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.