Me being the adventurer of creativity that I am started wondering "Could I make some of these at home?" Some, yes. Others should be left to the professionals (no clue how to infuse butter into the oil). But in the mean time, here's what I've done and what I've learned.
I started with a trip to Hobby Lobby and purchased some bottles perfect for oils. I also found a great variety on specialtybottle.com that I may try the next time around. This obviously isn't necessary, but they sure do look cute with a little ribbon around the neck for homemade Christmas gifts (wink, wink).
I looked up a few general recipes and found there are two schools of thought for oil infusion: the slow, week-long process or the short, heat-the-oil-and-bada-bing-bada-boom-you're-done method. Both seem to work, but I liked the idea of a gradual approach better.
I decided on three flavors to try first: lime (our favorite at the store), rosemary, and chipotle. I've never been a stickler for measurements, so I just went to town and "eyeballed" my ingredient ratios. For the lime, I used long slivers of lime zest from two small limes for about 7 ounces of olive oil. Two big sprigs of rosemary were used in the next. After a little over a week, I strained and re-bottled both infusions and they came out GREAT, especially the rosemary. The lime flavor was definitely there, but I may play around with it to get a little more kick.
The chipotle was disappointing, but from my own doing. I didn't use fresh ingredients. I just used dried chipotle seasoning (quite a bit of it, might I add), but little to no flavor has been added so far. I'll play around with this one, since this was another one the husband and I both enjoyed.
More info to come! I have more flavor ideas and I'm excited to tackle other infusible ingredients, especially white balsamic vinegar and some liquors such as bourbon (Southern Living Magazine had some great ideas in one of their issues last fall).
