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Recipes - Bread & Marinated Olives |
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| One of the simplest and most
satisfying tapas, chunks of bread with marinated olives not only
tastes great, but it helps counteract the alcohol that generally
goes with tapas. Bread tends to resemble French rustic loaves, and if you're buying from shops or supermarkets then an interesting French country-style bread or a baguette is a good choice. In the UK, Waitrose does a Pan Gallego or Spanish seed bread. If you have a bread-making machine, there's a recipe below for a wonderful olive bread. Olives come in all shapes and sizes - colour is determined the ripeness rather than the type (they turn black as they ripen). Spain is the world's largest producer of olives and tends to export them in brine, which does little for the taste. Soak them to get rid of the brine, and then keep them in an olive oil marinade like the one below. They'll keep for up to 6 months in the fridge. For a "quick fix", find a deli that does marinated olives or try Crespo marinated olives in little resealable packs. But you really can't beat your own.... |
| Marinated Olives: Soak the olives for about half an hour to get rid of the brine. Dry them on paper towels. The amount of marinade you make up depends on the quantity of olives, but here's a guide: 12 oz olives Zest of a lemon 1 tbsp fresh oregano 1 tbsp fresh thyme 1 tbsp fresh rosemary 2 cloves crushed garlic Black pepper Olive oil Mix up the
ingredients in a couple of spoonfuls of olive oil, then add the
olives and coat them. Leave them for an hour or two before
transferring to a sterilised storage jar, and then top up with
olive oil to cover all of the olives. Pop them in the fridge for
at least a week, and serve at room temperature.
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Olive Bread:
1 Cup tepid water
2 1/2 tbsp skimmed milk powder
2 1/4 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 tbsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp good olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp chopped herbs
2 1/2 cups strong white flour
1/2 cup strong wholemeal flour (or use 3 cups white in total)
1 1/4 tsp dry yeast
1/2 cup chopped olives (optional - the olive oil gives it a great taste
alone!)
Use the basic white setting on your bread-making machine. If it gives you the option to ad ingredients after about 20 minutes (usually a beeper sounds) then add the olives and the herbs at that point.
