Infused Oils (Chilli&Garlic)

So Ive noticed a few more recipes appearing recently, I figured I would share one of my little things. Infusing your own oil is a great way to add a little extra to your meals, and its quite fun experimenting with the flavours.

Oil, use any cooking oil you see fit, Olive Oil and Vegetable Oil work best.
Spices, pretty much anything you can think of. It must be dried, or if they're fresh follow steps 1 and 2.

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(optional) Step 1: Finely chop your chosen spices and flavours.

(optional) Step 2: Place them in a baking tray and cook them on a low heat to dry them fully. (This took 1 hour)

Step 3: Place the dried herbs and spices into a small amount of your intended oil, in this case I was making around 400ml, so I 100ml in the pan.

Step 4: Gently heat through the oil with the ingredients in until the oil is warm, but not hot, this is hard on some hobs. Dont fry the ingredients, this should take around 5 mins.

Step 5: Pour the oil into a seal-able bottle, including the ingredients.

Step 6: Allow to cool fully to room temperature before storing in the fridge.

There are many ways to do this, you could alternativly use fresh Garlic and Chilli in the Oil, but it would need to be stored in the fridge and strained after a few days. This is because the moisture in them would cause bacteria to grow, without the proper preservatives you could make yourself very ill. These Oils should last 2 weeks easily in the fridge, I have used mine upto 1.5months without issue. So get experimenting and share your concoctions!