Cooking and essential oils | Tips and recipes

July 24, 2021

Varenie a esenciálne oleje | Tipy a recepty

For some of us, natural essential oils have been a part of our lives for a long time or we have only recently started using them. The basics of getting to know aromatherapy include their safe use - external, inhalation and internal use. In this article, we will focus on internal use. Especially in our kitchen. Cooking and essential oils - we will advise you how you can use our fragrant essential oils in your favorite dishes.

WARNING : this article will make you salivate! ☺️

Using essential oils as flavoring is nothing new . Think toothpaste, chewing gum and candy. In our offer of essential oils, you can find types that are safe and suitable for direct consumption :

These essential oils, in addition to their beautiful aroma and organically pure quality, have one more thing in common - the FOOD GRADE certificate, which guarantees the food quality of our oils, which makes direct, internal use safe (and also beneficial) for our body.

WARNING! Not all types of essential oils are suitable for direct consumption! Always make sure in advance whether the type of oil you want to use meets this criterion, or search for an oil on our website (for each essential oil you can find ways of use and our recommendations).

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How to use essential oils in the kitchen

for a smoothie - fruit smoothie (for half a liter/ max. 1 drop)
seasoning food - ragout, grilled vegetables, in herb marinades, dressings, with baked goods, for making your own flavored olive oil, for example with a drop of oregano, biscuits or white meat

A general but reliable rule applies ➜ 1 drop of essential oil = 1 tsp of the source plant from which the oil was made. Less is more, and that applies here as well.

When using essential oils in your food, let's not forget the password - everything in moderation and above all carefully ! Our essential oils are highly concentrated , even a single drop can be a lot! It always depends on the amount in which you put a drop, so be consistent.

Do you know the toothpick method?

sparadlova-method-of-cooking-essential-oils

Very simple, fast and effective, no science. It is enough to dip a toothpick in a bottle with essential oil (you will have the amount and intensity of the taste under control, and in case of a weak taste, dip the toothpick a second time), and then mix the essence of the oil into the food . It is best to add the essential oil towards the end of cooking already in the finished cooked dish. Why? A very simple reason. Thanks to this, the oil will retain all its nutrients and vitamins, its unique taste and aroma, which it could lose during the cooking process - the action of heat.

Don't be afraid to experiment

Would you like a steak? Prepare black pepper in a bowl, season with less than a drop (you can use a toothpick) of lemon or bergamot, a pinch of fresh thyme herb, together with oil (sunflower, rapeseed, olive). Now that we have diluted the organic oil in the vegetable (carrier) oil, we can brush/marinate the meat with it. With the marinade prepared in this way, we can give our steak a completely new and fragrant dimension!

Vanilla ice cream or sorbet can be refreshed with lemon , ginger or mint essential oil . In the case of citrus essential oils, we can use 1 drop (with floral and herbal scents, we recommend a smaller amount). It is recommended to use 1/4 to 1 full drop (lemon, cinnamon...) per 2.5 cups of batter for pancake batter.

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Create interesting and unusual flavors! Experimentation is allowed. Cinnamon pancakes with cottage cheese-orange filling are a pretty good start :)

At the end, a tasty point - fragrant recipes

Marinade for grilled chicken

4 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons of French Dijon mustard
1-2 drops of lemon or orange essential oil

Method: Mix all the ingredients together into a smooth creamy marinade. Brush the chicken with it before grilling. Add salt to taste.

Recipe for mandarin orange flavored butter cookies

For the dough:

250g plain flour
150g of powdered sugar
1 vanilla pudding powder
1-2 drops of mandarin essential oil (lemon, orange and lavender are also popular)
200g room temperature butter
1 whole egg

For the topping:

hot chocolate for cooking

Procedure: First, we combine the softened butter with a drop (max. two) of essential oil to taste - the organic oil combines so beautifully with fat and butter. Next, add all loose ingredients (flour, sugar, pudding powder) and mix into a stiffer dough. We take walnut-sized pieces of the dough and form them into balls (we can help with wet hands and continuously dip them in water to shape them better). Subsequently, we place the balls shaped in this way on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. We press them and form wheels with a diameter of 6 cm. Bake in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees. After baking, let the cookies cool, and finally pour hot chocolate over them. Bon appetit!

Cinnamon pancakes with cottage cheese-orange filling

For the dough:

200g semi-coarse flour
40g of cane sugar
a pinch of salt
1 egg
500 ml of whole milk
1 whole egg
half a drop of cinnamon essential oil (use a toothpick)
butter for greasing the pan

For the filling:

lumpy curd
1 vanilla sugar (if you like it sweeter, sweeten to taste)
1 drop of orange essential oil
2 spoons of sour cream

For decoration:

you can decorate with an apple, a slice of orange or pre-soaked raisins... there are no limits to creativity :)

Procedure: Prepare the pancake batter by mixing eggs with sugar, salt and essential oil. Gradually add milk and flour and mix with a mixer into a smooth dough without lumps. We will melt the butter with which we will rub the pan. Let the dough rest for a few minutes and prepare the filling. Mixing all the ingredients creates a cheese filling that can be sweetened to taste.

Prepare the pancakes in a preheated pan brushed with butter/oil. Fill the pancakes and decorate them. Good taste.

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