The winter solstice has just passed so the longer days are on their way – yay! With Christmas coming up, and after the year 2011 has been for most of us, everyone is ready to relax and take time out for enjoyment. We are heading off to a ‘boutique hotel’ in Halkidiki. It’s by the beach, but since our local mountain, Hortiatis, is now snow-capped, it will be heavy clothes and not beach-wear that we’ll be packing.
In my last post I ended with a pic of cats-in-olive-tree so how about this for a lovely piece of textual cohesion? My focus today is on olives as our recent activities have also focused on them.
Years ago I remember seeing a cartoon : a despondent hulk sitting in a corner being asked “Why do you look so glum, Genghis?” Response: “How many men do you need to make a horde?” So my parallel question is “How many olive trees do you need to make a grove?” We have 24 trees on our land and this year the ‘babies’ came on tap for the first time. Initially they caused us concern as the olives they had borne were strangely puckered – perhaps some disease? But the particularly wet phase we had late summer plumped them out and our young trees bore a fine first harvest.
Our first collection was of ‘eating’ olives – those to be preserved for eating with salads and savoury dishes. Firm fruit are separated into green and black batches, split with a knife, then put in containers of fresh water. These are kept there for a week, the water being changed daily. By this time they have lost much of their very bitter taste and are now put in brine for around five weeks. These pickled olives go to the final phase of marinating: after being drained, they are put into smaller glass containers with oil, garlic slices, lemon wedges and sprigs of fresh dill. They are ready to eat after about two weeks in the oil mixture and will keep good … for as long as they last! There are, of course, lots of variations depending on olive-types and texture-preferences – these instructions are not set…on olive stones! So next time you sit down to enjoy a ‘choriatiki salata’ – a village salad, spare a thought for the process that went into preparing your olives, starting from: first plant your tree!
Actually I came across a recipe for olive bread which used mortadella, not my favourite ingredient as I find it has too much fat, so I made some adaptations and here is the outcome:
Ingredients :
150 gr self-raising flour
100 gr mixed cheese – I used gouda and parmesan
160 gr pitted and chopped olives
3 eggs lightly beaten
80 gr melted butter
Chopped fresh mint to taste, season with pepper
Method :
• Preheat oven to 200oC
• Lightly grease a regular loaf tin(8cmx26cm ) and line with baking parchment
• Sift flour into bowl and add cheese, olives, mint and pepper
• Stir in eggs and butter and combine well
• Spread mixture into the loaf tin and bake, without covering, for about 30 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through.
• Remove carefully and cool on a wire rack
This is particularly good served with salads and meze as a light lunch. More on olives to come…….
Given the time of year, however, light lunches are probably not on the cards!
We’re packing a very small suitcase this time, travelling light and light-hearted.
Have a wonderful Christmas shared with friends and family, enjoying gastronomic goodiesand traditional treats.
