Category Archives: olives

olives with dates, orange and chilli

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olives with dates, pine nuts and chilli

When someone says “can you do something with these olives?” I don’ t need asking twice. Their bittersweet bite and salty character give me lots to work with, and I’ll happily eat them every day of the week. Olives from Spain have asked me to come up with a marinade or two, and this is my favourite creation.

The filling is inspired by ma’amoul, a date-filled cookie from the middle east. It is heavy with dates and nuts, although I went for pine nuts here as opposed to the standard walnuts. Just to make sure we knew we’re on savoury territory, red wine vinegar and chilli keep it on track. It’s sweet, spicy, savoury, and surprising.

The quantities below will make a portion of the marinade base. You can then blend a part of it with olive oil to make a loose drizzle. The rest can make further olive mix, or be spread over white meats before grilling or roasting.

Olives with dates, orange and chilli:

4 Medjool dates, stoned

A large pinch of chilli flakes

1 teaspoon pine nuts

Zest of half an orange

Maldon sea salt

Red wine vinegar

Spanish extra virgin olive oil

Spanish green olives

  1. Put the dates, chilli, pine nuts, orange and a pinch of sea salt in a food processor and whizz to a paste. Add a squirt of orange juice, a big splash of olive oil and a dash of red wine vinegar. Mix a little more and then taste. You will have to find a good balance of spicy, sharp and sweet with the chilli, vinegar and orange.
  2. To make the marinade, put a tablespoon of the mixture into a small bowl and blend with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the olives and macerate uncovered for an hour before eating. Garnish with fresh pine nuts.
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lemon and black pepper olive pork

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lemon and pepper olive pork steaks

My family can’t get enough of olives. So when Olives from Spain sent me a bunch of ingredients to try to create a marinade for olives I set to it right away. There was an almost embarrassing selection of things to try, but I kept going back to, of all things, the lemon. Paired with it’s old friend, black pepper and just a hint of clove to reinforce the spice this works lovely with fatty pork. If you try it, make sure the sugar is on hand to help round out the flavours.

Lemon and black pepper pork steaks (serves 2):

Zest and juice of ½ a lemon

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Pinch of sugar

About 10 Spanish black olives, halved

1 clove

2 pork shoulder steaks

  1. Put the lemon, sugar and peppercorns in a pestle and mortar and crush lightly so the peppercorns are coarse. Mix well with the olives and clove and taste – depending on your olives you may need a pinch of salt and / or sugar to balance it out. Add a dash of olive oil and leave to stand for an hour uncovered.
  2. Heat a griddle pan to pretty darn hot and the oven on to 200°C. Lay your pork steaks on a chopping board and slice most of the way through horizontally, so you have a meaty book. Discarding the clove, stuff the pork with the olive mix, press down firmly with your hand and add a pinch of salt to the surface of the pork. Put on to the hot griddle.
  3. After 4 minutes one side should be cooked, so turn over and put into the oven. After 8 minutes turn the oven off and leave for a further 5 minutes, then serve. Great with potato gratin and some greens.

tomato and black olive calzone

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tomato and black olive calzone

I’ve mentioned at length how the prospect of a slimy sandwich at lunchtime fills me with despair. So any opportunity to have something a little different just lifts my day. Flush with fruity black olives from the lovely people at Taste of Spain, and a wealth of tinned tomatoes from Cirio, I rustled up a calzone.

I made the dough a little thick, and so it was very filling! The olives were sweet and had definite wine-like flavours that were complex and interesting. For the tomatoes I used Cirio Pizzassimo, which might be my new favourite thing-that-comes-in-a-tin. It’s a pizza-style tomato sauce, but thick and herby. I tried it cold out of the tin and was amazed at how delicious it was. And hot it was even better! This is definitely going to become a regular in my store cupboard for quick pasta sauces, pizza toppings and ragus.

Tomato and black olive calzone (makes 2):

325g plain flour

7g salt

½ teaspoon sugar

7g sachet yeast

About 250ml tepid water

4 tablespoons olive oil

8 Spanish black olives, halved

½ tin Cirio Pizzassimo sauce

Large handful of grated Cheddar

  1. Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast and gradually add the water until you get a soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes, cover with olive oil and leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Knock back the dough and divide into two. Shape and roll into two rounds and flatten out. Cover half of each base with tomato sauce, dot with olives and a sprinkle of cheese. Fold over and wrap – I don’t know the proper way to seal a calzone so I use a Cornish pasty crimped style. Back for 30 – 35 mins until golden and cooked through.

tortilla de patatas

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tortilla de patatas rustic style, OK?

It was all ready to go so well.

Only the night before I’d watched talented, charismatic and effortlessly handsome chef Omar Allibhoy throw together one of his childhood favourites: Spanish omelette. Just eggs, onions and potatoes required, but his version contained chorizo and olives. Myself and a host of other foodie people were attending an event laid on in celebration of Olives from Spain. We’d gathered at The Lounge in Balham to enjoy some great food and try olives in a three course meal. I’d quickly found a corner with two bloggers I’d not had the pleasure of meeting before, affable Ally from Dinneraholic and the splendidly-named Gary from London Foodaholic. We downed Tio Pepe whilst enjoying some fine tapas, which was followed by the omelette demonstration. We then settled down to a sardine salad with olives, sea bass with olives, chicken with olives, chocolate-olive truffles… all of it was so good. Look at my happy face!

It was clear from Omar’s presentation that beyond a PR event he truly loved olives and they’ve always been part of his life. I had to smile when he said to try them on small children so they develop the taste early on: my 2 year old girl adores them, nibbling round the stones; and my son has a legendary appetite for them, even receiving jars of them as Christmas presents. It can honestly be said olives are a big favourite in our house.

omar allibhoy cooks up a Spanish feast

Note Omar’s perfect tortilla at the front

I managed to snaffle a piece of Omar’s omelette. It tasted amazing. It was still a touch runny in the centre – perhaps “moist” is a better word. I’d always had them thoroughly cooked and struggled to achieve the right results. His way – taught to him by Ferran Adria – was to not bother the eggs at all, and cook them gently. I had to try cooking it myself, so that was dinner sorted for the very next day. I had some leftover roast pork belly from the weekend so with a little paprika seasoning that substituted for the chorizo. So far, so good.

It was all going really well, until it came to flipping time. I’ve been using the same non-stick frying pan for the past 5 years, and I probably cook with it at least twice a week. But tonight, when I need the non-stickiness more than ever so I can flip it over, it gave up. It just wouldn’t turn out.

my poor destroyed, beloved 30cm non-stick frying pan

my poor destroyed, beloved 30cm non-stick frying pan

If you browse round this site you may well see the frying pan holding many of my dinners. It’s had to go. I will miss that pan.

How could I rescue dinner then? Lee had specifically asked about putting it under the grill, which Omar flatly rebutted. Flipping was the way to go. But flipping was out, so it had to go under the grill. And then getting it out of the pan was a scraping affair. Hence the raggedy mess in the lead photo. That aside, it tasted great. Tender potatoes, sweet onions, oozy eggs… and of course sweet, salty olives. If only I could’ve cooked it the way I meant to. See you on the other side of a new pan, I guess.

Based on a recipe by Omar Allibhoy. His version can be seen here. Thanks to Storm Comms for putting on a great night.

Tortilla de patatas (serves 4):

1 large onion, sliced

3 potatoes, peeled and sliced

200g cold roast pork belly

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon cornflour

About 12 olives, halved

8 eggs

  1. Get a pan really hot and add a splash of oil (olive oil, naturally). Add the onion and fry for a couple of minutes until starting to colour. Add the potatoes and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.
  2. Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a bowl. Crack the yolks but don’t bother stirring. Season and move on to the pork. Put the paprika and cornflour in a bowl and add a splash of water to make a thick paste. Add the pork and stir well to get it coated.
  3. Tip the onion and potato mix in with the eggs, and add a little more oil to the pan. Fry off the pork for one minute and then add the olives. Tip the eggy-potato mix back into the pan, lower the heat and give it a little shake to distribute everything. After about 5 minutes, if you have a working non-stick pan, flip the tortilla over using a large plate and cook on the other side for another minute or two until set. Otherwise pop under a hot grill. Serve with a zingy balsamic salad.

veal potato pancake

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veal rosti pancake with an egg

Got veal leftovers? I do. This is a great potato pancake recipe that works with any cold meat, or even without!

I’ve tried making rosti before and never achieved decent results: soggy, or tasteless, or not quite cooked enough but this recipe from Alex Mackay is the business. I’ve cooked it twice now and it’s pleasingly consistent. It’s another recipe from Everybody Everyday. His version is with roast chicken but the excellent veal (from Farmer’s Choice) tastes just fine.

Veal potato pancake (serves 2):

700g floury potatoes

150g cooked veal, diced

8 sundried tomatoes, sliced

50g mozzarella, diced

20g cheddar, grated

2 spring onions, sliced

14 black olives, diced

40g butter

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Peel the potatoes and grate them into a tea towel. Gather up the tea towel and squeeze as much liquid as you can out of them. Season the potato really well.
  2. Get a frying pan super-hot and add a little oil. Add half the potato into the pan and pack down with a fish slice. Combine the veal tomatoes, cheeses, onions and olives in a bowl and season. Layer this mixture on top of the potato, then add the remaining potato on top. Press it down and dot half the butter around the edge of the pancake. Fry for a couple of minutes until golden.
  3. Using a plate flip the pancake over and slide the raw side back into the pan. Add the remaining butter around the edges and transfer to the over. Bake for 15 minutes or until the potato is cooked through. Serve with a fried egg and gravy.