Bread Dippin'

Here is my newest fun thing to cook. I made up a spice mix, with flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping bread in. Amazing enough the kids love it!!

My spice mixture is:

1 tbsp of a good fine ground sea salt.
1 tbsp dried onion
1 tbsp dried garlic
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp of Parmesan cheese.
Here is where you get can a real punch of flavor.
mince up fresh basil and rosemary 1 tbsp each

Mix this together. This can be stored in a sealed container for a week or so. I have kept ours for two weeks now and it seems to have gotten a stronger taste. This does make a lot of spice mix so I would try to use it up with various Italian meals or just cut the measurements in half.
Now get a real nice extra virgin olive oil, don't skimp on cost. You want the clearest oil you can find. Just hold up the bottles in the light and compare. It is now time to get some nice balsamic vinegar. This was a new adventure for me and did a little looking around on the Internet for some suggestions. In the end I wound up with a bottle of Colavita 6 star aged sweet vinegar. Still pretty low priced but for experiment sake it works. I then flavored my oil with a few leaves of fresh basil and a couple of sprigs of rosemary and let the oil sit for least two hours before serving.

Spoon a nice pile of spices in a shallow plate pour on some vinegar and oil and serve with a nice warm crusty bread. Enjoy this with your favorite Italian meal or use at a finger food gathering.