You, Need Green Onion Oil.

Yes, You. 

You need green onion oil, and I will tell you why. 

This week is the first of a few where the markets will be selling fresh onions with of massive green tops. Farmers usually let the tops wither before processing, but leave them on in the farmers markets in the early summer. I don't blame them, it looks great. I actually prefer the flavor of green onions/ the tops, to the bulbs. 

I would say this saves me from having to buy green onions, but I grow wild Alaskan onions in my yard, so I rarely need to buy green onions in the summer time. When I bought three onions one Saturday I realized I had more green onion than I could use before it rotted. I really hate food waste. 

What we eat affects the function of our body. Onions are traditional medicine in all indigenous cultures where onions thrive. They have been used to treat colds, cough, sore throats and fever. From a western medicine perspective we have determined that they are high in anti-oxidants, reduce inflammation, and lower cholesterol. Onions grow well here in Alaska, and are good choice for growing on your own and "putting up" for winter. You can also support local farmers and get them at markets or from friends like I do. 

 

So why do you need green onion oil? I have mentioned the nutrition and medicinal uses, and how we can support local food practices. However, the primary reason to make it is the amazing flavor and utility of the oil. If you want the taste of light green onion in your cooking all winter, pull this lovely green oil out to sauté any vegetable. The smell on the kitchen when it hits a hot pan is amazing. It can be used in any recipe that calls for olive oil that you want to add a green onion flavor to.  My favorite use is the surprise presentation of Green Eggs and Ham in the morning. I fry the eggs in the olive oil, and they are green. In our version, we serve up bacon as our ham. Don't judge. 

I gently ask that you share the Green Eggs and Ham utility to anyone you share the oil with!  Its a lovely gift for your foody friends. They will ask you for it year after year if they don't start making it themselves. 

Ingredients:

Green Onion Tops. 

These can be from chives, wild green onions, tops from fresh onions from the Saturday Market, or green onions from the Grocery store.

Olive Oil. I use Organic Extra Virgin

Equipment:

• Knife 
• Cutting Board
• Blender
• Two bowls to collect oil.
•  Cheese cloth-Jelly bag- or half of an old tee shirt with a colander.  
• 2 Glass Jars
• 2 Sealable plastic bags. I use one gallon bag and one quart bag in my large batches.  
• Optional-Gravy separator- Turkey Baster 

Method:

Take the green onion source you have chosen, and coarsely chop. Place the green onion in the blender. Do not compress.  Poor your olive oil into the blender, filling the blender to half the height of the loose greens. Puree the oils and onion. The emulsion will become cloudy. Blend until you feel the slurry become warm. 

Let the oil sit for an hour or so. Blend once more for 30 seconds for good measure. 

Separate out the solids.   

Squeezed Green onion oil and Juice
Before Separation. 

Pour the slurry into your jelly bag or like I do most often, just line a colander with half an old t-shirt (clean) and allow to drain for an hour or so. I will lightly stir the slurry after the first hour, pulling the plant matter away from the cloth. After the second hour, remove the catchment bowl. This oil is going to be your "pristine" oil that should last you through the winter if you don't use it too much. 

Place second catchment bowl under colander. In my case I now gather up the corners of my shirt remnant and start to twist and squeeze to get the rest of the fluids out.  In the "squeezed" batch you will get much more water and the oil is greener and stronger. It has more plant particulates and will go rancid more quickly than the pristine oil. The "squeeze" oil I keep for myself. It will give you the greenest eggs. The pristine oil I put up for winter and give as gifts. 

Separate the liquids. 

Here you get to choose your method of separation. I have tried  multiple methods. A gravy separator was the first, and I felt it just didn't separate well. There always was water left, or too much oil poured off. You must get rid of the water because it will speed the spoiling of your oil. Another method was using a ladle or turkey baster to get the oil off the top vs the water from the bottom. This took too long, and still was fiddly. Then I thought about a straw to suck out the onion juice... but no. The most precise and effective method I have found was using the baggies. If you feel uncomfortable using them, I completely understand. There are other methods available. But filling the bag, sealing it, tilting the bag so the water collects in a corner is very efficient. 

I process the "pristine" oil first. I prepare my collection containers close to each other before I cut the corner; a small one to catch the onion juice, and the larger to catch the clean oil. It needs to be a tiny hole at first to drain off the juice. Then I just pinch off the flow once the oil has started to exit and move the baggie over my primary collection container. The juice can also go down the sink if you don't want it, but its great to put in stock or to freeze into cubes you can add to recipes later. If you do keep it, be sure to label it.  

The onion solids you have left should not be thrown away. I put mine in a sealable container and use a tablespoon at a time in recipes. Its a green fibery paste. It is a nice addiction to salads, like a pesto, great for sautéing and stir fries. It has held a month in the refrigerator with great fresh flavor. In the freezer it has maintained flavor for 2 years so far. The oil works as a preservative. 

Below I took a picture to show the difference between the pure olive oil, the pristine, and the squeezed oil. You can mix the squeezed and pristine oil if you are going to use it all right away. But I recommend keeping them separate if you plan to use the oil through the winter. I recommend refrigeration of the oil, and freezing is even safe for easily a year.  I have left mine out a few days at a time when I have mistaken my Onion oil with my store bought oil, and it has been fine. It has only gone rancid on me when left out in a cabinet for months. It was very sad. So learn from my mistakes. 

Right is Clean EV Olive Oil
Bottom is Pristine Oil-No squeeze
Top is squeezed Oil

Please go out and get your onions and have some fun!!