Very Infuuuuuuuuuusing!

I was going to make today's post about Mayo. The spread, not the clinic. But, as my brain so oft does, it hit upon a tangent. Now, there will be a mayo recipe, but that isn't my focus now. I would like to talk about infusing. Inwhosing?? Nooooooooo, infusing! Adding the concentrated or extracted flavour of one thing to another. primarily I am going to speak of Oil and Vodka! No thats not a new salad dressing. But they are the two things I most often infuse. Of course the range of oils is, as you know, quite extensive. And not all oils are good for infusing, or just not complimentary to certain flavours.

Now, I am never going to try and con you into thinking I am the expert on anything. What I will do is impart on you that which I know, or which I have learned from reliable sources *cough*GoodEats*cough*. Roughly 99.9% of the oil I infuse is plain vegetable oil. It's cheap (sorta) and most every cook has some and its the most widely found oil in North America. That, and it's a pretty neutral oil, not heavy in flavour on it's own. As a general rule, heavily flavoured oils are something we stay away from for infusing. They can often clash with anything you try to add to them and being a biological flavouring they can vary within the same brand from batch to batch.

I know you've already asked, what do you like to infuse? Well, my favorite thing is black peppercorns. Hot peppers (scotch bonnets or jalapeño) also make a nice oil. Really tho, most herbs make good infused oils, as well as many highly flavoured plants, but I usually find it easier to use the dried versions. Occasionally you may find the taste difference between fresh and dried to be worth using fresh. For example, I find the taste difference between dried spearmint and fresh to be so great, I use fresh, even though I need much more, to get the taste I like.

I follow 2 methods of infusing oils. Hot & Cold. Pretty self explanatory but I will explain to be sure. Cold infusing is just that, unheated ingredients in unheated oil(s). Take dill for example. I use fresh dill as it is cheap and I find a better flavour. I take my dill and bash it a bit, to bruise the cell structures and release flavourful oils. I will drop 3-5 sprigs of dill in a wine bottle, fill to the neck with vegetable oil and cork it. Place in a nice dark close that doesn't change temps much for 2 weeks. Test the flavour, if it needs to be stronger, remove the dill and replace with fresh. Wait another week and test again. When you reach your taste preference you have 2 options. You can take the herb out, or if you start with the taste being a tich light, leave it in. Not only does it look nice, but you can see what flavour it is without labels! Most fresh herbs/botanicals should be done with the cold method. You may occasionally run across one that doesn't infuse well, then you should try the hot method. The hot method is simply heating the oil a little. Now not too much. #1 You don't want to handle hot oil and #2 oild break down at higher temps, you dont want your oil degrading before you get to use it. Heat it just enough to feel warm in a heavy bottomed saucepan. When using dry herbs/ingredients its best to break them up a bit, but you don't want to grind them. Often grinding dried herbs can release bitter or foul tasting essential oils....blech.

When I do peppercorns, I either bash them a bit in my mortar and pestle, or do a few quick pulses in my small coffee grinder (I use it just for herbs). For most dried herbs I just put them in a plastic bag and scrunch it a few times. Add them to your bottle then pour in the oil. When I hot infuse tho, I check the flavour every 5-7 days. I don't normally keep the dried herbs in after I reach my taste preference either. They can gum op the works when using a spout and occasionally give off those nast tastes mentioned earlier if they sit for long periods of time.

Briefly, Olive Oil. Yes it can be flavored and is a decent one To flavour even given it's distinct taste. The hot method can be used just not too high.

Now I know what your asking, "Great! I have flavours oils......now what?!" Well, use them when your frying in a tablespoon or two of oil for extra flavour. They are great for salad dressings, drizzling over finished meals before serving or as we will see shortly, they make a loverly mayo!

As for the Vodka...thats a different story! Once again one of my favorite flavoured Vodkas is black peppercorn. Also excellent is strawberry, anise or cherry. Yes I realize there are fewer cooking applications for Vodka, but since blog is more then strictly food, hey...close enough. And who doesn't like a loverly beverage?? But don't count it out in cooking, it still has it's uses.

With Vodka, being alcohol of course, you dont want to heat it. For dried flavourings, same rule applies. Give them a bit of a bash/smushing before you add them to the Vodka. Now more than likely you will need drain a bit of the Vodka off, I am sure you can think of something to do with it. You'll need to give it a bit of a upending 2-3 times a week. Just upend the bottle (if you don't have the cap on you deserve to lose the Vodka :P) and let the stuff fall to what is now the bottom, then turn it back right side up and place on the shelf again. When using dried flavours strain them bits out before using the Vodka. For fresh stuff tho, cherries, strawberries, most fruits really, celery, fennel, etc etc. they need to be finely chopped or even puréed. I tend to go with the 1c(of stuff)/5th(750ml) of Vodka rule. Now this is going to require either 2 bottles, or a larger container to hold the mixture in. If you can remove seeds or pits that would be best. Anything like citrus with a fragrant peel can be used, but remove the pith (that's the nasty white stuff juuuust under the peel). When in doubt, peel it or just remove the fruit flesh. Sugar may be added prior to mixing with the Vodka. Combine your flavoring and Vodka in the holding vessle of your choice.

Here is where we come to some disagreement. Some people say that it is fine to leave this mixture on a shelf, others say it must be refrigerated. I am of the shelf camp, but as I am not a food scientist nor do i wish anyone harm, at this point I must strongly recommend refrigeration. I don't, but I cannot advise anyone else to do so. If you chill your mix, allow it to sit for 2 weeks, churning the mixture every day. If shelving your mix, 1 week should be sufficient, mixing daily.

Strain your mix well. I layer cheesecloth in a mesh sieve, pour the mix in and allot it to drain through. I will then swueezt the cloth after to get all the liquid I can. Rebottle and enjoy. Alternately you can make bombs (no not real boms). Cherry bombs, strawberry drops, blueberry bullets etc etc. Simply take fresh, washed and dried (dried off, not dehydrated) fruit, place in a large jar, pour your flavoured Vodka over and put the lid on, in about a month you'll have fruit with enough alcohol soaked in to make your eye twitch! The uses are yours to discover!

I know this has run on a bit long, so lets just dispense with the Mayo recipe and save anything else for another day!

Quick n Easy Mayo

2tbl White Wine Vinegar
2tbl Lemon Juice
1 Egg Yolk
1 Whole Egg
1tsp Salt
1tsp Dry Mustard
1/4tsp Sugar
2c Oil (minus 2tbl is using flavoured oil)
2tbl Flavoured Oil (optional)

Put everything except the oil(s) in your food processor. Pulse 3-5 times, just to start the emulsion. Turn the processor on (low if you have the option) and slowly pour a thin continous stream of oil into the processor. Do not pour too fast as it may swamp the mix and you'll have a nice goopy mess. Scoop out your nice fresh mayo and store as normal.

If using flavoured oils, never use more than 2 tbl/batch (double batch means you can use 4tbl etc) as the additives can sometimes break the emulsion or overpower the mayo.