Pistachio and Olive Tapenade

Do you love olives? Here is a recipe that I have been making for years and years.  When I looked through my archives, I was surprised that I hadn't shared it here yet.  This version of the classic tapenade does not include capers or anchovies but instead has an abundance of pistachios for crunch and delightful flavor. 

Made with both green olives with pimento and Kalamata olives, you can see the bits of pimento and pistachio in each bite.  Cilantro, garlic, lemon juice and black pepper season the mixture along with a little olive oil to hold it all together. 

This tapenade is so quick and easy to make (if you have a food processor) and can be made several days in advance, which is always a good thing when you entertain.  It's been a hit whenever I've served it.  This weekend, we host our gourmet group of 10 and this will be a little 'nibbler' I will put out with the cocktails before the first course is served. 

The original recipe comes from another Junior League cookbook, Colorado Collage.  I loved the comments that I received about other Junior League cookbooks that were recommended after a recent post and have since ordered a couple of them!  You may wonder what my fascination with Colorado cookbooks might be, being a Midwestern lady, but it's because our family would take ski trips to Colorado when our daughters still lived at home.  The cookbooks were purchased during those trips, which make them even more cherished.  They have become lost-lasting favorites. 

Summer has been wonderful and I can't believe tomorrow is August 1st!  Our oldest grandson, the almost-six-year-old-Ninja, has just begun taking soccer lessons.  The youngest, who is three, loves his Papa, Dusty Crophopper and Lightening McQueen. Evenings on the patio have been so glorious after a cool start to summer.  We love watching the deer and her fawns eat my hostas (they only eat the lighter green hostas that you see in the photo - none of the others), and the garden is offering an abundance of cut flowers to brighten our tables.

Pistachio and Olive Tapenade

Adapted from Colorado Collage Printable Recipe Makes about 2 cups of tapenade  Note:  My recipe uses less cilantro and garlic than the original recipe.  I you really love both, use more. Also, the original uses regular green olives without pimento, but I enjoy the added flavor of the pimento-stuffed green olives. 3/4 cup shelled pistachios 1 cup pimento-stuffed green olives (any size) 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives 2 cloves (about 2 teaspoons) minced, fresh garlic 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves 1-1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/4-1/3 cup olive oil In a food processor, pulse everything except the olive oil until coarsely chopped. Add the smallest amount of olive oil first and blend with a few pulses, being careful not to turn the tapenade into a pasty consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Chill until ready to serve. Can be made two to three days in advance. Tip - When buying fresh cilantro, don't throw out rest of the bunch when you only need a small amount for a recipe. Snip off all of the leaves, place in a colander or salad spinner, rinse or spin and dry on paper toweling. Put the clean, dry leaves in a plastic zipper bag and store in the freezer. Fresh cilantro, any time!

Olive and Shallot Foccacia

Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend I made the whole wheat focaccia from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  The recipe calls for dried cherries soaked in red wine and shallots.  Since we were having grilled Italian sausages that night, I decided use the same red wine-soaking method but with thick-sliced Kalamata olives and shallots>  I also added some fresh, chopped rosemary from my garden. You can see the pretty red color that the shallots took on from the wine.

The traditional method of poking your finger in the dough to make deep dimples was used and then the strained olives, shallots and rosemary were sprinkled over the top of the dough followed by a good drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground pepper. There was only a 20 minute rest before this bread went into the oven on a cookie sheet placed on the hot baking stone.

It turned out beautifully and tasted fantastic with our holiday weekend al fresco dinner! This bread is best served warm so I gently re-heated it on the grill just before we sat down to eat.  YUM!

THE MASTER RECIPE
Adapted from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Makes enough dough for at least four 1-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.

Ingredients
5½ c (1 lb, 9 oz) whole wheat flour
2 c (10 oz) all-purpose flour, unbleached
1½ tbsp (.55 oz) granulated yeast (2 packets)
1 tbsp (.55 oz) Kosher salt
¼ c ( 1 3/8 oz) vital wheat gluten
4 c (2 lbs) lukewarm water
Seeds for sprinkling over loaf, if desired
cornmeal or parchment paper for the pizza peel or flat baking sheet

Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded plastic food container or food-grade bucket (not airtight).

Warm the water until it feels slightly warmer than body temperature (about 100°F). Add all at once to the dry ingredients and mix without kneading, using a spoon, or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you’re not using a machine.  Do not knead.

Cover the dough with a lid (not airtight) that fits well to the container. If you are using a bowl, cover it loosely with plastic wrap or a lidded (or even vented) plastic buckets designed for dough storage. Leave it open a crack for the first 48 hours to prevent buildup of gases; after that you can usually seal it. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on the top), approximately 2-4 hours, depending on the room’s temperature and the water temperature added to the flour. After rising, refrigerate in the lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 14 days.  Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work after 24 hours in the refrigerator than dough at room temperature.

On baking day, prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal (or line a flat baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent your loaf from sticking to it when you slide it into the oven. Dust the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough, using a serrated knife or kitchen shears. Holding the dough in your hands, add a little more flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating a quarter-turn as you go to form a ball. The entire process should take no more than 20 to 40 seconds. If you work the dough longer than this, it might make your loaf dense.

Form a narrow oval-shaped loaf and let it rest: Stretch the ball gently to elongate it, and taper the ends by rolling them between your palms and pinching them.

Allow the loaf to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, on the prepared pizza peel or baking sheet for 90 minutes (40 minutes if you’re using fresh, unrefrigerated dough). Depending on the age of the dough, you might not see much rise during this period; instead, it will spread sideways. Rise will occur during baking.

Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450°F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty metal tray for holding water on the rack underneath.

Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top of the loaf with water. Sprinkle with any seed mixture you desire. Slash the loaf with ¼-inch-deep parallel cuts across the top on an angle with a serrated knife.

After a 30-minute preheat, you’re ready to bake, even though your oven thermometer might not yet be up to full temperature.With a quick forward-jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the preheated baking stone.

Quickly but carefully pour about 1 cup of hot water from the tap into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is richly browned and firm to the touch (smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time). If you used parchment paper, a silicone mat, or a cookie sheet under the loaf, carefully turn the loaf over to brown the bottom of the loaf after 20 minute through baking.

Cool loaf on a baking rack before slicing.

Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next 14 days.

For the Olive and Shallot Foccacia

1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives
1/4 cup sliced shallots
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 water
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Olive Oil for drizzling
Coarse Sea Salt and and Black Pepper for sprinkling

Place all of the above ingredients in a bowl and stir to blend.

Place a piece of parchment paper on a flat baking sheet. 

Cut off a grapefruit-size portion of the Master Recipe above and quickly shape it into a bowl, adding flour to your hands.  Pull the sides down to the underside in quarter turn motion, making a ball.  Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet.  Pat the dough into a rectangle or roll it with a rolling pin to 1/3-3/4 inch thickness.  Press your fingers into the dough making 'dimples'.  Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450°F, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty metal tray for holding water on the rack underneath.

Drain the olives and shallots and dry with paper toweling.  Spread over the dough and press in.  Drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle with sea salt and ground black pepper. 

Slide the dough onto the preheated baking stone and quickly add 1 cup of hot water to the baking pan below and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Remove and cut into wedges and serve warm. 

Sandwich Sunday ~ Mixed Olive Spread

I'm Baaaaaack - at last! Thank you for all your kind and sympathetic comments!

Being without a computer for a week was awful, as I'm sure you can imagine if you've ever been through the same thing! All the little 'connections' you take for granted were gone for me.  I did try to use my 'unconnected' time wisely and got lots of gardening and yard work accomplished. We celebrated our oldest daughter's 29th birthday, took care of our little grandson for a day and had our favorite guest dog for the weekend.

$$$ later, my computer has been returned to me running like a charm (fingers crossed).

This coming week, I have to work full-time - one of my usual 'seasonal' stints at a friend's company. So today, I needed to think about lunch for work.  I hadn't made my favorite olive spread in quiet a while and decided to make some for lunch today and to bring to the office tomorrow.

I first had this sandwich years ago at Watts Tea Shop in downtown Milwaukee. The tea room is located above George Watts and Son, a beautiful china, crystal and silverware store downtown which has been an icon in our area since 1870 and a favorite for brides-to-be to register for their weddings. Years later, they published the recipe for the olive spread  in our local newspaper and I've been making it since then.

You can make this with the olives of your choice.  I opted for a combination of green, black and Kalamata olives this time.  Chop them up and add a handful of toasted pecans, mayo, a touch of creamed cheese and spread it on whole wheat bread and let your taste buds rejoice!


If you love olives and pecans as much as I do, you will love this!

Mixed Olive Spread
Adapted from Watts Tea Room
Printable Recipe

2 cups olives or your choice...green, black, or Kalamata
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1/4 cup cream cheese
A little olive juice
Mayonnaise - just enough to moisten
A small splash of olive oil
Pepper to taste
A little chopped parsley for garnish

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spread over slices of your favorite whole wheat bread.  Makes about 4 sandwiches.

'Died and Gone to Heaven' Olive Tapenade Potato Chips - Ode to a Tuber Part Fourteen!

I can't believe I'm doing another Ode to Tuber, already! Normally, it's at least a month or so before I find another potato recipe that I find worthy of trying. As I mentioned in my recent salad post, I have a new cookbook - Stir by Barbara Lynch. I love this cookbook and the pictures are pure eye candy. I've already bookmarked so many recipes I want to try - but this potato recipe jumped off the page and onto my plate next ;)

These crispy potato chips are made by thinly slicing a baking potato on a mandoline and spreading a little homemade or store-bought olive tapenade on one slice, topping it with another slice and then quickly frying the potato 'sandwich' in hot oil. Oh my, these are tasty! I think they would be wonderful served with fish or soup. My taste-tester-husband said 'Wow! These are great!. High praise, indeed.

I served them with thinly sliced olives and also fried a little parsley to garnish while I had the oil hot. I love crispy, fried parsley and got that idea from one of our favorite restaurants that serves their calamari garnished with fried parsley. I also slivered some green and Kalamata olives and sprinkled them over the crispy potatoes. Ah-love at first bite!

If you're feeling adventurous, please give these a try - they're well worth the effort!

Olive Tapenade Potato Chips
Adapted from Stir by Barbara Lynch
Printable Recipe

Serves 1-2

1 large baking potato, peeled
1 cup canola oil
Olive tapenade (either homemade or purchased) - about 2 tablespoons

To get the thinnest slices, use a mandoline to slice the potato. You also could use a knife but getting paper-thin slices will be more difficult.

Over medium-high heat, heat the canola oil in a small saucepan or use a small cast iron skillet as I did. The pan should be large enough to fit two or three slices of potato. When ready, the oil should be hot enough to fry a potato slice scrap when placed in the oil.

While the oil is heating, spread about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of tapenade down the middle of a potato slice. Top with another potato slice and press down to seal. Repeat with the remaining slices. Cover with paper toweling until ready to fry.

Fry a couple of potato 'sandwiches' at a time in the hot oil until they are cooked and golden brown on each side, flipping over with a spatula. This will take 1-2 minutes. You may need to adjust the heat during frying, if necessary, Don't worry if some of the edges open during frying. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain and potato toweling. A little coarse salt may be sprinkled on them immediately after removing from the oil but use caution, the tapenade is already slightly salty.

These are best eaten warm but I found them just as tasty at room temperature!

I'm sharing this recipe with all the other Foodies for Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum. If you're looking for some great recipes, please stop in for a look. Thank you, Michael, for hosting once again!