black olive tapenade - capers question: includes recipes

[Guest guest]

Has anyone made a black olive tapenade without capers and if so, did it make a

difference? I really don't like those things but I'm reluctant to waste my nice

jar of kalamata olives making a tapenade that is less than wonderful.

 

Here's the recipe I'm thinking of using, minus the capers.

 

Black Olive Tapenade

1 1/2 cups Kalamata or Gaeta olives, pitted

3 tablespoons capers, drained

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor or mortar, combine the olives, capers, garlic, parsley,

salt, and pepper. Slowly add the oil and pulse or work with the pestle into a

coarse paste, retaining some bits of olive and caper for texture. Taste to

adjust the seasonings. Stored tightly covered in the refrigerator, this will

keep well for a week or two.

Makes about 2 cup

 

I'm planning on making some lovely individual sized artisan loaves and doing a

sandwich of every veggie I can lay my hands onto, weighting the sandwiches down

in the refrigerator and serving for our Sunday (medium) High Tea.

 

So far here's what will be on the sandwiches. Although it looks involved, it is

simple. Here is how I would have made them when all the kids were here and there

were 9 of us. Put 9 good sized pieces of aluminum foil on the counter. Slice

each loaf of bread; each piece of foil gets one loaf. Line up bowls or plates

with the rest of the ingredients in order of use. (Oregano Vinaigrette, Romaine,

Spinach, and so on). Go down the line of sandwiches, adding one ingredient at a

time. It goes a lot faster than it would seem.Sort of like Ford's assembly line

but for sandwiches.

 

Cheddar cheese (Cabot's - wonderful cheese from Vermont)

Romaine lettuce, crisped and dried

Baby Spinach

Torn Basil leaves

Thick slabs of fresh from the garden tomatoes

Finely grated carrots

Thinly sliced sweet Vidalia onions, lightly dressed with olive oil, red wine

vinegar and a tiny bit of oregano, salt and pepper

Black Olive Tapenade

Sliced Mozzarella cheese (or whatever you like)

Hummus

Roasted red peppers

Yellow squash, sliced lengthways, lightly brushed with olive oil and sprinkled

with sea salt (I do a lot of veggies on the grill then wrap some for use through

the week.)

Sliced pepperoncini

 

Assembly:

Cut each roll in half. Lightly brush with very good quality olive oil. Layer in

this order:

Romaine lettuce

Baby Spinach

Sliced Cheddar Cheese

Slab tomatoes

Thinly sliced red onions, marinated in Oregano Vinaigrette 30 minutes to days

Roasted squash

Grated carrots

Pepperoncini

Black olive tapenade

Mozzarella cheese

Lightly brush other half of bread with Light Oregano Vinaigrette

Lightly spread hummus over remaining half of bread

 

Oregano Vinaigrette Recipe (found this online last year, use it a lot)

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano (fresh is best)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

 

Shake it all up in a jar, keep stored in the refrigerator. If it is too sour,

add a bare teaspoon of sugar. I like Sauterne as the dry white wine, but if you

have some leftover champagne, that works well, too. Basically, if it is a white

wine you like to drink, it's ok for the dressing. The stuff made for cooking is

an abomination.

 

After assembling the sandwich, wrap in aluminum foil or plastic wrap (if you use

neither of those things because of aluminum or chemical outgassing, wrap heavily

in parchment paper or waxed paper). Put sandwiches side by side in rectangular

casserole dish or jelly roll pan. Put a board on top of the sandwiches and

evenly arrange several (or a bunch) cans of unopened vegetables (or dog food,

cat food, huge jars of jam or peanut butter or even well-wrapped bricks) on top

of the board. Let sit in the refrigerator several hours or 24 hours.

 

Works well as a cold sandwich or grill, using a panini maker or grill on

charcoal grill, over indirect heat.

 

Sometimes I will make a carrot and raisin slaw in place of the grated carrots.

The sweet taste of carrots and raisins contrasts nicely with the sour of the

pickles and the vinaigrette.

 

Carrot and Raisin Salad with Variations

3 cups finely grated carrots

1/2 to 1 cup seedless golden raisins (1 cup is a bit too much for Carl, so I use

1/2 cup)

1 tablespoon sugar

6 tablespoons mayonnaise

6 tablespoons cream

 

Mix carrots and raisins. Toss with sugar. Chill 30 minutes to overnight. Blend

mayonnaise and cream together, mix into carrot mixture before serving. Keep

refrigerated.

 

Options:

Add 1 small, peeled and cored apple, small dice

Add 1/2 cup toasted, chopped pecans

Delete mayonnaise and just use cream.

If you do not have cream on hand and don't want to use mayo, toss carrot mixture

with Cool Whip or Whipped Cream. (My favorite way.)

Add 1/2 cup VERY well drained, crushed pineapple

Can use plain yogurt in place of the cream

 

For a sweet salad I do the carrot and raisin salad with all the options.

Pineapple isn't really great on the sandwich, though, so I don't use it.

 

Jeanne in GA

[Guest guest]

Of course it'll work fine without, no reason to use them if you don't like

them.

 

Alia

[Guest guest]

Jeanne,

I was not familiar with the word Tapenade so had to look it up.

A while back I posted a recipe that I put together and it is a favorite of mine

and those who have tried it.

If you love black olives as I do you might want to try it.

I submitted the recipe as Black Olive-Pecan Spread

Deanna in Colorado

also at recycled_gardens

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Jeanne B <treazured wrote:

(> Has anyone made a black olive tapenade without capers..)