Black Olive Paste Recipes

Steps:

• To pit the olives, you can use a cherry/olive pitter, but I've found that the olives frequently slip through the holes instead of just the pits.
• Another way to pit olives is to put them inside a folded kitchen towel and then bang on them with a mallet, cutting board, small frying pan, or whatever suits your fancy.
• Sure the olives get bruised, but what do you think is going to happen in the food processor?.
• Mixing raw garlic and olive oil provides an ideal breeding ground for the anaerobic bacteria which cause botulism.
• If I'm going to keep the paste around for a number of days, which I usually do, I'll mince the garlic, add it to the oil and then heat both in the microwave.
• I try not to cook the garlic too much in this manner- you just need to heat the oil and garlic up to 140 or 150 degrees for a while.
• Mix all of the ingredients in food processor.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• On a cutting board, mash the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt together with the flat-side of a knife into a paste. Add the rosemary and continue to mash until incorporated. Put the garlic-rosemary paste in a small bowl and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil; stir to combine.
• Season both sides of the brisket with a fair amount of kosher salt and ground black pepper. Place a large roasting pan or Dutch oven over medium-high flame and coat with the remaining olive oil. Put the brisket in the roasting pan and sear to form a nice brown crust on both sides. Lay the vegetables all around the brisket and pour the rosemary paste over the whole thing. Add the wine and tomatoes; toss in the parsley and bay leaves. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and transfer to the oven. Bake for about 3 to 4 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the pan juices, until the beef is fork tender.
• Remove the brisket to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes. Scoop the vegetables out of the roasting pan and onto a platter, cover to keep warm. Pour out some of the excess fat, and put the roasting pan with the pan juices on the stove over medium-high heat. Boil and stir for 5 minutes until the sauce is reduced by 1/2. (If you want a thicker sauce, mix 1 tablespoon of flour with 2 tablespoons of wine or water and blend into the gravy).
• Slice the brisket across the grain (the muscle lines) at a slight diagonal. Serve with potato pancakes.
• Using a box grater or food processor, coarsely grate the potatoes and onions. Put the grated potatoes and onions together in cheesecloth or a tea towel and twist it to squeeze out the excess liquid. Put the dry potatoes and onions in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Fold in the egg whites and chives to bind the mixture together.
• Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and coat with 1/4-inch of oil. For each pancake, take about 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture and drop into the hot oil; gently flatten with a spatula so they fry up thin and crispy. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden. Remove to paper towels to drain; season with salt while the potato pancakes are still hot. Continue frying, adding more oil as needed, until all of the mixture is used up. Serve immediately with apple sauce, if desired.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the ingredients and blend with a fork. If using a food processor, be very careful not to over-process; a chunky texture is better. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one month.
• To use the olive paste as a marinade, slather chicken, fish, beef or veal well and marinate for up to 6 hours before cooking. The mixture can also be used as a sauce by spooning over meat, poultry or fish in the last five minutes of cooking.

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, blend the olives, anchovy fillets, garlic, rosemary, and pepper to a smooth paste. With the processor on, slowly add the olive oil until combined, about 2 minutes. Transfer the olive paste to a small bowl, and set aside.

Steps:

• Roast 2 lightly oiled and seasoned red peppers in a saute pan on the bottom of a 400 degree oven. Turn every few minutes until all sides are fairly charred, about 12 minutes. Place peppers in a plastic bag to loosen skin. When cool, peel and discard stem and seeds. Cut into sections about 4 inches by 1 1/2 inches. Place each sole filet, whiter side down on, on cutting board. Cover with double layered plastic wrap and pound lightly with the smooth side of a mallet or heavy knife to thin out fish some without tearing it. Spread black olive paste lightly onto each filet, and lay down one red pepper strip per filet. Roll each filet fairly tight from thin end (tail) to head (thicker end). Season roulades and poach in 2 ounces white wine, juice and strips of zest of one lemon, capers, tomato juice and 4 ounces cold water. Bring to boil, then simmer covered 10 to 12 minutes. When fish appears cooked whisk in 1 teaspoon olive oil and basil chiffonade. Split roulade along natural divide and serve sole roulade with olive past, roast peppers and capers.

Steps:

• In a food processor process olives with garlic until chopped. Add olive oil, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and puree again. Transfer to a jar, cover with oil and keep refrigerated or frozen for a couple of weeks.

Steps:

• Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
• Meanwhile, process next 4 ingredients in food processor until finely chopped. Stir in cheese and basil.
• Drain pasta; place in large bowl. Add cheese mixture; mix lightly.

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse to make a smooth paste of the olives, capers, garlic, and thyme(if using dried).
• Add the olive oil while the food processor is running.
• Season with black pepper and add the lemon juice(and thyme if using fresh).
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the slices of bread on a baking sheet and bake them until lightly brown (about 10 minutes). The slices may be toasted under a broiler or over a grill instead.
• Spread the slices with olive paste, then with goat cheese and tomatoes.
• Preheat broiler. Broil crostini for about five minutes (just to melt the cheese). Arrange on a serving platter and sprinkle with chives, parsley or basil.

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in work bowl of a food processor fitted with steel blade; process to a paste. Scrape into a small bowl. (Can be refrigerated in an airtight container for at least 1 month.).

Steps:

• Blitz all the ingredients except the thyme in a small food processor. Season with black pepper then transfer to a jar or serving dish and scatter over the thyme leaves if using. Keeps in the fridge for 3 days.