This fairly well known named dipping oil from the Carrabba’s® restaurant chain is great to serve with warm Italian, French, or Pita bread as an appetizer. Also with some varieties of artisan crackers. I got one version of the recipe from the Internet and it belonged in Food Nirvana simply because it was really good, especially after a few "minor" modifications, to ingredients and to the methods of preparing it and serving it.
Various recipes for other foods that use herbs call for heating them in a small amount of cooking oil to extract the oil soluble flavors. I added that approach to this recipe to amp up the herb tastes in the olive oil. It works well, plus letting the olive oil and herbs age for a week (or longer) after making it really helps to infuse the flavors into the olive oil.
And Wow! Double the diced fresh garlic amount shown in this recipe and see/taste what happens when you heat the dipping oil right before serving it, in the microwave oven, for about 30 seconds, for perhaps two ounces of the oil and herbs in a bowl. Unforgettably fine ... though you may not want to go out on a date that evening! Or maybe you and your lady friend might share this delight, in which case there will be only joy.
Oh, don't skimp on the kosher salt. Carrabba's seems to have eliminated that critically important ingredient in what they serve, and that is a shame, for they diminished their own fine recipe. And alas, they serve the oil at room temperature!
Recipes like this one lend themselves to many variations based on what each of us like best. I suggest you start with this recipe and then experiment by varying the ingredient amounts to suit your taste. I actually halved the amount of crushed red pepper as the heat got in the way of enjoying the flavors of the herbs and the garlic.
Ingredients: (makes about one cup, enough for four to six pre-dinner appetizer events for two people)
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons of dried rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoons of dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons of dried parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons of granulated garlic
1 tablespoon of diced garlic cloves (be generous)
1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt
3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of fresh lemon (or fresh lime) juice
Directions:
Put all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and heat the mixture on very low heat with gentle stirring to keep the herbs from sticking to the saucepan, until the tiny pieces of diced garlic come to the surface sizzling. Then turn off the heat.
Dispense the saucepan contents while hot into an 8 ounce canning jar and close it by screwing on a lid & ring. You can store it in a cupboard or food pantry as long as you plan to use it within a month or two. Otherwise let it age for a week and then refrigerate it, noting that you will have to microwave it later before using it to re-liquefy the olive oil.
To serve the dipping oil, remove the ring and lid and warm the oil and herbs/seasonings in the microwave oven for 30 seconds or until warm. You might also choose to heat the oil briefly even if you stored it in a food pantry. Yes, do that. Carrabba's didn't do that. They served the dipping oil and herbs at room temperature. Mix and then decant the entire contents of the canning jar into a shallow dipping bowl or a ramekin or multiple smaller dishes if you are serving more than four people. Then serve the warmed dipping oil with warmed artisan breads, crackers or even crispy crusted warmed rolls.
I like to tear apart pieces of warmed Pita or Tuscan Pane bread to dip into the oil and herbs/seasonings mixture. That way I can scoop out small amounts of the herbs and seasonings (and garlic) with the oil, which tastes great! I've also been known to keep a teaspoon by the mixture to make it easy to get the herbs/seasonings as well as the oil on artisan crackers. Yes, do smear both herbs and oil on to the breads/crackers.
This appetizer goes very well with a nice glass of crisp chilled white wine like Pinot Grigio.
Yummy! What a fine prelude to a dinner of Italian (or other ethnic) food!