Making homemade garlic infused oil

Olive oil alone is a pricey item.  Purchasing flavored oils is a very expensive indulgence.   In this house, garlic and oil are essentials!  So we make our own!  The great thing about this recipe is the roasted garlic can be used in place of raw garlic and you will get the flavor of garlic, but with a mellower undertone.  One should also remember to take care when making homemade oils.  If you do not cook them to the correct temperature, the oil can go rancid very quickly and make the consumer very, very ill.  Let's get cooking!  For the garlic oil you will need:
1 large head of garlic (want a stronger garlic oil?  use 2 large heads of garlic)
2 cups pure olive oil
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons of dried thyme
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, or 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, toasted.

1.)  Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the garlic head in half horizontally.
2.)  Put the garlic cut side down in a small casserole dish.  Add the thyme, rosemary and pepper.  Pour the olive oil over the garlic and herbs.  Cover with foil or the lid.  Put in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.  By now your entire household is wondering what's for dinner with the delicious smell coming from the kitchen.

Please take care when removing the casserole from the oven, this is hot oil!





3.  After the oil has cooled, strain the oil through a small mesh colander.  Pour the oil into an airtight container.  Because the oil has been cooked at a good temperature, you do not need to refrigerate the oil and if kept in a cool dark place will keep for a month.  Personally, I still refrigerate the oil.



What you have left in that colander is roasted garlic that can be used in cooking.  Remove the cloves from the papery husks and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  This could last for a month, but it won't because you will be using it on your roasted chicken, sauces, soups, stew, etc.

Homemade Liquors!

Yup, that's right!  Make your own liquors!  To purchase good quality liquors and cordials can be very expensive.  So if you want to save money, purchase fruits from the farm stand or when they go on sale at your local market.  Not only do they taste great, you can take pride in your creations.  Or if you start early enough, you've got great gifts for the holidays!  Above you will see a variety that I started.  From left to right, Kahlua, Limoncello, Triple Sec, Chambord, Blueberry and Banana liquor.

Chambord is one the most expensive liquors on the market.   If you purchase the blackberries in May, when it is their harvest time, you can make quite a bit of this liquor very inexpensively.  I also have a blueberry going here and recently started a batch of strawberry.  To make this:
1.)  Rinse 1 lb. of berries, drain and mash.  Add 3 cups of vodka.
2.)  Cap and store for 2 - 4 weeks, making sure to stir or shake at least once a week.
3.)  Strain and transfer to bottles.
4.)  Add the sugar, recap, shake and let mellow for three months.

Limoncello can also be made with other citrus fruits such as limes, grapefruit, or oranges.  To make Limoncello or Triple Sec:
1.)  Zest 10 lemons (or other citrus), pour in 1 liter of vodka, cover loosely and let the mixture infuse for one week.
2.)  Combine water and sugar.  Bring to a boil and boil for one week.  Bring to room temperature.
3.)  Stir vodka into syrup.  Strain into bottles.
4.)  Age for two weeks at room temperature.  Best served cold.

Creme de Banana is also a favorite liquor and also simple to make.  To make this:
1.)  Make a simple syrup with 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 3/4 c of water.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla.  Allow the syrup to come to room temperature.
2.)  Mash 2 ripe bananas, add the syrup and 3 cups of vodka.  Cover and let stand for 3-4 days.  Shaking once a day.
3.)  Strain.  The liquor will be cloudy.  Cover and let it stand until it clears.  Rack in a clean container.  Cover and let it age for 30 days.  If more sediments settles in bottle, rack before serving.
Kahlua is surprisingly simple to make.  But the most important ingredient is to use espresso!  American coffee is not strong enough to make the flavor correct.  To make Kahlua:
1.)  Brew a cup of espresso.  Add 1 cup of sugar.  After cool, add half a vanilla bean split and 2 cups of vodka.  Transfer to a bottle.
2.)  Age 4 weeks, strain and bottle.

There is an online store to purchase bottles but once you add in the shipping, it costs the same as visiting your Christmas tree shop and purchasing bottles.  Recently the store had decorative bottles for $1 per bottle.  Of course I stocked up!  Have fun and remember a great cocktail can be yours in a month or three!!

Crispy (yes crispy) oven french fries

Yes, you really can get crispy, crunchy french fries from your oven.  There are a few secrets that you need to follow to make this happen. 

First and foremost start with a really hot oven.  I normally cook my oven fries at 425 degrees.  Put the baking sheet in the oven to get it nice and hot before you even start.

Cut the potatoes into very slender fries.  Next you are going to soak the fries in a very heavily salted ice bath for twenty minutes.  This process helps to remove some of the starch from the potatoes.  You can actually see the water turn cloudy. 

Once you have drained the potatoes in a colander, lay them out on a paper towel and pat them dry. 

For the next step, you will need a small bowl, a few tablespoons of olive oil and some form of sweetener.  You can use honey, agave nectar, sugar, or Truvia save some more calories.)  If you are using sweet potatoes try maple syrup or brown sugar.  In the small bowl mix together the olive oil and sweetener.  I know this sounds crazy, but what do sugars do?  They caramelize!  For a pretty good ratio, it is normally a little less than a tablespoon of each per potato.

Pull the backing sheet out of the oven.  Spray the sheet with Pam.  Put the fries on the sheet and toss the potatoes with the oil/sweetener mixture. Making sure to coat all the fries. 

Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.  They should be turning nice and crispy brown.  If they are not, turn on the broiler for a few minutes.  Sprinkle with salt and serve. 

You will get hooked on these!  Not only are these tasty, they are healthy too!  When I am in serious diet mode, I have been known to just use the Spray Starch and Truvia for a truly good diet treat!

Go and grow with the season!

It's that time of the year, the weather starts getting warmer and people want to be outside enjoying it!  Why not start your own vegetable garden!  Even if you are an apartment dweller, you can plants some fruits or veggies in containers.  Have a kitchen window?  Grow some herbs.  You can even grow your kitchen herbs and a cleaned out soup can!

In November of 2011, my husband and I moved to Greencastle, PA.  The town is located on the Mason Dixon Line.  The area is rich in agriculture.  The soil is amazing and things grow very well.  My daughter and I started last year with a small 4' X 4' raised vegetable bed.  We grew tomatoes, green peppers, jalepeno peppers, sugar baby watermelons, basil, oregano parsley and cilantro. 

Because the produce here is so delicious, this year I added to my garden.   I've put more raised beds and added a permanent trellis.  I started everything from seed in peet pots.  Last week I already transplanted to the outside the sugar snap peas.  Waiting to join the sugar snaps are green beans, beets, carrots, radishes, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and basil.  A great tip from one gardener here is that three weeks after the beets, carrots and radishes have taken off, sow new seeds, for continual harvesting of the vegetables.

This year I have also invested in containers to plant the herbs on the deck.  I have started mint, rosemary, sage, cilantro, parsley and thyme.  If we get a frost, I can bring the containers in the house.

It is very satisfying to be growing our own produce.  If you are nervous to start a garden, start small with a window box of herbs.  If you still aren't interested in gardening, wait for the farm stands to open up and get there to purchase fresh.  Fresh produce and herbs make a difference with whatever you are making!