When it comes to summertime cooking, my focus at home is all about one thing.
Simplicity. I want simple preparation, simple ingredients, simple assembly, all adding up to simple dining. The beauty of summer's ingredients lies in their variety, their abundance but also that they need so little doing to them. With only one extra step, these familiar, delightful staples can be enticingly different. My secret summertime ingredient is infused oil.
Plenty of infused oils line the shop shelves: tarragon, garlic, orange, lemon and nuts of all shapes and sizes. Some can be expensively good, others a bit chemically. All will do a job, especially if you are in a rush, or if a flavoured oil is a last-minute thought.
Making your own infused oil is simple and guarantees a freshness that ready-made oils can never provide, especially if you prepare small quantities at a time. For a robust garlic or nut flavour, start with a less expensive olive oil and warm it before adding the roasted ingredients, still hot, to the warm oil, then steep, cool and strain.
When it comes to delicate herbs (tarragon, thyme and sage are particularly good) or citrus, allow for a gentle exchange of flavour: poach briefly at a temperature low enough that you can comfortably dip your finger in, using a good quality, complex olive oil. Stored in the fridge, the enticing perfume will be preserved for a deliciously elegant addition to summer's table.
Orange, star anise and thyme oil (good with beef, duck, char grilled vegetables)
Recipes make a serving for about 4-6 people. All these are suggestions for a starting point, and easily adaptable to your favourite ingredients
250-300ml fruity olive oil
1 orange
2 pieces of star anise
2-3g of fresh thyme
Method
1. Heat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4
2. Place the olive oil in a small saucepan and set over a very low heat for a minute. The aim is just to warm the oil, rather than heat it; you should be able to dip your finger in after a minute and feel it is warm but not uncomfortably hot. At this point, add the thyme and then the pan can be removed from the heat
3. While waiting for the oil to warm, prepare the star anise and orange. First, place the star anise in a small oven-proof dish. Place in the hot oven for 2 to 3 minutes or until it becomes perfumed
4. Meanwhile, peel the zest away from the orange in strips. The best way to do this is with a speed peeler: shave round the orange trying to lift only the outer layer of zest, leaving behind the bitter white pith. Reserve the orange for other uses
5. Add the orange zest to the tray with the star anise on and place in the oven for one minute then remove
6. Add the orange and star anise to the warm oil. Return to the heat for one minute of gentle rewarming then remove. Pour the oil, with all the ingredients still in it, into a kilner jar or a jar with a screw cap lid. Seal the container and leave to cool and stand. Do not use until completely cooled. The oil can be allowed to stand for several days before using. Store in a cool place. You can refrigerate the oil, but it will go temporarily cloudy due to the cold and will clear again once it returns to room temperature. Use as a finishing oil, to drizzle over dishes just before serving, rather than an oil with which to cook. Store for up to two weeks
Lemon, tarragon and coriander seed oil (good with fish, salad and vegetables)
300ml medium bodied olive oil
1 level dessertspoon of coriander seeds
1 lemon
2-3 bushy sprigs of tarragon
A sprig of fresh coriander
Half teaspoon of fennel seeds
Method
1. Place the coriander seeds in a dry frying pan and place over a gentle heat for a minute or two until you begin to smell their aroma. Add the fennel seeds as well and toast in the same way, together with the coriander seeds, for a further minute
2. Roughly chop the coriander and tarragon with scissors into 3cm lengths and add to the frying pan, toss everything together and stand for a minute
3. Meanwhile, place the oil in a saucepan and set over a low heat
4. While waiting for the oil to warm, peel the zest off the lemon with a speed peeler, trying to remove only the fragrant outer layer of the lemon, leaving behind the white bitter pith on the lemon itself. Add the lemon zest to the warming oil. Dip your finger in to ensure it is warm then add the mix of toasted spices and the herbs. Heat the oil for one further minute then remove from the heat and stand until cooled slightly. Bottle the oil and store in a cool place until required, and serve drizzled over finished dishes or scatter a few drops over fish cooking in a pan just before removing and serving
Garlic, sage and hazelnut oil (for roast or grilled meat or fish or over hot roasted or sautéed potatoes)
250ml peppery dark green olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 dstps of peeled hazelnuts
Several sprigs of sage
A small sprig of rosemary
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. Place the hazelnuts on a small roasting dish and toast in the oven for a few minutes until light golden brown. Keep a close eye on them as they can over-cook easily
2. Meanwhile, place a dessertspoon or so of the oil in a small saucepan. Heat over a moderate heat for one minute then add the garlic. Fry gently, making sure it only browns lightly
3. Snip the sage and rosemary with scissors. After a minute, add the herbs and nuts to the pan. Roll and mix everything well around the pan for a few moments to combine then add the rest of the oil. Heat for 3 to 4 minutes, this oil can afford to be hotter than the other two
4. Remove from the heat to stand and cool a little. Making sure it is not too hot or dangerous, transfer to a kilner jar or similar. If the oil is too hot, you risk cracking the container. Store for a day before using then use within 10 days. This oil is good for pan frying meat, poultry or vegetables or use to drizzle at the last moment over finished dishes
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article