what can I do with a lot of california sliced black olives

[chalkdust]

these are the olives that they use in pizzas accross this country, small black, mild, sliced, in liquid.


i have a half gallon or so.

is there any kind of tart or pie, pizza or calzone or turover or phylo encassed pastry that you can recommend?

what about an olive puree with maybe achovies? or a vegan olive puree with other thigns to be used as a dip or spread along with greek italian or middle eastern types of breads and mezzes/anti pastos.

what would cubans or mexicans or latins and caribbeans do with olives?

maybe an interesting lasagna?

something with salted cod or anchovies?

somethign with ricotta and perhapse other cheeses?

what could be done in bread form incorporating LOTS of them?

what about a marination along with other marinated veggies like eggplant or artichoke or both?

maybe i could make a lot of italian tomato sauce ad freeze it. do u guys have good recipes?

Somethign i ca make in bulk for later use, to freeze would be superb.

or osmething so awesome like individual french or italian tartlets or pies that they ca be sold/give away.

 

[gunnar]

olive spread or tapenade is fast, easy, tasty and people like it as a gift with a loaf of bread. I usually just add a little olive oil, salt pepper, garlic clove or 2 and blitz. You could easily add some anchovy to that. Did a quick search here is a thread called : http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/food-...ive-paste.html

 

[dc sunshine]

Ditto on the tapenade. Can also make Italian breads with the olives. Pizza is an obvious choice

Greek salad. Fetta, romaine, black olives, tomato, salad onions etc.

If you need a vegetarian dish, could be added to a veg. lasagne type dish, or used in a canelonni (sp?)

Could they be frozen in portioned bags - anyone know?

What is the liquid they are stored in? That may help with some suggestions.

 

[kyheirloomer]

If using for tapenade I would definately use anchovies. And up the garlic a little. The California olives you describe are all but tasteless, compared, say, to kalamata and other brined olives.

For those unfamiliar with them, they are the ones sold in cans as "ripe olives."

 

[chalkdust]

yeah they are tasteless

 

[chalkdust]

great! I will process them with garlic anchovies lemon juice and olive oil as well as some pepper and salt to taste

anything else i could add or take away?

just for ideas

 

[phatch]

Italians do an olivata which I probably didn't spell right. Different from tapenade. It's a useful seasoning paste for roasts and such. Or a nice bread topping. Not as assertive as made with other olives, but should still be pleasant.

 

[gunnar]

roasted red pepper, basil, rosemary, ginger maybe. My basic rule with olive spread is that if it tastes good with it, give it a shot. I usually make a few small batches at a time with different flavors then make my wife test them. She is my biggest critic/fan.