Over the last several weeks I've turned my hand to unfamiliar, but tantalisingly enjoyable tasks. It's been pleasurable and so far has left me feeling self-satisfied - A good state to be in I believe as finding self-satisfaction can be wondrous.
I refer, of course, to my recent exploits in the garden, and more specifically, vegetable gardening. I'm not a total stranger to it although vegetable gardening is something I've not done since I was a kid and under the tutelage of my parents. As someone who has a high level of preparedness in general I wanted to feel a little more self-reliant in as far as fresh food goes and whilst my modest vegetable garden is unlikely to feed my food-intake needs completely I'm gaining valuable skills and knowledge and having fun.
As part of my vegetable garden I've planted herbs to compliment the food I cook. Herbs are reasonably costly here and one can't just buy the small amount needed for a recipe, if fresh herbs are required, so some goes to waste. With my own vegetables and herbs I can pluck what I need as I need it and nothing goes to waste.
I'm not a gourmet chef in the kitchen preferring good quality, home-made foods. I like good presentation of course, but taste and quality are the primary elements I aim for; the reasons I like cooking with produce from my own garden.
A week or so ago I ran out of olive oil, my favourite go-to oil. I had plain olive oil but used the last of my chilli-infused and lemongrass-infused oils but prior to going to the market for more I decided to try something new.
The plain olive oil I use comes from the uncle of a friend, from home-grown olives. She gets copious amounts from her uncle and I beg for a few litres here and there, and get it. I made a call and within a day I had a few litres of the good stuff ready for the next part of my plan...But what plan?
Infused olive oil
I got it into my knucklehead that I'd try to make my own infused olive oil and I deployed on my operation oil infuse mission yesterday.
It's actually a remarkably simple process and didn't take very long at all. A few items are required though and I got all of them at a local kitchen shop: Oil bottes with the spout things, a little plastic funnel and...Well, that's actually it. The oil and herbs of course too!
Sterilising the bottles is quite important so I washed them in hot soapy water, thoroughly rinsed them and placed them in the oven at 110°C for twenty minutes or so. Whilst that was happening I washed the herbs and patted them dry being careful to remove all the water from them letting them air-dry once patted down to be sure. At the same time I had the oil heating on the cooktop.
Once everything was ready I dropped the herbs into the, now cool, bottles and proceeded to pour in the oil using the funnel. Just a word here, the oil was warmed, not hot; a fairly important point.
After a good wipe down my infused oil bottles were ready for the pantry. They'll need about four weeks to infuse then I'll be able to use the oils in cooking, salads and to drizzle onto crusty bread and so on. That's if it works of course.
All of the herbs are from my garden including the red jalapenos which I grew a little while back. I have a heap of frozen ones, dried some and pickled some also which I did a post about a little bit ago; I love my red jalapenos! Anyway, I made dill and mustard seed, thyme and basil and chilli infusions and I hope they work! (Confession: The mustard seeds are not from my garden.)
The taste test
I have planned a tasting of my oils in four or so weeks that goes like this:
A platter of cold-cut meats, cheeses, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, pickled baby onions, dill pickles and dukkah (duqqa). Add in crusty bread and three little dipping bowls of my infused oils plus one of plain oil mixed with balsamic vinegar and we're good to go.
The idea is one tears off a bit of bread, dips into the oil and dukkah then eats or adds in some of the other elements first, then eats. This is my idea of a legit meal - Simple but oh so tasty. I guess one could add in a suitable wine or beer but I'm happy without as the food stands alone I think. That's a legit meal right?
There'll be enough for everyone so if you want to come over let me know in the comments and I'll cater for you. We can sit around my firepit, listen to tunes and talk about everything and nothing. Sound good?
I'm oiled up and (almost) ready - Are you coming?
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
Discord: galenkp#9209