I have found myself, through the years, encountering great difficulty generating a deep color in my herb oils. I recently enjoyed a fabulous soup in NYC that incorporated the most intensely colored cilantro oil I have ever seen. A bright green that contrasted beautifully, yet had a dark depth that left you feeling as if you re staring intone abyss. Stunning. I have always blanched the leaves of said herb, shocked, drained & wrung out water in a towel... from here, I reckon, is where my method is faulted. I have experimented w/ three methods of mastication... none to satisfaction.
#1: I have minced the prepared leaves to a pulp, incorporated oil into pulp by whip, let rest refrigerated for a bit, strained through tamis (this method taking the longest & garnering the best results).
#2: I have tried emulsifying the coarsely chopped prepared leaves with oil via immersion blender and/or counter blender, then straining through chinois (this method obviously completes quickly, but generates a lightly colored oil... colored for sure, but w/o notable depth. The incorporation of air not helping matters at all).
#3: I have tried warming the oil with prepared leaves, as a purée, to then strain. I am quite frustrated as I have not thought of another method to attempt, and quite honestly - the flavor intensity of all the methods have been as shallow as their color.
Obviously, first thing I question is ratio of herb to oil, but surely, one bunch of green onion tops can produce 8oz of a finished oil. That just being a quantitative example, but not an exact by any stretch of the imagination as I have tried varying amounts of solids over the years. Even the most concentrated ratios haven't generated what I want so I know the method is flawed. I stumbled across this forum after enjoying a wonderful podcast... my first here & positively, not last. I have often contemplated searching out a cooking forum, but had never been interested in the few I encountered in passing. This stop amid the world-wide web has captured me & I look forward to frequenting - what I reckon will be - a wonderful resource. So... here I am, respectfully, asking for your opinions. How does one generate a vibrantly fresh herb oil with stunningly exceptional color.?!