Cooking with Olive Oil
Drizzling olive oil on vegetables or using it in salad dressings has become commonplace in most kitchens, but that’s just the beginning. Mediterranean cuisine calls for drizzling fresh olive oil on almost everything; it is kept on the table as a condiment to drizzle on bread, soup, cooked fish and meat, vegetables. Keep an attractive Ah love bottle on your table alongside your salt and pepper. Using flavored olive oils adds the fruity quality of the oil with an extra boost of flavor from fresh fruit, herbs or savory tastes.
Olive oil is an easy, nutritious, and delicious substitute for butter in baking. Try your favorite cake baked with olive oil instead of butter; you’ll get a moister cake with fewer calories and more good fat. If you just can’t leave the taste of butter behind, but want the nutritional value of olive oil, try our butter flavored olive oil – the best of both worlds!
Marinate: Use olive oil in marinades, especially fused and flavored olive oils. Olive oil penetrates the food adding extra flavor and tenderness. Try marinating chicken in Mediterranean Herb Blend Olive Oil and Fig Balsamic or Lemon Olive Oil and Pomegranate Balsamic.
Sauté & Fry: Olive oil is superior for sautéing and frying. It is more resistant to heat than seed and nut oils and can be heated to 380 degrees without smoking. Olive oil actually increases in volume when heated, so you need less. And best of all, when frying, olive oil coats food rather than saturating, so you have a crisper, less greasy crust.
Grill: When grilling, coat your steaks, chops, fish or vegetables with a bit of olive oil to seal in juices and add a flavorful coating. Be sure to let meats sit for about 10 minutes before cutting to preserve the juices all the way. Try garlic olive oil on steak or rosemary olive oil on pork or lamb chops. Veal is wonderful with lavender olive oil and fish is brightened with lemon olive oil. The basil olive oil is wonderful on grilled vegetables.
Butter to Olive Oil Conversion Chart
Butter/Margarine Olive Oil
1 teaspoon 3/4 teaspoon
1 tablespoon 2 1/4 teaspoons
1/4 cup 3 tablespoons
1/3 cup 1/4 cup
1/2 cup 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
2/3 cup 1/2 cup
3/4 cup 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon
1 cup 3/4 cup