Oil drizzlers come in many different forms and manufactured material. It is important to know what type of material is best for decanting olive oil and vinegar.

Due to their acidity, all vinegars are have varying levels of corrosiveness. Because of this, vinegar should be stored and dispensed from ceramic, glass or stainless steel containers. When sealing containers, use a cork or stopper that will not break down or corrode. Containers made from other metals, such as aluminum, chrome and copper should not be used. China produces a vast range of cheap stoppers and spouts, but most have a chrome or metallic finish, which begin to dissolve when exposed to vinegar.

Known for both its corrosive resistant and hygienic properties, glass containers are perfect storage vessels for both oil and vinegar. Our glass oil drizzlers are made from laboratory grade borosilicate Simax glass and hand blown to ensure both uniqueness and quality. Similar to kitchen Pyrex™, this particular glass is extremely durable, and because our oil drizzlers are hand blown, they are also elegant. When exposed to vinegar, glass oil drizzlers exhibit no corrosion, and both the glass vessel and spouts can be cleaned simply with hot water and dish soap.

The best oil drizzlers are composed entirely of glass. Oil drizzlers consisting of a glass pour spout and body is considered a two-piece cruet. A friction fit means that the glass pour spout ensures that the cruet is non drip, sparing you from any stains and mess often associated with other containers. The flared neck of the glass body acts as an integral funnel that can be used for filling the cruet. The spout contains a built in vent which provides pressure equalization, making dispension of your chosen liquid a precision task with no effort required.

Designed to provide a thin drizzle of oil or vinegar, our oil drizzlers are ideal for cooking and serving purposes. Cruets.com oil drizzlers can hold up to six fluid ounces and are dishwasher safe.

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Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Basil
1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Parsley (Italian Best)
1 Tablespoon Fresh Minced Garlic
1 Teaspoon Thyme
1 Teaspoon Oregano
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Minced Fresh Rosemary
1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Fakes
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1/8 Teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice

Directions

Place all the ingredients except the olive oil and lemon juice in a small blender or similar appliance and blend until the ingredients are all roughly the same size. In a separate bowl, add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix them well. Add 1 ½ teaspoons of mixed herbs for every 4 tablespoons of olive oil mixture and serve in a dish.

Dip warm bread in the sauce and enjoy.

Italian Bread Dip Recipe, bread dipping spices 

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Drizzle olive oil over fresh baked Italian bread or use a newly designed dipping dish - White porcelain bread dipping dish. For an ideal Italian appetizer, drizzle your favorite oil in the olive oil dipping dish and then dip fresh bread or vegetables into the oil. A dipping dish set is a wonderful culinary gift for any occasion. When the oil is added to the dipping dish, unique green tones will filter through, providing a wonderful visual presentation on the table for serving.

Dipping bread in olive oil is a wonderful and delicious way to indulge in something that is actually good for you and can prevent the onset of coronary disease according to a report released by the American Heart Association.

Try bread dipping as an alternative to other less healthy appetizers. Bread dipping is essentially a Mediterranean practice whereby the texture and flavour of vegetables and bread are enhanced by dipping them into extra virgin olive oil. Bread dipping is enjoyed as a pre cursor to a meal of simply on its own.

Extra virgin olive oil alone is an ideal dip for bread but you may wish to experiment by adding subtle or intense flavours to your oil. Dried herbs and exotic seasoning can be used to create a dip that will excite your  taste buds. Use your favorite ingredients and your imagination.

Once you have made your extra virgin olive oil dip the possibilities for its use are endless! For example, pasta or a crisp salad can be transformed from the ordinary to the extraordinary when tossed in your unique dipping sauce. Or, simply pour over fresh steamed vegetables. And, don’t forget, all  types of meat can be infused with exciting flavours when left to stand in your dipping sauce prior to cooking.

Extra virgin olive oil is perfect for dipping sauces and should be the only type of oil used for this purpose. It is more expensive than virgin olive oil because of its rich flavour and the method used to extract the oil from the olive, but there is really no alternative as any connoisseur of olive oil will tell you. The flavour speaks for itself.

Dipping sauces are so simple to prepare and versatile to use. These sauces can be created and bottled in advance. If you have a hungry family or unexpected guests you will always be able to create a fantastic meal in no time at all! And, if you really want to impress add some cubed bread to some of your dipping sauces and enjoy the results.

If you haven’t made any dipping sauces in advance just add your choice of seasoning and herbs to your extra virgin olive oil and heat for a few seconds to allow the flavours to permeate the oil. However, because of the superb quality and flavour of extra virgin olive oil it can be served as it is ‘au natural’ with your choice of accompaniments.

It is easy to see why bread dipping in olive oil has become so popular. It’s fast and easy to prepare, good for your heart and a delight to serve at any time. 

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Olive Focaccia Bread

A great thing about this dough is that you can make it, let it rise, shape it and bake it. Or, you can make the dough several hours in advance, even the day before and let it rise in the refrigerator. It just depends when you want to bake it. By putting the dough in the fridge, you can come back to it when you want. Cold dough is also easier to work with.

2 cups warm water
1 package dry yeast (2-1/4 t.)
1 cup flour
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (crush it in the palm of your hand)
2 teaspoons salt
4 to 4-1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons olive paste
olive oil for brushing
yellow cornmeal for dusting

Whisk together the water, yeast, and 1 cup of flour until smooth. Combine the oil, tarragon, rosemary, and salt. Add 4 cups of flour, stirring until the dough is too thick to stir. Then place the dough onto the countertop and knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is moist but not sticky. You may need to use a little
more or a little less flour to obtain the right consistency. Drizzle over a few drops of oil, place the dough back into the bowl and cover. Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size. This should take at least an hour or the dough can be allowed to ferment over night.

When you’re ready to bake the bread, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Dust the countertop with flour and turn the dough onto counter. Press out the dough. Spread the olive paste on one side leaving a bit of uncovered dough on the edges. Fold the dough in half and press the edges together.

Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to the size of your baking sheet. This must be done with care to avoid the paste oozing out. If any olive paste does come out, set it aside.

Brush your baking sheet with olive oil and dust with cornmeal. Place the dough on the cornmeal. Spread any olive past on top that has been set aside. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place on the stove top to rise. After the dough has risen, approximately 20 minutes, bake for 30 minutes or until
golden brown.

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Benefits Of Olive Oil For many years, the use of olive oil in preparing meals has been considered a heart healthy investment. The taste of olive oil is not too popular with many people and therefore is not used in their diet. Which is a shame because olive oil has been proven to be a heart healthy fat.

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People are becoming more and more health conscious, dressings for their salads are reflecting this. Going back only a few years, they were almost treated as a candy as they were rich and sweet. This defeated the whole purpose of eating a ‘healthy’ salad. While the obvious use of vinaigrette is as a dressing for your salad, they are also very flexible and can be used sauces for all courses, including your main entrée. Chefs are making up all sort of variations of this dressing and using it for just about everything. The beauty of vinaigrette is the fact that it can be served either at room temperature or warm. While these dressings are usually always called vinaigrette, they may not actually have vinegar as their base. Today, other acids such as lemon juice, are used as a substitute for vinegar. If you are using vinegar, you have plenty of options to explore different flavors. Using varieties such as champagne vinegar or cider vinegar will create a new twist. While the oil part of the dressing is usually a high quality olive oil, people now sometimes substitute things like herb infused oil, ginger flavored oil, sesame oil or oils that have been infused with nut flavors. While it may not seem typical, you can also make a vinaigrette using natural juices. For instance, you can use bacon fat to sauté your meat or fish and then add vinegar to the pan juices creating a vinaigrette that you would use as a sauce for the dish.

You could also sauté small pieces of bacon and then add the vinegar giving yourself a wonderful warm bacon dressing for a spinach salad. While people are making their own twist, it should only truly be called a vinaigrette if the flavors are combined equally. No one entity should dominate the dressing. The usual ratio for a proper vinaigrette 3 parts oil to 1 part acid. You will find that when using substitutes for the vinegar, such as orange juice, you can lessen the oil ratio to 2:1 to equal out the flavors. Vinaigrettes are much more than just dressing though. They are ideal for marinades for any type of meat, poultry or fish. The acid allows the flavors to penetrate leading to a wonderful flavor upon cooking. One thing you do want to remember though is that if you do choose to use your vinaigrette as a marinade, you should never remove the meat and then use it as a dressing. It will be loaded with harmful bacteria so you should just make up a fresh batch if being used as a dressing or heat it to a boil if you are going to use it as a sauce so you can kill of the raw bacteria that may have transferred from your meat dish.

Making a vinaigrette is extremely easy and modifiable. You can taste it as you go and continue to adjust the ratio’s to get the desired flavor. As you are adding components, you may find that you now have too much on your hands. Not to worry, this dressing will keep for a week or so in a sealed container. Something that frustrates a lot of people when they are making a vinaigrette for the first time is the fact that is separates so easily. To avoid this, it will have to be whisked or shaken briskly before serving. The natural components keep them separate unless this is done. Something you can do to combat this is adding a little Dijon mustard, it will act as an emulsifying agent. To add a new twist to your vinaigrette, try adding things like fresh fruit, herbs cheeses and other spices. You will be pleasantly surprised.

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If you would like to eat and live more healthy, you can do so by cooking with olive oil, because it contains a high level of monounsaturated fatty acid. Olive oil is used to generously marinade, cook, and bake with in the Mediterranean area.

No one is sure where the use of olive oil began, but the use of cultured olives goes back more than 6,000 years. Stories were told by the ancient Romans and Greeks that the gods created olives instead of people. In Roman mythology is it said that the birth of olives originated when Hercules hit the earth causing an olive tree to grow.

The Greeks said that olives were created by the Greek goddess Athena. She was well respected and it was believed that only pure men and virgins could care for the olive groves. Olives were considered scarce and beloved food.

Some of the first documentation of olives were inventory catalogues found on old trading ships, that carried olive oil on the sea routes in the Mediterranean. When olives arrived in Greece they were adored for use as beauty treatment, oils in lamps, as well as food.

At the time of the Roman Empire civilization traveled and the growth of olive groves in southeast Europe. While olive oil was important to the Empires southeast parts, they arranged near the oil provinces. When the fall of the Roman Empire occurred olives groves would not flourish and for many years would only survive in very few places in the large hills of Tuscany.

Olive groves came back around in about 1100 AD when Tuscany became a acclaimed place of agriculture of olive trees. Some strict laws which are still followed today include regulating the cultivation of olives and the business of oil. Italy offered a great oil that appeared in renaissance restaurants in Europe, and soon became the top producer of olive oil on the continent. Because of taxation activities, the production of olive oil staggered, but still proceeded to grow as civilization increased throughout the world. During the 1700’s the first olive trees were brought to the new world by Franciscan missionaries. A century later, olive oil first appeared in North and South America when Greek and Italian immigrants started requesting it be brought over from Europe. Soon after this occurred olive oil was accepted by the American chefs.

Olive oil will continue to become more popular in the 21st century as it is a vital part of cuisine around the world. Now 800 million olive trees grow in the world today, while more will be planted daily.

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Perfect Pesto
Recipe makes about 2 cups

Pesto comes from the Italian word meaning “to pound,” and is a simple puree of garlic cheese, fresh basil and fine olive oil. Do not use just any olive oil in your pesto, however; it must be a fine, quality version. You’ll also want to drizzle olive oil over the surface of the pesto if you must store it, to prevent discoloration. If you rinse the basil, be sure and dry it thoroughly before using.

Italian Pesto

Ingredients
4 cups basil leaves, fresh
10 cloves garlic, peeled
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons fresh Romano cheese, grated
½ cup pine nuts

Blend basil leaves and garlic cloves at medium speed in a blender or food processor, slowly pouring in ½ cup of olive oil while blending. Occasionally pause to scrape off basil on the sides.
After the basil mixture has been finely pureed, spoon into a mixing bowl. Fold in softened butter, add grated cheeses and blend well. Now add the remaining olive oil, and stir pine nuts into the blend.

You do not cook pesto. You may use one or two tablespoons of hot water to thin it when serving over pasta or fish.
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Fried Chicken

Chicken is a delicately flavored, tender meat, but it lends itself well to frying. it is one of the few meats that does not completely change character and flavor when it is fried. Through frying in the true sense of the word means to cook in deep fat/oil, in the case of chicken cookery we are using sautéing to mean
frying, too.

When selecting a chicken for frying, always watch the package label carefully. The label should read “broiler” or “fryer.” If you inadvertently get a stewing hen, no amount of frying will turn it into a very palatable dish.

Broilers or fryers are usually tender enough to need only 30 to 40 minutes of cooking. They should never be overdone, for then you get too much of the fried taste and not enough of the delicate chicken flavor.
Broilers or fryers can be skillet fried, French fried or oven fried. 

Pretzel Fried Chicken

Ingredients:
2  two to three lb broilers, cut up into portion-sized pieces
2 eggs, beaten until lemon yellow
½ cup milk
3 cups finely crushed pretzels crumbs made from the cocktail type pretzels
Vegetable oil or shortening for deep frying 

Method:
Dry the pieces of chicken with paper toweling. Mix the eggs and the milk thoroughly. Place the finely crushed pretzels in a paper sack. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg-milk mixture; then place in the crushed pretzels and shake sack until thoroughly coated. Drop into 350° F. oven for an additional 35 minutes. Serve piping hot. Serves 6.

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