I Love Olives! Part 2 of 2

 As promised in I love Olives! part 1 more about olives.

The Olive: Latin name Olea Europaea.

Did you know the long living, and hardy olive tree is related to lilac, jasmine and forsythia?

Did you know that the active ingredient in olive leaf extract Oleuropein, has antioxidant, antiseptic, and astringent properties?

For more great olive info check out The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Woods, an amazing, indispensable reference volume.

Olives are wonderful and I am singing their praises.

After my first post on olives a few friends shared their favorite uses for olives as well, which I am happy to share here.

   One friend is a big fan of spaghetti puttanesca, spaghetti served with a spicy, tangy, salty tomato sauce made with olives, anchovies, capers, dried chiles, garlic, and oregano. He makes his with Calabria seasoned black olives he buys at an Italian market near his home in Chicago.

    A second friend can't have a Greek salad without them. Who can really? If you've never made a Greek salad at home you really should try it some time. Mix healthy chunks of tomato, green pepper, red onion, and feta cheese, add Greek olives and marinate in a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and a healthy dose of oregano. Serve over torn iceberg lettuce, or shred cabbage and marinate along with the other ingredients for a heartier salad. Although not traditional the addition of beans-I like chick peas or white beans-makes this a healthy and filling meal. Serve with pita. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that she loves her Greek salad with beets too. They are a delicious addition.

    Another friend says she uses green olives on skewers with grape tomatoes, and she suggests adding other veggies and cheese too. How cute and convenient would these be as finger food for your next party? Assemble them well ahead of time and let your guests eat with ease while they mingle, instead of chasing olives around a bowl, or across the floor all evening long.

     Someone once showed me how to improve the flavor of inexpensive, cracked green olives, by baking them. We found a very large can of Lebanese, cracked, green olives for an unbeatable price. They tasted OK, but weren't amazing. He removed them from the brine, rinsed them, mixed them with olive oil and some spices and baked them in a low oven until they had begun to dry out. They became more meaty and the flavor intensified. It was a very interesting treatment and totally new to me.

   The most unusual olive recipe I've seen thus far was in Larrouse Gastronomique, for macaroons that had a chocolate ganache filling that incorporated black olive paste and sun dried tomato paste. Sounds intriguing alright.

Korean Drama Mama

Here is something you may not know about me. I like to watch a Korean soap opera now and again. Especially if they are about food. I really like Korean food.

Today I came across a Kimchi Taco food truck in Manhattan and it got me to thinking about Korean food, and by association Korean dramas.

 

My Lovely Sam Soon

For some reason  I couldn't embed the video so there is just a link above. Sorry. The entire series is currently available for free viewing on Hulu.

Now I will admit, this is a soap so it is a bit silly, a bit more than a bit sexist, and very unrealistic. That being said I liked it anyway. I liked Sam Soon, she is a pastry chef, she takes up too much space in her world, she doesn't conform to its standards, yet she is the heroine and she prevails.

I liked the food too. There is a fair bit of it and people are actually eating it. When was the last time you saw someone really eat in an American television show? Even if you watched a show about food, there was a good chance no one actually ate it. Unless it was one of those eating competitions, in which case I am not qualified to comment.

Alright, that is my pitch. Sometimes I like to watch something just for fun and I felt like sharing.

Two Too Cute Little Fruits.

Today, I came across two fruits I've never seen before. It was pretty exciting. Here I share them with you. I didn't get to bring any home. I wasn't actually shopping, just perusing some grocery stores before an appointment. One of my favorite past times I might add. Every trip to the grocery store in NYC is an adventure.



Mandarinquats at Fairway



Pretty Cute



A cross between a Mandarin Orange and a Kumquat.
You might have pieced that together already.
Apparently you eat them peel and all.



 Baby Kiwis after the break

I Love Olives! Part 1 of 2

Dear Olive you are a giver of light and warmth, a symbol of peace and longevity, and you are delicious beyond all reckoning.

Have you taken a moment to consider the olive in all its splendor? I do regularly. I don't just like olives I believe in them. They are sustaining, they are mythic, they are outstanding when filled with blue cheese.

If I ever have a daughter I may have to name her Olivia (and I'll call her Olive).

Once in awhile I treat myself to a decadent tumble through the olive bar. Fairway Market has my favorite. They have other items as well, cornichons, peppadew peppers, marinated mushrooms and artichoke hearts, all delicious, but it is the olives that bring me back again and again.

                              
Would you look at all those beautiful olives. Truly inspiring.

I came home with  Alfonsos, Red (red are dyed so I don't usually buy them), Black, and Green Cerignolas, Italian Green, Gaetas, Picholines, Nicoise, Calamata, Oil cured with Rosemary, and Manzanillas stuffed with almonds, jalapenos, and lemon. Did you know there were so many to choose from? I love it. They are all delicious and all so different. Right now my favorite seems to be the Black Cerignolas oddly enough. They are ripe, mild in flavor and have a fruitiness to them. They are like the black olives from the can of my childhood without the squishy, can-ness.





Black and Green Cerignolas

 If you are into health related info Here is some good news about olives. They are a good source of monounsaturated fats and vitamin E, which means they have antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory properties, and are heart healthy. Anti-inflammatory properties mean they help protect against asthma and arthritis.

You may use olive oil regularly, but rarely eat olives. I have even heard that some people don't like them. I am still trying to wrap my mind around that one.

I use olive oil regularly and I think it is wonderful, but I also believe that the more whole a food is the healthier it is likely to be. If olive oil is good for us, surely good quality olives should be just as good if not better. That's the theory I'm going with anyway.

 
This is part 1 of 2 because I have been having all kinds of technical problems that have made it impossible for me to finish this post as I planned. I don't want to wait any longer so I will post this as it is and hopefully finish with a bang when I get the second half up and running. Wish me luck.





Quick Pickled Beets

This is a quick post on some quick pickled beets I made, that came out even better than I expected.

This is my mitt holding a steamed beet. I was trying to capture the jewel like beauty of the beet as I sliced it, but I probably need a better camera and more light to get the point across.

I think vegetable are some of the most beautiful things on Gaia's Green Earth. I think beets are one of the most beautiful vegetables of them all. They have the added benefit of being delicious and good for you. I love beets, and when I take the time to prepare them I am always glad I did.

I steamed whole beets, for about 20 minutes. Then peeled them and sliced them into pieces about 1/2 inch thick.

I dropped them into a pot of simmering water-about 11/2 cups, with apple cider vinegar-about 1/4 cup, agave nectar-about 2 teaspoons, salt-about 1/2 teaspoon, and spices-about 1/2 teaspoon of each. I used cumin seeds, mustard seeds and a little powdered coriander, because I didn't have it whole.

I let the sliced beets simmer in the liquid for 15 minutes or so, until they were tender-crisp. Then I allowed them to cool in the liquid and placed them in the fridge to chill. Considering I did the entire thing from pickle recipes I have kicking around my memory, and on the fly, they came out pretty darned good. If I do say so myself. (and I just did)

I served them with a delicious Lebanese inspired meal  prepared with good friends. Needless to say that made them taste even better.

There you have it, as promised a quick post about a quick pickle. Delicious and fun. Eat well.

Korean Ramen with Miso and Tofu

I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday, so I didn't venture too far afield for groceries. Which means I shopped at the convenience store or bodega on the nearest corner. They sell spicy Korean Ramen which I must admit I have a soft spot for.

I brought a package home and doctored it up, and while it may not have been the loftiest meal I've ever eaten the truth is it was good.

The Korean way with hot peppers is as unique as it is delicious, and while a package of convenience ramen certainly doesn't begin to do Korean cuisine justice, it still has a je ne sais quoi, that for my $1.50 does the trick.

Rainy Day Hot Cocoa for One.

       Once in a very rare while I feel the need to make myself a cup of hot cocoa. When I do I want it to be indulgent. I want to be alone. I want the weather outside to be dreary. I want to feel that I am doing something special for me and me alone.

       Some people like long hot baths, but I've never been a bath lover. I suppose some folks like a nice glass of wine, or a fine scotch. I've never been much of a drinker. Most days I am a coffee with the occasional cup of tea for good measure girl. I like herbal tea with honey when I'm feeling under the weather. For me hot cocoa is purely for those rare moments of solitude when I am feeling like pampering myself.

      Yet, for most of my life when I tried to make real hot cocoa at home I botched it, it never tasted very good, the cocoa was never really incorporated into the milk and it always tasted kind of raw and bland. It is only recently that I have learned to make proper hot cocoa. My big breakthrough came, I believe, when I took the monumental step of reading the recipe printed on a Hershey's cocoa container.

    It turns out boiling the cocoa, and sweetener with water before adding your cream is the secret to a good cup of cocoa.

Perhaps that's enough by way of a preamble and we should dive in to the actual recipe.