter, but not all. It is for this reason that many housewives have learned how to harvest various spicy herbs, freeze or dry, preserve and salt. In addition, various alcoholic tinctures and vegetable aromatic oils are made from aromatic herbs.

If you add just one tablespoon of this oil to salad, stews, fish, meat and even baked goods, then the dish will have a fresh summer aroma, and the taste will become more piquant and rich. Speaking about how to make fragrant oil at home, it is worth noting that this whole process involves the observance of several stages. First of all, you need to choose the right container for infusion. After that, you need to decide on the main type of oil. Next, choose the ingredients on the basis of which the aromatic oil will be infused.

You can study the manufacturing process of this product in more detail below.

Choice of dishes

To prepare aromatic oil, you need to choose a container with a wide neck. This is necessary so that pieces of fruits and vegetables, as well as grass shoots, can easily pass inside. A glass bottle with a fairly wide neck and a screw cap is ideal for making aromatic oil. If you do not have such a capacity, then you should not be upset. You can also prepare fragrant oil in a simple glass jar. When the product is ready, you just need to pour it into a more beautiful container.

Oil selection

Before making a fragrant oil at home, you must also choose a base for it. Experts recommend in this case to opt for light olive oil. But for cooking, a sunflower product is also suitable, but you only need to choose a refined composition. Alternatively, you can use corn oil in your flavoring oil recipe.

Selection of raw materials

As for the raw materials for the manufacture of this product, then it can be completely different. Aromatic oil for salad at home (as well as for other dishes) can be made from the following ingredients:

1. Spices: cinnamon, cloves, black allspice, cardamom.
2. Herbs: rosemary, basil, parsley, dill, cilantro, oregano, thyme, tarragon, mint, fennel.
3. Vegetables: hot peppers, garlic, celery, horseradish, paprika.
4. Fruits: lemon, orange, tangerine, and any citrus peel.
5. Dried berries and mushrooms.

All of these above ingredients can be used together or separately, depending on your taste. Infusing aromatic oil at home, for salads and other dishes, is a very unusual and exciting experience. By changing the amount of ingredients, as well as the entire composition, you can get a very unusual taste and aroma of the finished product.

Manufacturing secrets

To prepare aromatic oil for salads and meat dishes correctly, you should not only follow the recipe and cooking technology, but also take into account some important nuances, which are as follows:

1. If you insist on herbal oil, it is best to opt for fresh herbs, as they give the product the most intense aroma, which cannot be said about dried herbs.
2. Before putting herbs in a container, they need to be wrinkled a little in your hands.
3. You can use whole herbs, as well as pre-chop them with a knife.
4. As for the citrus zest, then it should be put into the container in large pieces, but you can also use chopped.

The main rule that must be strictly observed when preparing fragrant oil at home is that the raw materials must be dry. If you wash them before adding vegetables and fruits to the oil, then after this procedure they must be dried without fail. Do not neglect this rule, since the water that enters the container with oil can nullify all your efforts.

So, we figured out the raw materials and containers for the infusion of oil. And now it's worth moving on to the main secrets of manufacturing. But how do you make a flavorful salad and meat butter?

Cooking methods

To answer this question, it must be borne in mind that there are only several ways to prepare this product. They will depend on the recipe chosen, as well as the raw materials used. If you follow all the rules for cooking methods described below, you can get the most aromatic oil, which will become simply irreplaceable in the preparation of various dishes.

The first way

This method is suitable for flavoring oils with various herbs or herbal mixtures. It is as follows:

1. The vegetable oil must be heated over low heat, but not brought to a boil. The liquid temperature should be about 85 degrees.
2. Herbal mixtures or a separate herb must be put in oil, the liquid must be allowed to cool, after which it is poured into pre-prepared bottles.
3. The oil should be infused for 2-3 weeks, the time will depend on how you want to get a rich aroma and taste of the product.
4. When the oil is infused, it must be filtered through a gauze cloth.
5. You can store the finished product in a cool, dark place for 6 months.

Second way

This method is ideal for flavoring oils with ground spices. To prepare aromatic oil using this method, you must follow some rules, which are as follows:

1. Before adding the oil, the spices must be thoroughly ground in a coffee grinder.
2. After that, they are transferred to a dry, clean container, poured on top with any vegetable oil, the temperature of which should be at room temperature.
3. The oil should be infused for 5-10 days. When the spices settle and the liquid becomes completely transparent, this means that the product is ready.
4. Use ready-made oil, which was infused in this way, should be within a couple of months after its preparation.

The third way

This method is used to flavor oils that use fruits and vegetables in the recipe. The method is as follows:

1. Fruits or vegetables must be washed thoroughly and then wiped dry with a cotton towel.
2. Using a blender, grind all the ingredients until puree is formed.
3. Cook over low heat: bring the mashed potatoes to a boil, add vegetable oil, mix everything well and pour into an infusion container.
4. The oil should be infused for about 3-5 weeks.
5. Use the finished product in this form, or you can also strain it through a piece of gauze folded in several layers.
6. The finished product is stored for about 6 months.

Storage features

Homemade flavored oils are best stored in a cool, dark place, such as a basement or cellar. But if you do not have such rooms, then some recipes for the preparation of the product are allowed to be stored at room temperature, as well as in the refrigerator.

Using aromatic oils

As discussed earlier, flavored oils are used to make soups, salads, meats, dressings, fish, vegetables, and more. Below you can familiarize yourself with the classic recommendations with which you can navigate the use of a flavored product:

1. Butter with the addition of basil will go perfectly with dishes made from vegetables and fish.
2. Chefs use clove and cinnamon oil to make sweet baked goods.
3. Oil with the addition of rosemary is used in most cases for meat dishes, as well as for rice.
4. The aromatic thyme oil enhances the flavor of vegetable pies and pizzas.
5. Oil with lemon zest, as well as with lemon can perfectly complement the taste of fish dishes.
6. Caraway seed oil goes well with vegetable dishes.
7. Aromatic oil with the addition of coriander, complements the taste of vegetables and savory baked goods.

Now, in more detail, you should familiarize yourself with the most popular recipes for making flavored oil at home.

With cloves and cinnamon

To prepare such oil, you will need:

• 450 ml of olive oil.
• 3 cinnamon sticks.
• 5 pieces of carnations.

The cloves and cinnamon must be ground in a coffee grinder. The container for infusing aromatic oil should be thoroughly washed and then dried. A mixture of crushed cloves and cinnamon is poured into a clean and dry container, and vegetable oil is poured on top, the temperature of which should be room temperature. The product should be infused for 1 week. When the butter is ready, it can be used to make a variety of sweet baked goods.

With mint

To prepare olive oil with mint you will need:

• 450 ml of oil.
• Allspice in the amount of 3 peas.
• 4 sprigs of mint.

The mint should be sorted out, washed thoroughly and dried. After this, the plants must be transferred to a dry, clean container, add allspice and pour olive oil, which is preheated to a hot state. In this case, herbs and spices must be completely covered with oil. The product is infused for about 1 month. After that, the oil must be filtered and stored in the refrigerator.

With fragrant herbs

Olive oil is also used as a base for this product. For cooking you will need:

• 450 ml of oil.
• 3 pieces of marjoram leaves.
• 5 pieces of salvia leaves.
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 2 leaves of laurel.

All herbs must be thoroughly washed and spread on a towel to dry. Put the leaves of marjoram, salvia, thyme, rosemary, laurel in a dry and clean container. Heat the olive oil over low heat, but do not bring it to a boil. Pour the liquid over the herbs so that it covers them completely. You can also put greens in heated oil, let it cool, and then pour everything together into a dry, clean container. The fragrant oil should be infused for about 3 weeks. After that, the product must be filtered and stored in a cool, dark room. If this is not available, then the oil can be stored in the refrigerator.

With garlic

For the preparation of this aromatic oil, not olive oil, but vegetable oil is used. For this you will need:

• 450 ml of refined sunflower oil.
• 5 cloves of garlic.
• 1 sprig of marjoram
• 1 sprig of basil

Garlic should be peeled, washed, kneaded in a mortar, or chopped with a garlic press. Wash marjoram and basil and let dry. Add chopped garlic, marjoram and basil to a container with heated vegetable oil. When the oil has cooled, it must be poured together with the other ingredients into a dry, clean container. The mass should be infused for about 3 weeks, and then it is filtered and stored in a cool, dark place.

Please note that rosemary can be used in this recipe instead of marjoram and basil.

With lemon

This flavored product is based on olive oil. To prepare it, you need to take:

• 600 ml olive oil.
• 9 pieces of carnations.
• 3 small lemons.

Citruses must be washed well and wiped dry. Stick 3 cloves into each fruit. Thoroughly wash, sterilize and dry the container for infusing aromatic oil. After that, it is necessary to put lemons in it and pour over heated olive oil. The product should be infused for 3 weeks. When it's ready, the lemons need to be removed from the container. The finished flavored oil is stored in a cool and dark place. Instead of whole lemons, you can also use their zest to prepare the product.

Above, not all recipes for the preparation of vegetable aromatic oil have been listed. In fact, there are a huge number of them. Therefore, feel free to experiment by adding various ingredients to recipes to be surprised by a new, unexpected taste.

If you decorate a bottle of scented oil beautifully, it will be a good gift for friends and family who will definitely appreciate this product.

Season a salad, sprinkle on pizza, add to baked goods or any other dish - flavored vegetable oil can do wonders. And it's not difficult to cook it.

Grade

A bottle with a couple of red peppers inside is a good decoration for the kitchen. But not only. The oil gratefully accepts the aroma from what is placed in it. Essential oils of herbs, spices, citrus fruits change the flavor profile of the dressing. It can still be used to prepare a wide variety of dishes, but it will enhance their flavor in new ways, adding a whole palette of flavors.

What kind of oil can be flavored?

Any vegetable. The traditional base for the infusion of aromatic herbs and spices is olive oil. But if this is not at hand, you can use refined. They insist on herbs and corn, but we recommend considering this option as a last resort: it contains too many omega-6 fatty acids, an excess of which is dangerous to health. The harm from such a refueling will be more than good.

What to insist on?

In any glass container. You can use the one in which the oil will be stored, but this is usually a bottle and it can be difficult to fit all the necessary ingredients into it. In addition, in many cases, the oil must be filtered after a certain period of infusion. It may not be possible to remove all the ingredients from a container with a narrow neck. So try using a wide-mouth bottle or jar for this. After straining, the oil can be poured into a more suitable container. It is better to sterilize it before that.

What do you need to know?

Keep the oil away from water, it can ruin the whole event. The dishes that you use in the process must be wiped dry. Herbs - dry with a towel or in a greenery dryer, and better this way and that. Some oils can be stored for a long time, some are better to use sooner. Read the recipes carefully. There are no universal formulas; you can experiment with combinations of ingredients.

Herbs are one of the most popular ingredients in flavored oil. It is best to use them fresh when the concentration of essential oils is at their maximum. Now is the season - don't miss the moment. Or be prepared to infuse oil on it during the cold season. Before putting it in the container, you need to crush it a little: so it will be better to give the aroma to the oil. It is better to store the flavored oil in a cool dark place, you can keep it in the refrigerator. That, in fact, is all - you can cook.

Rosemary and garlic oil

What we need:

450 ml sunflower oil

5 cloves of garlic

2 sprigs of rosemary (can be substituted with marjoram and basil)

Rosemary and garlic oil: how to cook

1. Peel, chop the garlic - pass through a press, crush in a mortar or grate. Wash and dry the rosemary. 2. Heat the oil, but do not bring it to a boil. Add garlic and rosemary. 3. Allow the oil to cool, pour into a glass container and let it brew for three weeks. Then strain and pour into a convenient container.

Spiced butter

What we need:

500 ml olive oil

15 peas each of black and allspice

1¼ tsp star anise

1/4 tsp each. nutmeg and cinnamon (or to taste)

Spiced butter: how to cook

1. Grind both peppers and anise in a coffee grinder. Combine with the remaining spices, put in a container. 2. Pour the spices with room temperature oil (if it was stored in the refrigerator, take it out in advance and let it warm up). After 8-10 days, the oil is ready.

Butter with bay leaf, pepper and garlic

What we need:

500 ml of any refined oil

10 bay leaves

10 pink peppercorns

2 cloves of garlic

Butter with bay leaf, pepper and garlic: how to cook

1. Grind the pepper in a coffee grinder. Peel the garlic, cut in half. Put the garlic and pepper together with the bay leaf in a container and cover with oil at room temperature. 2. Close the container, let the oil brew for 20-25 days in a dark place. Then strain and pour into a suitable container.

What to insist on?

Fragrant herbs: rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, fennel, tarragon, parsley, dill. For infusion, it is better to use fresh herbs - in this case, the aroma will be more intense and appear much faster.

Fragrant vegetables: garlic, shallots, hot peppers, paprika, celery, horseradish.

Spices : cinnamon, cloves, star anise, allspice, cardamom, anise and others.

Fruits and berries: raspberries, cherries, lemon, lime, orange.

Flowers: linden, nasturtium.

You can use individual ingredients or combinations of them to flavor your taste.

There are three ways to flavor vinegar and oil.

Method one

Best for aromatic herbs, flowers, and whole spices.

Heat vinegar or oil over low heat. The vinegar should not boil. While heating, add the flavoring ingredients, cool the mixture and pour into glass containers for storage. Alternatively, you can bottle or jar the flavors and fill them with heated oil or vinegar. In the first case, the aroma will open a little faster.

If you want the most intense flavor and aroma, add fresh flavors as you infuse.

Method two

Ideal for vegetables, fruits and herbs.

Grind fruits, vegetables or herbs in mashed potatoes, on which you are going to make an infusion. Bring the puree to a boil and add room temperature vinegar or oil. Stir and pour into a brewing container. You can strain the finished mixture through cheesecloth for transparency or leave it as it is.

Method three

Used for aromatization with ground spices.

Grind the spices in a mortar or grind in a coffee grinder. Pour into a jar or bottle, cover with room temperature oil or vinegar and leave to infuse. This mixture can be used after the spices have settled to the bottom and the liquid has become clear.

Mixtures prepared in any of the ways must be insisted in the refrigerator from several hours to several days. The infusion time depends on the intensity of the flavoring ingredients and how intense the flavor you want it to be.

It's always nice to have on hand various universal and tasty little things: sun-dried tomatoes and peppers, dried or fresh herbs growing in pots, several universal sauces with which you can cook dinner in 10 minutes, in a word, something that makes life easier and food tastier. One of these little things is aromatic butter with spices and herbs. Seriously, it's easier to come up with dishes that CAN'T use such a prefab than the other way around.

A piece of this oil can be put in a sauce, added to baked or boiled vegetables, grated on a bird before baking, used as a base for savory baked goods, fry anything on it, put on a steak, spread on toast ... I can go on forever ...

The preparation is ridiculously simple. Let's start with our first, arguably the most versatile, parsley and garlic option.

We are waiting for the butter to become soft and divide it into two unequal parts: set aside the smaller part, and start working with the larger one. It is worth noting that this division is not obligatory, it rather has a decorative function, but first things first.

Mix most of the oil with chopped parsley and a clove of garlic pounded into a paste with salt. We set the oil aside.

We take on the second taste - hot pepper and lemon - you can't imagine more ideal for a steak.

Here, too, everything is as easy as shelling pears: hot piri-piri pepper (can be replaced with regular chili), zest of 1 lemon, chopped parsley, a teaspoon of paprika for color and aroma. We mix.

Sweet spicy butter with honey and mustard for roasting chicken and winter vegetables.

Here you don't even need to grind anything, just mix all the ingredients with oil and voila!

The last taste - horseradish and black pepper - is a universal thing for everything. It is advisable to take canned horseradish, since fresh horseradish has too harsh taste, you will not even feel oil behind it.

Now that all the oils are ready, all that remains is to shape them. This is easy to do with cling film, baking paper, or a sheet of foil. By the way, you can immediately deposit soft butter from a pastry bag with any curly attachment, and then freeze these small portions, thereby making your life easier while preparing canapés for a buffet table, for example.

We start in order - garlic + herbs.

For those who decided to show off the same way as I did: lay out the deferred third of the butter in a layer of approximately equal thickness, put the prepared butter in the center of such a base and roll everything into a roll. Thus, after freezing, a beautiful border between pure oil and herbal oil will be visible.

Now we take on pepper oil.

Mustard oil.

And butter with pepper and horseradish.

Then I decided to just shape them into neat sausages. It turned out like this.

We put the oil in the refrigerator until it hardens, and then use it as you please.

Realizing that in the near future even an average family of three would not be able to handle 400 grams of butter, I wrapped it in foil and left it in the freezer. Thus, it can be stored for 4 months.

Mustard oil + honey:

• butter - 100 g;
• sweet mustard - 1 tbsp a spoon;
• honey - 1 tsp.

Pepper + horseradish oil:

• butter - 100 g;
• canned horseradish - 1 tbsp. a spoon;
• ground black pepper - to taste.

Preparation

1. Mix all the ingredients together, salt to taste.