One of the Best Friends Artisan Breads Could Ever Have!

Have you discovered dipping sauces, otherwise known as dipping oils? They are a staple of many Italian-style restaurants. Instead of a basket full of bread, which is normally served along with foil packets of butter, a section or an entire loaf of Italian, French, or artisan bread is brought to the table. The bread is served along with a bottle of olive oil and a small dish of herbs. The restaurant patrons mix the oil, which is usually extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil, with the herbs. Pieces of bread are broken off from the loaf and then dipped into the herb and oil mixture.

Besides tasting incredibly good, dipping great bread in olive oil is also a healthy thing to do. Olive oil is one of the most health-promoting types of oils available. It is rich in monounsaturated fat, a type of fat that researchers have found protects against chronic degenerative diseases (atherosclerosis, diabetes, asthma, colon cancer, and arthritis) if used in place of animal fats (butter, for instance). A diet that replaces animal, and other saturated fats, as well as trans-fats with olive oil is known as the Mediterranean Diet and the research that's resulted from the study of it offers these practical tips:

• Instead of serving butter, fill a small condiment dish with extra virgin olive oil for use on bread, rolls, potatoes or other vegetables.
• For even more flavor, add a few drops of balsamic vinegar or a sprinkling of your favorite spices to the olive oil.
• To get the most health benefit and flavor from your olive oil, buy and store oil in opaque containers, and add olive oil to foods immediately after cooking.

I am so sold on the idea of going the olive-oil route, that I went searching for the best of the best--small batches, freshness-oriented, and integrity-based labels. Of course, there are boatloads of companies and product lines out there, so my deciding factor was personal referral/experience. It just so happens (unbeknownst to me), our own DVO owners, Dan and Kathy Oaks are affiliating with Debbie McKeown, the owner/creator of Migliore Gourmet Foods (olive oils, balsamic vinegars, and spices). "Migliore" by the way, is Italian for "the best."

I checked her site, read her information/background and can see why Dan and Kathy like her products. You might want to take a look as well. The advice is to get extra virgin (first pressed) , cold pressed oil. First pressed means that the fruit of the olive was crushed exactly one time. The "cold" refers to the temperature range of the fruit at the time it is crushed.

All this said, let's have some fun with the wonderful bread recipes in this month's Cook'n newsletter. Let's create some yummy herbed olive oil dip for Jeanne's scrumptious artisan bread she demonstrated. Here's a great little recipe to try for just this purpose, and afterwards, let me know if you don't agree that a great dipping oil is one of the best friends an artisan bread could ever have:

PARMESAN PEPPER BREAD DIPPING OIL
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

Add the basil, thyme, black pepper and Parmesan cheese to a small bowl, or shallow dish. Stir the herbs and cheese together until they are well blended. Pour the olive oil into a separate shallow dish. To use this dipping oil, first dip a piece of bread into the olive oil, then dip the bread into the herb and cheese mixture.

Here are some additional ingredients for bread dipping oil (not necessarily meant to be combined together):

• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp crush red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp peppercorn mix

And besides being used as a bread condiment, dipping oil can also be tossed with pasta or rice, used as a meat marinade, or tossed with grilled or steamed vegetables. The herb-enhanced oil can also be mixed with a bit of balsamic vinegar and/or lemon juice to make a delicious viniagrette type of salad dressing.

Do YOU have a dipping recipe you could share? We're all in this together remember, so let's share the good stuff. Please comment with any recipes, tips, ideas, etc. you have. I love hearing from our readers. And until next time, happy cook'n!