Black olives | All Things Sicilian and more

CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE TERRINE

Those of you who have been around as long as I have and were making terrines in the 80’s may be familiar with using finely minced chicken (mousseline) as a binder for layering vegetables.

My bible at the time for making terrines was Terrine, Pâtés & Galantines. It is one of many books in this Time Life Books, The Good Cook.

I had not used this book in years as terrines and pâtés have dropped out of vogue in Australia but I was in France the year before last and particularly in Paris terrines were very much still eaten and I have wanted to make a terrine or pâté ever since. Today was my chance and I am taking this one to a friend’s place to eat on her balcony while we celebrate Christmas eve – terrines are very portable, great for picnics too.

When I looked at this book I also found a number of magazine cut outs with recipes inserted between the pages and on one of them was this very same recipe (published 1981), but it was accredited as being a recipe from Fanny’s restaurant in Melbourne (opened in 1960 and closed in 1993). There was no mention or credit given to the origins of this recipe. The original recipe is called Chicken and Vegetables Terrine and is as cooked in the three star restaurant Les Frères Troisgros, in Roanne, France.

I used chicken fillets for making the mousseline. Cut them into chunks. Place in a food processor and blend until broken down and smooth. Egg and flavourings are added to the pureed chicken; it is the main component of the terrine and used as a binder for the vegetables.

The original Les Frères Troisgros recipe is in six layers. The vegetables are parboiled for a few minutes and cooled. The chicken puree is divided into 3 bowls – in one bowl the carrots are added (cut into batons); in the other the green beans and the third is plain. The vegetable mixtures are then placed in layers – plain, carrot, beans, a thin layer of black olives in a row in the centre, plain, carrot, beans.

Now that I am looking at the original recipe I am wondering why I am giving you all this information – mine is quite different, but let us give credit where credit is due and it did provide inspiration and brought back fond memories of making terrines.

I used my Le Creuset, Enamelled Cast Iron Pâté Terrine w/ Lid that I bought in the 80’s, and is still being produced by Le Creuset. If you do not have one of these pans, use a loaf pan (roughly 20cm/x10cm).

What I did.
*my addition

5-6 chicken fillets cut into chunks
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
5 spring onions sautéed in a little oil (original recipe used shallots)
1 tablespoon white wine or champagne vinegar * I used sherry vinegar (softer tasting)
1 egg
salt
a handful of green beans, parboiled for 1-2 minutes and cooled, (*I dressed them with a little vinaigrette)
a handful pitted black olives (*mine were marinaded In fennel seeds, oregano and extra virgin olive oil)
*a handful of pistachio nuts
*juice and grated peel of ½ lemon
*ground nutmeg,
* ground pepper (I used pink peppercorns)
*fresh marjoram
*fresh sage leaves to line the bottom of the pan
* ½ cup almond or hazelnut butter = grind nuts into meal with oil to make a paste (I used this for taste but also because my friend is allergic to diary)

Sauté chopped spring onions in a little oil and cool.

Mince chicken fillets in a food processor. Add ¼ cup of the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add cooked spring onions, egg, lemon juice and peel, marjoram, almond or hazelnut butter and puree until very smooth.

Oven to 180C

Lightly grease the pan you will use. Place fresh sage leaves on bottom for visual impact and taste. Sage and marjoram are doing well in my planter box and marjoram goes well with chicken, however other herbs, e.g. thyme, rosemary, tarragon will also be suitable.
Divide puree into 3 lots.

Place first lot on top of the sage leaves and spread it with a spatula to cover entire bottom surface. Place green beans keeping the beans in straight lines going in the same direction. Then cover with a layer of chicken mixture.
Place olives on top, add pistachio nuts. Then cover with a layer of chicken mixture.
Place pan in a larger pan filled with enough boiling water to reach about ½ to ¾ of the way up the sides of the pan. Set in oven and bake for 35 mins.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the terrine rest for about an hour in the pan. or until it is cooler. Run a sharp knife between the terrine and the pan to loosen it and carefully turn it upside down on a plate to catch any juices. Wrap in with baking paper, place a weight on top ( I used the lid of the Le Creuset pan) and let it cool in fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight to set.

The original recipe presents the terrine with a tomato vinaigrette. I made some egg mayonnaise – easier to transport.

CARCIOFI FARCITI (Stuffed artichokes: with meat and with olives and anchovies)

Stuffed artichokes, I can’t get enough of them.

Carciofi are artichokes; farciti, imbottiti and ripieni all mean STUFFED in Italian.

If you are invited at my place for dinner during artichoke season it is very likely that one of the courses will be stuffed artichokes.

I braise stuffed artichokes in stock and white wine and all the stuffings have a proportion of breadcrumbs (1- 2day old good quality bread).

There are two other recipes on other posts for stuffed artichokes:

Stuffed artichokes with parsley, garlic and grated cheese: STUFFED ARTICHOKES
Stuffed artichokes with ricotta, almond meal and pistachio: STUFFED ARTICHOKES WITH RICOTTA AND ALMOND MEAL

Two lots of friends last week, two lots of artichokes and two more recipes. Although I braised the artichokes in stock and white wine, tomato pulp (canned or passata) are an option and would compliment the flavours of the following stuffings.

The cooking time will depend on the type and maturity of the artichokes. Sometimes I have found that they take 40 minutes and at other times almost double the time. To test if the artichokes are cooked, pull on one of the outside leaves – it should detach easily.

There may or may not have a fuzzy choke, depending on the maturity of the plant. If there is, remove it with a teaspoon, carefully turning it without snapping the sides of the vegetable.

STUFFED WITH MINCE MEAT

2 medium – large artichokes

stock/ white wine/water/tomato pulp

bay leaves

Stuffing:

1 egg

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup of good quality lean ground beef

1tbs parsley, cut finely

1 garlic clove, chopped

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for the stuffing and ½ cup to cook the artichokes

½ cup pine nuts

ground nutmeg; I also added a bit of cinnamon

salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the stuffing: Place all of the ingredients together in a bowl and combine them with your fingers. The mixture is the same as when making meatballs.

Clean the artichokes, see: CARCIOFI (Artichokes and how to clean them and prepare them for cooking).

Trim the stalk with a small sharp knife to pull away the tough, stringy outer skin (just like the strings of celery). Keep the artichokes and the stem in acidulated water (water and lemon or water and a little white vinegar) until ready to stuff.

Drain the artichokes, remove the outer leaves of the artichokes and cut off the top. Use your fingers to spread out the leaves; the stuffing will go mainly in the centre of the artichoke. Sprinkle a little salt between the leaves.

Stuff the centre of the artichokes – I use my fingers; press the stuffing firmly into the centre.

Pour the rest of the olive oil in a pan and heat it.

Place the artichokes upside down into the hot oil – this will brown the meat stuffing.

Turn the artichokes the right way up i.e. standing upright so that they can cook in an upright position (choose your pan carefully).

Add braising liquid. The level of the braising liquid should be about 1 cm below the top of the artichokes. Add a little salt to the braising liquid.

Cover and cook artichokes over low-medium heat for about 50- 80 mins. The cooking time will depend on the type and maturity of the artichokes.

VARIATION

Peas can be added during the braising – add these about 20 minutes before the cooking is finished.

STUFFED WITH BLACK OLIVES AND ANCHOVIES AND A CUBE OF CHEESE

Cheese: I used pecorino fresco but a sharper cheese like provolone or mature pecorino or parmigiano would also be suitable.

2 medium – large artichokes

stock/ white wine/water/tomato pulp

2 cubes of cheese

(In the photo above, the artichokes are ready to be cooked.)

Stuffing

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 tbs of one herb: parsley or fresh oregano or mint, cut finely

1-2 garlic cloves, chopped

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for the stuffing and ½ cup to cook the artichokes

½ cup stoned black olives

¼ cup chopped anchovies

Prepare the stuffing: Place the breadcrumbs, garlic, herbs and the drizzle of oil in a bowl. Combine them with your fingers. Add the olives and anchovies and mix them through lightly. (I do not use extra salt – I find that the salt in the olives, anchovies and cheese is sufficient.)

Clean the artichokes, see: CARCIOFI (Artichokes and how to clean them and prepare them for cooking)

There may or may not have a fuzzy choke, depending on the maturity of the plant. If there is, remove it with a teaspoon, carefully turning it without snapping the sides of the choke.

Stuff the centre of the artichokes – I use my fingers; press the stuffing firmly into the centre.

Press one cube of cheese into the centre the stuffing so that it is covered.

Place the rest of the oil in the pan and arrange the artichokes standing upright so that they can cook in an upright position (choose your pan carefully).

Add braising liquid. The level of the braising liquid should be about 1 cm below the top of the artichokes. Add a little salt to the braising liquid.

Cover and cook artichokes over low-medium heat for about 50- 70 mins. The cooking time will depend on the type and maturity of the artichokes.

Present with cooking liquid around them.

RADICCHIO, TUNA AND BORLOTTI SALAD and BRAISED FENNEL WITH TAPENADE

Continued from: IN PRAISE OF WINTER VEGETABLES

The red radicchio was made into a salad with canned tuna, cooked borlotti and red onion (Recipe from my book: Small Fishy Bites, Marisa Raniolo Wilkins, New Holland publisher).

The fennel was braised and topped with tapenade.

INSALATA DI TONNO, FAGIOLI E RADICCHIO (Tuna salad with borlotti beans and radicchio)

This very simple salad was popular as an antipasto or a light meal when I was growing up as child in Trieste. In the Triestian dialect this salad is called Insalata di tonno, fazoi, zivola e radiccio.

Trieste is in North Eastern Italy not far from Venice and if you are ever in Trieste you are likely to find this salad in any trattoria (for home style food) especially those trattorie that have a buffet.

No quantities needed for the recipe – the proportions are up to you. I like more beans than tuna and I cook my own (well covered with water, soaked overnight, change the water and cook slowly – no salt – bay leaves or a stick celery, whole carrot or whole onion do add flavour).

If you are using canned beans, a tin is 400g. A tin of tuna 425g.
If the tuna is not packed in oil, drain it before using.

INGREDIENTS AND PROCESS

tinned tuna (packed in oil, the tuna is not drained and is broken up with a fork)

borlotti beans (drained if canned)

red radicchio

red onion, finely cut rings

For the dressing combine extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, a little French mustard and some salt and pepper.

You can combine all of the ingredients together or layer it.

Layer it:

Place red radicchio leaves at the bottom of a bowl as a bed for the salad. Next, put on the beans, then the tuna and onion as the top layer.

Pour over the dressing.

BRAISED FENNEL

Sometimes a little bit of imagination makes an old favourite look special. This is just baked fennel with black olives but the special touch is that I used tapenade (which I make regularly and usually have some on standby in the fridge – see photo above).

I have written about making tapenade. See: TAPENADE

1-2 fennel bulbs

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ cup tapenade

¾ cup white wine, stock or water or pernod, a mixture any

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs butter

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

Prepare the fennel:
Remove the fennel stalks that are not worth saving from the bulbs and discard – keep some of the fresher ones (this is mainly done for appearance but may be also be suitable for eating). Trim away any bruised or discoloured portion of the bulbs. Cut the bulbs length-wise (vertically) into eights (or more or less) depending on the size of the fennel. Save the fronds.

Add the sliced fennel to a pan with hot olive oil and butter and sauté for 5-10 minutes, turning occasionally.

Add seasoning and about 1 cup of liquid (see above). Add garlic and fronds.

Cook uncovered on gentle- moderate heat for about 10 minutes, the liquid will reduce but add more if necessary
Add a teaspoon of sugar to help caramelize the juices. Increase the heat to evaporate any liquid left in the pan – this will result with the fennel cooking in the left over oil and butter and turning a deep gold colour. .

Place the fennel on a dish and pour over it any juices. Add a couple of spoonfuls of tapenade to the pan and heat it – only just to take off the chill. Spoon the tapenade onto the fennel and serve. I guess the chives add to the composition, but these are not necessary.

OLIVE PASTES AND OLIVE JAMS

Olive pastes have been around for a long time and probably Tapanade is the one we know best. This is made of puréed or finely chopped olives, capers, anchovy fillets, and olive oil with the addition of many variations such as mustard, garlic, and being a Provençal dish any of the following herbs common in the South of France – basil, thyme, rosemary and parsley. Olive oil (good quality, extra virgin) is essential. Some add lemon juice, some brandy. Although it is most commonly made with black olives, green olives also make a good paste, very different in taste of course.

Below, Tapanade made with green olives and caper berries.

Clifford A Wright (Food Historian and author) offers a plausible explanation for why it is called Tapenade:

The caper plant was known as tapeneï in Provençal, and the flower buds, the part of the caper used for culinary purposes, was the tapeno, which were preserved in amphora filled with olive oil since vinegar was not used at that time. The capers became mushed together in the amphoras to form a kind of pâté of crushed tapeno, the ancestor of the modern tapenade. This is why it is today known by the word for caper rather than olives, which is actually, in volume, the greater constituent ingredient. In the second century A.D., vinegar came to be used more in preserving and so too garlic, the great universal medication in the medieval period when the Greek physician Galen’s medical theories were prevalent.

I have written about Tapenade once before and there is a recipe for tapenade on my blog:

Tapenade and Cauliflower, travelling in the south-west of France

Italians, Spaniards and Greeks also have versions of olive pastes – usually the pastes made in these countries only contain very few ingredients apart from olives and good olive oil, with maybe some herbs or garlic.
Now what about Olive jam?
I think Italians would find this hilarious and as an Italian food purist I was very skeptical. Yet it is no different from having a fruit chutney or a dab of a strong-tasting, thick paste. It is called Camilo Olive Jam.

It was the sweetness that made me wonder, but the paste still definitely tastes of olives. The ingredients are black olives, salt, apples, Camilo honey, lemons and chilli, sugar (22.8g per 100g).

I am finding the Olive Jam very pleasant ( with cheese, meat and fish) and when I have offered it to friends and they too are as surprisingly delighted as I am. Who would have thought!!!

And for one of my recipes for one way to use Olive Paste with fish:

FISH BALLS IN SALSA – POLPETTE DI PESCE (PURPETTI in Sicilian)

TAPENADE and cauliflower-Travelling in the South West of France

The restaurant is recommended in Stephanie Alexander’s Cooking & Travelling in the South-West France. I stayed with my partner and two friends in the same converted barn – La Vieille Grange in Mercadiol , a small hamlet in the South West of France.

And all this to tell you about olive Tapenade which I love to eat with steamed cauliflower.

Tapenade made from black olives, mustard, anchovies, capers (some use brandy) comes from Languedoc, further south than the Lot, but the olive tapenade I prefer is from Provence. It is fresh and light and very summery. In the Occitan region in the south of France (Occitan –romance language spoken in southern France), the word for capers is tapéno, hence the name for this popular spread.

I present it with bread but sometimes I accompany it with some vegetable crudities. Raw or steamed cauliflower flowerets are a pleasant addition.

But Tapenade also comes in very handy as a sauce or condiment for simply cooked fish or vegetables, especially steamed cauliflower.

Tapenade is a pesto and traditionally made with a mortar and pestle. I cut my herbs by hand (otherwise they can taste grassy) and then add them to the olives that I have chopped in the food processor.

I also need to give credit to y friend Liz who introduced me to Tapenade as made in Provence, many years ago.

I do not weigh/measure ingredients when I make this but the following works.

INGREDIENTS

pitted olives, 2 cups (I use Kalamata because I like their strong taste)

capers, 2 tablespoons

garlic, 2 cloves crushed

extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup

lemon juice, 1 lemon

freshly ground pepper, to taste

fresh herbs, cut by hand, 1 cup of each: Italian parsley, thyme, basil (sometimes, I have added marjoram or fresh oregano and even young rosemary)

PROCESSES

Place olives crushed garlic in a food processor and chop to a medium grind (I do not like it too smooth).

Cut all the herbs and add them to the olives, add oil, lemon juice and pepper.

Blend again for 5 seconds to mix the ingredients.

Place the tapenade in a sterile jar and cover it with a thin layer of olive oil – keep it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

It comes in very handy!!

River Ouysse
Bridge destroyed in 1966 (can see this from restaurant)

MA2SBAE8REVW

BAKED STUFFED TOMATOES – POMODORI RIPIENI (PUMARORI CHINI in Sicilian)

These stuffed tomatoes were cooked by my friends. They are hydroponic tomatoes and I was very surprised to find that they were very flavoursome – in fact, they tasted almost as good as real tomatoes. Of course, the stuffing helped.

I am even more surprised by the quality of the photo, which was taken with my friend’s mobile phone.

I usually never buy hydroponic tomatoes. As it happens, I used not to buy any tomatoes when they were out of season, until those growers in Murray Bridge (South Australia) and Mildura (Victoria) miraculously extended their growing season and arranged transportation to one particular stall in the Queen Victoria Market. We shall probably have to wait for the heirloom varieties and local tomatoes till late December.

Pomodoro is tomato in Italian. Interestingly, they were first called pomo d’oro (meaning golden apples) and apparently tomatoes were yellow when they were first introduced to Europe – it is said to have originated in Central America. Maybe the oro (gold) reflects its golden status in cuisine.

My friends used Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for stuffed tomatoes from Plenty, his latest book.

Ottolenghi has several take–home food shops in London. His cuisine reflects contemporary Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavours; I had the pleasure of attending one of his sessions at The Sydney international Food Festival in October this year.

In his recipe he uses a mixture of breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, black olives, capers, oregano, parsley and mint. The tomatoes are baked in olive oil. He calls it a Provincial-style starter and suggests serving them with a little salad of seasonal leaves and a few broken pieces of robust goat’s cheese.

Stuffing tomatoes was one of my childhood tasks therefore Ottolenghi’s recipe bought back many memories. We ate them warm or cold as a contorno or as an antipasto.

Although adding black olives, garlic, grated cheese and anchovies and mint are common regional variations, but my family preferred to keep the flavours simple. Grated cheese, anchovies or black olives (and just one of these ingredients) were only added when the stuffed tomatoes were to accompany a dish of strong flavours for example, a heavily spiced fish stew or sardines, (hence Ottolenghi’s suggestion to present them with some robust goat’s cheese seems appropriate).

INGREDIENTS

tomatoes, firm and ripe, 6 (estimate 1 per person and depending on their size)

extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup

garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely

bread crumbs, 1 cup made from fresh 1-3 day bread

parsley, ½ cup , cut finely or fresh basil

oregano, dried, ½ teaspoon, or 1 tablespoon cut finely if fresh

capers, ½ cup, rinsed and soaked, if salted

salt and freshly ground black pepper

PROCESSES

Cut the tomatoes, into halves. Scoop out the seeds and leave them upside down to drain.

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Sauté the garlic in a little of the oil. Let cool.

Add the sautéed garlic and herbs to the breadcrumbs and mix with some of the oil, seasoning and the capers.

Fill the tomatoes with the mixture but don’t press it down– it will expand as it cooks.

Arrange the stuffed tomatoes in an oiled baking pan and dribble a little olive oil over each.

Bake for about 30 mins, or until the tomatoes are soft and the breadcrumbs are golden.

Tag: Black olives

CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE TERRINE

Like this:

CARCIOFI FARCITI (Stuffed artichokes: with meat and with olives and anchovies)

Like this:

RADICCHIO, TUNA AND BORLOTTI SALAD and BRAISED FENNEL WITH TAPENADE

Like this:

OLIVE PASTES AND OLIVE JAMS

Like this:

TAPENADE and cauliflower-Travelling in the South West of France

Like this: