Fresh Herbed Oil
There’s a restaurant in Phoenix called Carrabbas that begins your meal with an amazing herbed oil with bread. And they are very happy to give you the ingredients to make it which I think they get a lot of requests for because the employees can rattle the ingredients off effortlessly. No amounts are given because it’s just equal amounts of all the herbs. And there’s no set amount of herbs per olive oil. It really just depends on how strong a flavor you would like. So you don’t need to be real precise about anything. Chop approximately the same amount of each, add the garlic (Carrabbas uses granulated) and salt and pepper to taste, then add whatever amount of oil you like. Also this is the time to use an oil that has good flavor. Napa Valley Naturals Organic Olive Oil is delicious. I left out the dark balsamic vinegar but it you like it, go for it.
Fresh Herbed Oil
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/8 teaspoon mild red pepper flakes (opt.)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 2″ fresh oregano sprigs
- 3 2″ fresh parsley sprigs
- 1 4″ rosemary sprig
- 8 small fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup olive oil
- dark balsamic vinegar (opt.)
Instructions
Mince all herbs very fine. Mix with olive oil.
*There are brands that don’t have a lot of seeds. You just want a light sprinkling of the deep red for looks.
Buying all your herbs fresh can be very expensive unless you have a Middle Eastern market nearby. And most of the time you only need a small amount of an herb and the rest ends up thrown out unless you plan several recipes using that herb or freeze it which isn’t ideal. A better solution to this is to go to a farmer’s market or nursery and buy a pot that has several herbs in it (Trader Joe’s carries these too) and keep it on a sunny porch. They don’t take much room and they are pretty easy to care for. Spray herbs with water that has some drops of blue Dawn as a healthy way it to keep the bugs off.
Olive trees at Highland Springs Resort
