the olive blog

Shrimp Linguini

The Examiner has some the recipes for President elect Obama's favourite meals here. The one below is said to be his favourite.

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs fresh shrimp (shell on)
• Several garlic cloves
• Sun-dried tomatoes (sliced in olive oil)
• Chicken broth
• 1 box linguini
• Fresh basil (julienned)
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Clean, de-vein shrimp. Remove shells and let soak in hot chicken broth.

Thinly slice garlic. (The more garlic, the better the flavor of the dish).

Cook pasta and set aside. (Important not to over cook pasta)

In large sauté pan, heat olive oil on high heat and sauté garlic cloves until they begin to brown slightly.

Add fresh shrimp and cook until just beginning to turn pick. Add salt and pepper to flavor shrimp.

Add sun-dried tomatoes and continue to cook for another minute.

Add pasta. Mix pasta into the garlic, shrimp and sun-dried tomato mixture until pasta coated entirely with mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Slowly add a bit of the shrimp shell and chicken broth liquid to remove reserves from bottom of pan.

Remove pan from heat and let sit for a few moments.

Add basil over top of dish before serving.

Olive and olive oil bread

Olive and olive oil bread recipe from the NZ Herald here.

Last Meals

The UK Guardian has an article asking some of the world's great chefs what would be their last meal requests. Lots of recipes with olive oil.

Dipping pane carasau

Instead of bread, some restaurants in Sardinia offer as a starter pane carasau: a crisp, flat bread not dissimilar to an Indian poppadum, dipped in salt and olive oil. The UK Independent's has that piece of information in its new Guide to Sardinia which can be found here.

Here is a recipe from Italian Food Forever:

1 3/4 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 Cups Semolina Flour

1 Envelope Active Dry Yeast

1 Cup Warm Water

Salt

"Combine the two flours with about a teaspoon of salt. In a small cup, dissolve the yeast and a few about 1/4 cup of the warm water. Let sit until bubbly. Add the yeast mixture to the flour with the rest of the water. Mix until you have a smooth dough. Cover and let sit 1 hour. Knead for 5 minutes and cover for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Spray two flat baking sheets with oil spray. Knead the dough once more and divide into 8 equal balls. Roll each ball out as thinly as you can to fit the baking sheets, and bake each for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. The breads should blister but not yet brown. Remove from the oven and pile one on top of the other. Place a board or flat tray on top and let sit until cool.

To prepare for serving, return each bread to the oven for 10 minutes or until golden and crispy. Remove, brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with fresh chopped rosemary and salt and return to the oven for a few minutes. Serve warm.Combine the two flours with about a teaspoon of salt. In a small cup, dissolve the yeast and a few about 1/4 cup of the warm water. Let sit until bubbly. Add the yeast mixture to the flour with the rest of the water. Mix until you have a smooth dough. Cover and let sit 1 hour. Knead for 5 minutes and cover for another hour. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Spray two flat baking sheets with oil spray. Knead the dough once more and divide into 8 equal balls. Roll each ball out as thinly as you can to fit the baking sheets, and bake each for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. The breads should blister but not yet brown. Remove from the oven and pile one on top of the other. Place a board or flat tray on top and let sit until cool. To prepare for serving, return each bread to the oven for 10 minutes or until golden and crispy. Remove, brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with fresh chopped rosemary and salt and return to the oven for a few minutes. Serve warm."

Orange and Olive Oil Cake

Today, a recipe from William Yosses, White House executive pastry chef for Orange and Olive Oil Cake from the Toledo Blade:

"2 thin-skinned juice oranges, such as Valencia
1 cup granulated sugar plus 11/3 cups sugar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon Fleur de Sel (French sea salt)
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 10-inch cake pan. In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Slice the bottom and top from the oranges (where the skin is the thickest) and quarter the oranges. Plunge the oranges into the water, allow the water to return to a boil, then drain the oranges. Repeat the process two more times. This will remove the bitterness from the orange rind.

Place the oranges in a pot filled with 1 quart of water and 1 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil and cook until the rind is softened and can be easily pierced with a fork, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove and discard any remaining seeds in the cooked orange segments and cut the oranges into chunks. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, blend the oranges until they form a chunky puree. With the machine still running, add the olive oil in a slow drizzle until it is incorporated into the orange puree.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt,

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, the remaining 11/3 cups sugar, and the vanilla extract until the mixture is fluffy and pale. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of the flour mixture into the egg mixture, then ½ the orange mixture. Repeat, continuing to alternate between flour and orange mixtures, until all the ingredients have been combined into a batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean and the top of the cake is golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

Yield: One 10-inch cake serving 8 to 10"

Jeremy Hardy's Salad Dressing

British comedian Jeremy Hardy's salad dressing recipe: Apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, mustard and honey from his five minute interview in the UK Independent.

Olive oil and honey ice cream

A recipe for olive oil and honey ice cream in today's Haaretz can befound here. A previous post at the olive bog on olive oil icecream, with recipe, can be found here.

Ranulph Fiennes Salad Dressing

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the explorer, divulges his recipe for salad dressing in today's UK Observer - 50 per cent olive oil, 50 per cent apple cider vinegar and some mixed herbs.

things to do with olives

Mark Hix writes about olives in the UK Independent today. He provides recipes for:

• Goat's and ewe's cheese salad with tapenade dressing
• Deep-fried stuffed olives
• Tagine of rabbit with olives and preserved lemon
• Olive-oil poached cod Niçoise

dipping: honey and olive oil

Oliveria's, a Melbourne based store selling olive oil, has nice suggestions for dipping and other recipes. Here is one that caught the olive blog's eye:

EVOO and honey
Place a generous dollop of honey in the centre of a dipping plate and pour some of your favourite EVOO around to cover the plate. Dip fresh, crusty bread in the honey and drag it through the oil.This old Moroccan tradition produces a sensation of tastes to make your mouth water.