COOKING WITH ESSENTIAL OILS

Young Living has over 35 culinary essential oils, approved for and deemed safe for ingestion by the Australian TGA (Therapeutic Goods Association). As always, it would be wise to do your research if using an essential oil in your food. In the case of Young Living, all of their essential oils are 100% therapeutic with a Seed to Seal® commitment that the oil is, well, seed to seal essential oil. Young Living know where the oil came from, the conditions that the plant was grown in, and oversee the process of distillation to ensure that only the very best essential oil is in the bottle you hold in your hand. The Seed to Seal® commitment is exclusive to Young Living, so I encourage you to do your research if you are using a different brand – you may not feel as comfortable using them for your cooking. Because of the distillation process, Young Living essential oils are so very potent. A drop can go a long way.

Remember, essential oils are the same as using a herb or spice however they can be more concentrated and potent. Use slowly and carefully to achieve the desired taste experience. A simple trick that may help to get the amount of essential oil perfect for your dish is the toothpick trick: dip a toothpick into the top of your essential oil bottle, then swirl the toothpick into your dish, taste and repeat if necessary. Like all cooking, gradually add flavours.

*Read the safety sheet before using your essential oils in the kitchen.

Below is a list of the Culinary essential oils from Young Living, so you know you are using an essential oil that is considered safe for consumption:

• Nutmeg essential oil
• Ocotea essential oil
• Orange essential oil
• Oregano essential oil
• Parsley essential oil
• Peppermint essential oil
• Rose essential oil
• Rosemary essential oil
• Slique Essence™ essential oil
• Spearmint essential oil
• Tangerine essential oil
• Tarragon essential oil
• Thyme essential oil

Recipes incorporating Young Living culinary essential oils

Directions:

• Gently slice a cross into each end of the tomatoes and carefully place them into a pot of boiling water for a couple of minutes. This will allow the skin to fall off. Alternatively, you can remove the skin from the sauce after cooking.
• After removing the skin, slice the tomatoes in half and place in a dish. Use a dish that allows the tomatoes to be close together without stacking.
• Crush your fresh garlic. Be generous as this is a base sauce and the flavours are what you are looking for. Sprinkle the garlic over the tomatoes.
• Shake your essential oils of choice over the tomatoes. Again, be generous as it is flavours that will make the sauce fantastic. Use your nose, If the smell is aromatic and tantalizes your nose then consider it done.
• Drizzle with a little olive oil.
• Place in a low heat oven or a pot on the stove top, cover and very gently over time cook the tomatoes until they have broken down and are sauce like in appearance.
• As the tomatoes are breaking down, give it a stir from time to time. Add extra essential oils if the aroma is not making your nose sing.
• Take out of oven or off stove and cool.
• Place in fridge for later use or freeze in serving sizes to be removed when required.

Directions

• Soften cream cheese.
• Whip icing sugar into cream cheese.
• Whip cream and sugar together. (Hint: you will see peaks when its ready)
• Combine the cream cheese mixture, whipped cream and sugar mixture with the essential oils.
• Beat everything together well.
• It is nice to add in a little pineapple or orange juice if you want to thin out the consistency.
• Serve with cut fruit!
• Or really do anything your imagination can come up with. It is really very yummy.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees or use your oven grill (being careful not to burn the toast).
• Place all the ingredients in a medium size bowl (except the bread, olive oil and garlic for serving) and mix well to combine. Check for seasoning and add more salt, pepper and Lemon essential oil, if desired.
• You can serve immediately or place in the refrigerator to let the flavours blend for 1 – 2 hours or overnight.
• To serve place the cut bread on a baking sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil. Toast the bread in the oven and remove when done and rub with the halved peeled garlic cloves, if desired.
• Set the bread on a plate or platter and evenly spoon the tomato mixture covering the toasted bread. Drizzle with a little more olive oil, if desired and top with a little Parmesan or fetta cheese and serve immediately. Enjoy!

NOTE

Here are a few tips I’ve come across for making pavlova: It’s better to make them on a dry day, in a very clean and dry bowl. Use eggs that are little older, at room temperature and don’t over beat them.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 105C degrees and place the oven rack in the centre of the oven. Line a large baking pan/cookie sheet with baking paper and set aside until ready to use. Prep all your ingredients for the pavlovas.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites on high speed for approx. 1 minute until soft peaks form. Continue mixing while gradually adding the sugar and beat for 10 minutes on high speed, or until stiff peaks form. The mixture will should be glossy and smooth.
• With a spatula quickly fold in the lemon juice and vanilla extract and then fold in the corn starch and mix until well combined.
• Using a medium size spoon (or pipping bag) spoon/pipe a large dollop of the mixture onto the baking paper forming approximately 8cm round by 2.5cm high pavlovas and repeat. Make a little well or indent in the centre of each with a spoon to create a place for Tangerine Cream.
• Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes then turn off the oven, but do not open the door (you want to keep in the heat). Leave the pavlovas in the hot oven another 30 minutes. The outside should be crisp if you tap them with a spoon, a pale off white colour and the inside should still be soft.
• Transfer the pavlovas while still on the baking paper onto the bench or a rack and cool to room temperature. Once they are cooled you can top them with the Tangerine Cream and fruit and serve immediately or store the pavlovas in an airtight container or plastic bag for 3 days at room temperature.

Tangerine Cream

• Using an electric mixer whip the cream until soft peaks form then add the sugar, vanilla extract and tangerine oil and beat a little longer to combine. Taste and add a little more sugar and Tangerine oil, if desired and gently stir to combine. If using Greek yoghurt just gently mix all the ingredients together by hand.
• Serve immediately or chill until ready to use. When ready to serve the pavlovas place them on a platter or individual plates and top with Tangerine Cream, fresh fruit and a mint leaf.

Instructions:

• In a bowl, mix the flour and butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Make a well in the centre and add the milk, Maple syrup and essential oils. Mix until well combined.
• Roll the mixture into roughly 9-18 balls. (~1 Tbsp each)
• In a slow cooker, mix the Maple syrup, butter, brown sugar, and boiling water.
• Add the dumplings one by one.
• Cook on high for 60-90 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked.
• Serve & Enjoy.