Herb and Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Herb and Garlic Oil
1 cup canola oil
5 garlic cloves
2 sprigs rosemary
4 sprigs thyme
smoked paprika
cracked black pepper
salt

Blend all ingredients together until well combined and mostly smooth.

Wash and halve baby red potatoes. Drizzle them with herb and garlic oil and toss to coat. Wrap in foil and bake until tender. Drizzle with extra oil to serve.

Note: Any leftover oil should be stored in the fridge. Oils with garlic are highly perishable and can cause bacterial growth if left at room temperature. 

Roasted Baby Red Potatoes

Flavored Oil

canola oil

cracked black pepper

kosher salt

garlic cloves

thyme leaves

parsely leaves

smoked paprika

Blend all ingredients together until mostly smooth. Use to drizzle over and coat potatoes in before roasting. Be sure to spoon a little extra oil over the potatoes before serving!

A great, easy way to add some delicious flavor to roasted potatoes directly in the cooking process. The oil may be made in advance and kept in the fridge. 

Place baby red potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle liberally with the oil (shake oil before using). Wrap tightly in foil and roast at 400◦F-450◦F until tender. 

Caper Oil

Flavored and infused oils seem to be a widely popular trend right now. Herbs are particularly popular, steeping fresh herbs into a basil olive or neutral oil to add some extra color. It also adds flavor to many dishes used in place of plain oils. Amped-up salad dressings, sauteing chicken breasts, adding shine to cooked vegetables, etc. It is also a great way to use up herbs that are past their prime freshness. Of course herbs aren't the only types of oil, I have recently tried a fantastic trout oil made from roasted trout bones, arugula oil, fruit oils, and of course, roasted nut oils.
Pictured on the left here is caper oil - made from capers ground with oil. It's flavored with a little maple syrup and ground fenugreek to round out the saltiness of the capers. This is a bit of a thicker oil, but it could also be strained for a thinner oil. This is used more of a dipping sauce or condiment than a cooking oil.

Different Types Of Fats

Which fat is the best to use? Well, this question depends entirely on what the fat is being used for, what outcome is planned to be achieved, cost, storage, nutrition, and a wide variety of other factors. The four main fats I am talking about here are lard, shortening, butter, and margarine. All of these fats contain their own unique characteristics, appearances, and tastes; yet they can all be used for many of the same things.

Lard: Lard is animal fat, usually pig, that has gone through an extensive hydrogenation process. Hydrogenation basically transforms fats into a more solid and shelf-stable state product, and increases the amount of saturated fat and adds high levels of trans fat. This means that lard is quite unhealthy, contains a high amount of fat, including high amounts of saturated and trans fats, is high in calories, and contains little nutritional value. Due to recent increases in health research, lard is not as commonly used anymore due to its unhealthy reputation. Lard is most commonly used in pie crusts, cookies, pastries, basting meats, and deep-frying.

Vegetable Shortening: The word vegetable in this product’s name makes it sound healthy, but that’s actually not true at all. Vegetable shortening is made from plant-derived oils such as palm or soybean, and is hydrogenated just like lard. Again, this causes shortening to be quite unhealthy, but since it is made from plant sources and not animal, it is a slightly better choice than lard. Shortening is commonly used to produce flaky pie crusts, cookies, biscuits, pastries, and cakes.

Butter: Simply put, butter is made by beating or churning cream, the fattiest part of cow’s milk. Butter is completely natural and contains no trans fat, however it does contain a significant amount of saturated fat and is also high in calories. Butter is more nutritious than lard and shortening, as it is a natural product, lower in fat, trans fat free, and provides some nutrition. But butter is by no means a healthy choice. Butter is delicious spread on bread, in buttercream, used to cook vegetables and meats, and in almost every baked good.

Margarine: Margarine is made from plant-based oils such as palm or soybean, just like shortening. However, most margarines are not hydrogenated, leaving them significantly lower in calories, fat, saturated fat, and trans fat free. Because margarine is made from plant-based oils, it often contains healthy unsaturated fats as well as other nutrients. Soft margarine is used as spreads for breads and other baked goods, while hard margarine can be used like butter almost interchangeably.

What I Use: I never, ever, use lard or shortening, as I find they are too unhealthy and processed, and I don’t think they produce results as good as other options anyway. My first choice is butter, because it is a completely natural, simple product that produces very tasty, high-quality baked goods, and it can be used for just about anything. I will, and do, use hard margarine for baking as well. Although not quite as tasty and rich as butter, margarine provides a relatively good flavour and is sometimes the only option for certain recipes where butter browns too quickly. Margarine also keeps some baked goods, especially cookies, from spreading to much, and keeps cakes and loaves together and less crumbly.

10 Things You Will Always Find In My Cupboard

1.  Flour: The base for the majority of baked goods, you can't do much without flour.
2. Sugar: Can you imagine eating a cake (and frosting) without sugar? Neither can I!
3. Baking Powder: Your baked items won't look very impressive if they are as flat as a pancake.
4. Vanilla: Even though most recipes only call for a teaspoon or so of this flavouring, it goes a long way and really enhances the flavour of those goodies.
5. Chocolate Chips: Many of the recipes I make have chocolate chips. We have some real chocolate lovers at this house and chocolate just makes everything so much better.
6. Sweetened Condensed Milk: A fabulous, conveinent base for many baked goods, especially squares, you will never find a proper substitute for this.
7. Rolled Oats: Add texture and heartiness to many baked goods, especially muffins, squares, and cookies, oats are also good for breakfast.
8. Oil: When butter or margarine just wont do, oil is the way to go. Makes excellent stir-frys and extra moist cakes.
9. Cereal: You'd be surprised how many recipes include cereal, no matter what kind! Even savoury dishes and dinners use cereal from time to time.
10. Pasta: A great base for any dish when you just don't know what to cook. Pasta is so versatile and comes in so many different shapes and sizes.