Magic Sauce 
From 101 Cookbooks

Oh magic sauce, how do I use thee?  Let me count the ways.  Roasted chicken.  Baked potato.  Scrambled eggs.  Dipping oil.  Roasted squash.  Frittata.  And the list goes on.

We initially whipped up a batch of this oil to rub down chicken thighs that we roasted, shredded and used in our fettuccine Alfredo.  We had a lot left over so we popped it in the fridge for “later use.”  We put a lot stuff in the fridge for “later use,” which is typically just a synonym for “throwing out in 7 days.”  But not magic sauce.  I pulled it out every day that week until I was scraping the bottom of the jar with bread scraps.  The recipe says it will last 3 weeks in the fridge, but I guess if I want to test that out I’ll have to make a triple batch next time.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 2 medium cloves of garlic, smashed into a paste
• 1 well-crumbled bay leaf (hotly debated on a number of websites, but yes, you can eat dried bay leaf – we didn’t die anyway)
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon grain sea salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation

1. Gently warm the olive oil over medium-low heat in a skillet or pan, until it is just hot, but not so hot that stuff sizzles when you drop it in. Remove from heat.
2. While the oil is warming, lightly pound the rosemary, thyme, and oregano in a mortar and pestle.  We don’t have one, so we busted out the meat pounder mallet then and just smushed them around a bit on the cutting board with that.
3. Stir the paprika, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, and salt into the oil.
4. Add the bruised herbs and lemon juice.
5. Use now, or store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.  If it thickens when cold, just set it in the sun or on top of a warm oven for a few minutes when you want to use it.

Makes about 1/2 cup.