Go to the Recipe: Basil Oil
Isn't this the whole Thomas Keller vs Grant Achatz thing? Where Achatz took Keller's big pot blanching and flavored oils and took it one step further by thickening a straight herb puree with ultratex or xanthan to achieve a purer flavor? What's the advantage of adding the oil - does the fat enhance mouthfeel/aroma/flavor/etc?
Adding fat slows the release of flavor, which tends to dull it a bit, but also draws it out. Less fat will give a faster, brighter flavor release, but it won't linger. It depends on what you want. Think very rich, Haagen Daz style ice cream versus lean, bright flavored gelato. Both are good, but different.
If making this recipe with other herbs, would you recommend keeping the ratio the same? Thinking of doing this with rosemary.
Rosemary being among the strongest herbs I can think of, keeping the same ratio with it would get you something overpowered and unusable in everyday cooking.
You could try that, but I agree with Benjabien that it might be a bit strong for typical usage.
- originally posted by Grant Lee Crilly
Is there anything you can do to make this last more than 1 week? E.g. pasteurizing the resulting oil, e.g. @ 57C for ~ 1.5 hours?
Properly refrigerated and the mixture is not going to spoil in one week. It will, however, go brown. The best bet would be to vacuum seal and freeze the mixture for prolonged storage. But it still won't be as good as freshly prepared.
Is there no way to get the best of both worlds? Can a combination of a basil fluid gel and basil oil work in this fashion because the rate of flavour release of the two is so different or would they inhibit eachother in some way? A strong bright flavor release with a lasting finish seems ideal to my way of thinking. Am I wrong about this?
Is there a reason you are not adding salt?
Can I use olive oil instead of canola? Do you think it would interfere too much in the flavor result?
Olive oil would get in the way of a clean basil flavor. But depending on the desired use it may serve it's purpose.
- originally posted by Nicholasgav
Part of our overrun basil garden was devoted to this (still have 440gm of basil left!) Didn't add the sodium bisulfite as I can't find it here, but I did dress it with balsamic vinegar infused salt, and served it with your chicken roulade and a green salad. Delicious! The recipe makes so much though so I'll have to freeze part of it. I suspect I can add this to most vinegars (especially sweeter ones) to make an awesome dressing.
In the video it is writteb "barrata", is it "burrata"?
Hi I would like to know the proper way to store the basil oil so that it lasts during the week. I'm thinking... airtight container? Also are there other oils I can use that will work well?
Can you use Sodium Metabisulfite instead of Sodium Bisulfite? Wasn't very clear on the difference?
I suggest freeze and then vacuum seal. It is easier to get a good vacuum and seal.
Can this be done with avocado oil? or would you have a suggestion if we want to ovoid a seed oil. would light tasting olive oil work better that avocado oil?
That would work out great
I blanch and freeze the basil itself, that way I have versatility to make oil or pesto whenever I want.
I must've done something wrong.I.blanched tha basil very quickly,and thank.it all turned very dark green,im guessing maybe the basil wasn't very fresh, is that possible?
