Green oil

As a fair warning, the utilization of this post is for plating and finishing dishes and isn’t necessarily a staple you need to maintain. But anyway – GREEN OIL! In the professional world, we have a number of go-to color and flavor enhancing oils, of which the green variety is most used for plating accents. But if you use all herbs or scallion tops, it becomes its own flavoring agent, and the color becomes secondary.

Now, you don’t have to follow my specific recipe; however, I would suggest you follow my methodology. You can experiment by adding whatever you want to it in order to achieve the desired flavor or tint. The more you add, the more intense it becomes.

This method also blanches the product, making it greener. You can blanch in water and add to cold oil, or use this hot infusion method (which I prefer).

This oil will also maintain its color and flavor for about 3 weeks or so before the integrity starts going downhill, but it’s still good! Don’t throw it out after that point. It’s just not going to be the best product you’ve ever made, that’s all.

Anyway…

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 2 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups oil (use neutral oil like grape seed, canola, or blended for this infusion)

2 cups parsley (or herbs of your choice) chopped

1 bunch scallion greens (chopped)

1 handful spinach

1 Tablespoon salt (or to taste)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a pot until it reaches about 150 degrees. Use your thermometer to determine the heat OR start off with a low heat and slowly bring up the temp and feel it with your finger. It should be pretty warm, but not hot when ready.
2. Once oil is hot enough, transfer to a blender.  Add remaining ingredients.
3. Blend for a solid 3 minutes, or until everything is incorporated and the mixture turns a very dark green.
4. Find a container that is more than 2 cups (the amount of liquid) that can also fit inside a bigger container that you have. Put the small container inside the larger one and surround the smaller one with ice.
5. Suspend a strainer in your ice lined container; make sure it’s supported by the large container, while being suspended above the small one. This will cool the liquid down and stop the cooking process.
6. Pour your mixture into the strainer. Push through the oil through the strainer with a small ladle or rubber spatula until the green oil remains in the small container.
7. Remove and wash the strainer.
8. Remove the green oil from the small container and transfer to another container. Return the small container to the large one.
9. Return your strainer to its previous suspended position. Line the strainer with a coffee filter. Pour your green oil into the lined strainer and let strain through for about three hours.
10.  

Pickled spicy carrots

This week I found myself elbows deep in carrots. They were just everywhere! So, I decided that it was time we went on an adventure; and what better way to do that than with a pickle?! 

This recipe was influenced from a spicy Thai beef dish I did at The White Dog Café in Philadelphia. It's not the exact recipe at all, but I really like taking something sweet and turning it spicy. The complexity that results just dances across your palate. 

As mentioned before in previous posts (sweet-pickled jalapenos) pickling is a method of preservation that can extend the shelf life for months in an opened jar – even longer if it’s sealed properly. So this was my go-to method for utilizing these carotenoid packed roots.

This recipe calls for the hot pickling method (as opposed to a cold pickle) because the heat from the liquid not only preserves it through the acidity, but it blanches the product in the jar. I’ve found this to be beneficial with whatever I’m pickling that has the color red, orange, or yellow. You’ll see that once the heat is applied that the color intensifies and becomes super bright.

So what do you do with spicy pickled carrots?

Glad you asked!

To start off, simply add them with some pickled red onion and pickled Anaheim peppers to create a little pickled veggie salad. Toss in your favorite oil (make it Asian and use sesame!) to coat it; and season to taste. It’s not necessary to add anything to it though, they’re fantastic by themselves.

You can also serve these on the side or on the top of a dish; I’ve been favoring it with my eggs lately. I’ve found that they really bring out some wonderful characteristics when matched with a grilled or seared piece of beef or fish.

I would encourage you to substitute them in stir fry’s or any hot recipe where you see carrots. The vinegar, spices, and salt will provide a flavorful base for you to build off of.

TIP: If you add these at the beginning, they will break down further and caramelize. The vinegar will also reduce and become sweet. However, if you add them at the end of the cooking process, they will maintain their integrity and brightness and bring a little pop to the dish.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons pickling spice

2 Dried chiles

2 Tablespoons sea (or pink Himalayan) salt

¼ cup white vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar in the raw (or honey)

2 cups water

3 carrots (shaved)

Directions:

1. In a medium sized saucepot or small pot, slightly toast the pickling spice and chilies on a medium heat. You should be able to start to smell the aromatics when it’s ready
2. Add your vinegar and water to the pot.
3. Add salt and sugar to the liquid and bring to a boil.
4. While the liquid is waiting to boil, shave your carrots down with a vegetable peeler. I took the top layer of skin off of them, then continued to shave down until there was hardly anything left.
5. Place the shaved roots in a jar. Place that jar on top of a dishtowel or something soft to act as a barrier with the counter and to catch any spills.
6. Once boiling, strain the liquid into a container and then pour it into the jar with the carrots. You can also strain right from the pot into the jar (if you feel so brave to do so).
7. Put the lid on your jar and pop it in the fridge. Allow to sit for at least 8 hours (ideally overnight) before using.