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Marinated Olives, Feta and Lemon

  • January 14, 2023

I ate this marinated feta, olives and lemon appetizer at a party recently and loved it so much I had to move myself away from the dish. A quick search online turned up this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine and it was even better than what I remembered eating at the party. That might be because rather than use regular lemons, I used a preserved lemon that I had made from my meager harvest of lemons from the indoor lemon tree I have nurtured for years (they were huge though). If you’ve never made preserved lemons, they’re a cinch to make with just kosher salt and lemons. The flavor is so much better than regular lemons, for recipes like this one. I’m looking forward to using them in more savory and even sweet dishes. You should give it a try. They keep forever in the fridge once they’re “cured.” There are many recipes online, but I used this recipe from Serious Eats, that also adds a bit of sugar.

 But even if you don’t have preserved lemons (they’re also available to purchase online and in some specialty stores), you can use regular lemons from the store. The recipe comes together in a snap. Just heat the olives, garlic, lemon peel and hot pepper flakes in olive oil for about five minutes and pour over some crumbled feta cheese.

The recipe from Bon Appetit called for heating the bread in the oven for a bit, but I found that it’s much better just to use fresh bread, untoasted. It will be much easier to soak up the juices and to pick up the olives and feta when the bread is soft, rather than toasted and hard. Dig in and you may find yourself doubling the recipe the next time you’re invited to bring an appetizer somewhere.

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Marinated Olives, Feta and Lemon
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 5 ounces drained Castelvetrano, Cerignola, or other unpitted green olives
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 preserved lemon, use only the peel, not the flesh (A regular lemon is fine)
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • ⅓ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 7 ounces feta
  • Crusty bread (for serving)
Instructions
  1. Crush the olives and garlic partially on a board, using your palm or the flat end of a knife.
  2. Place the olive oil in a pan and add the olives, garlic cloves, lemon peel and red pepper flakes.
  3. Cook on low heat for about five minutes until the garlic starts to brown a bit.
  4. Remove from heat and extract the gaarlic from the pan.
  5. Let it cool slightly.
  6. Crumble the feta into a serving bowl.
  7. Pour the olive oil mixture over the olive mixture and stir to combine.
  8. Serve with torn pieces of bread.
 

Flounder with canned cherry tomatoes, olives and capers

  • March 2, 2022

I’m a big fan of canned cherry tomatoes, especially in the winter when fresh tomatoes are so tasteless. But I use them all year long too, in soups, sauces and other ways.  They might be hard to find where you live, and if that’s the case, there are plenty of sources online to buy them. They’re definitely worth seeking with their intense, jammy flavor. With the Lenten season upon us, this makes for an easy and delicious Friday meal. It’s packed with flavor from not only the tomatoes, but also from the olives and capers. And it takes minutes to prepare and cook. Place everything in a parchment-lined tin or rimmed cookie sheet for easy cleanup. Pour a little olive oil over the parchment, place the fish over the oil, then season with salt and pepper. Spread some of the tomatoes on top, and cut up some olives (I used green olives but you could just as well use purple Kalamata olives or cured black Sicilian olives too.) Spread the olives and capers all over the fish, then add some herbs. I used oregano that I dried from my plants last summer, plus some fresh parsley. Give everything another little sprinkle of olive oil and place in the oven for five to six minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish.

You could use nearly any kind of fish filets for this recipe, from flounder, to sole, to snapper to branzino, If you use cod or a similarly thicker fish, you’ll need to keep it in the oven longer than six minutes. Use a wide spatula to transfer each filet to a serving platter, otherwise the pieces will break.

Serve with rice, pasta or quinoa to soak up all those healthy, delicious juices that come oozing out after it’s cooked.

Click here to connect with me on Instagram and find out what’s cooking in Ciao Chow Linda’s kitchen each day (and more)

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Flounder with canned cherry tomatoes, olives and capers
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • one pound flounder, sole, branzino or snapper filets
  • canned cherry tomatoes
  • green olives
  • capers
  • olive oil
  • salt, pepper
  • dried oregano
  • fresh parsley
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Place a piece of parchment paper over a baking sheet and sprinkle a little olive oil over the paper.
  3. Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper.
  4. Lay the fish over the olive oil and spread the cherry tomatoes, olives and capers on top, using as much or as little as you like.
  5. Sprinkle some dried oregano and fresh parsley over the fish and give everything another drizzle of olive oil.
  6. Bake for five to six minutes, or longer if your fish is thick.
  7. Serve with rice, noodles or quinoa.
 

Vinegar Chicken with Crushed Olive Dressing

  • March 2, 2021

If you like olives, you’re going to love this recipe from Alison Roman and The New York Times. It’s a quick and delicious way to get a flavorful dinner on the table in 35 minutes, start to finish. Cook some rice or noodles and a side dish of vegetables while the chicken is in the oven and you’ll be ready to serve a meal fit for company, or just the family.

Make sure you use bone-in, skin-on chicken parts. The chicken skin will keep the meat from drying out at the high 450 degree temperature required. Please make the recipe as written at least once before tinkering with it. I won’t think ill of you if you use Kalamata olives rather than Castelveltrano, but I may have to send the recipe police after you if you tell me you subbed sun-dried tomatoes for the olives or curry powder for the turmeric.

More on the subject — check out this comment from a reader following the recipe as it appeared in the New York Times: “Wow! That was amazing! I didn’t have any olives so used onions instead, and I didn’t have any turmeric so substituted paprika. I also didn’t have any chicken so used free range heritage pork. We aren’t big fans of vinegar so I went with soy sauce. It was so good! Definitely a keeper recipe!!”

I’m all for improvisation, but that’s like asking for spaghetti and getting soba instead.  I think that reader just invented a whole different recipe. While your version may taste good, this one as written is a real keeper.

Click here to connect with me on Instagram and find out what’s cooking in Ciao Chow Linda’s kitchen each day (and more)

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Vinegar Chicken with Crushed Olive Dressing
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 3 ½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • ½ cup white wine vinegar
  • 1 ½ cups green Castelvetrano olives, crushed and pitted
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1 cup parsley, tender leaves and stems, chopped
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Place chicken on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with turmeric and 2 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Make sure chicken is skin-side up, then pour vinegar over and around chicken and place in the oven.
  4. Bake chicken, without flipping, until cooked through and deeply browned all over, 25 to 30 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, combine olives, garlic, parsley, the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper.
  6. Once chicken is cooked, remove baking sheet from the oven and transfer chicken to a large serving platter, leaving behind any of the juices and bits stuck to the pan.
  7. Make sure the baking sheet is on a sturdy surface (the stovetop, a counter), then pour the olive mixture onto the sheet.
  8. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently scrape up all the bits the chicken left behind, letting the olive mixture mingle with the rendered fat and get increasingly saucy.
  9. Pour olive mixture over the chicken, then serve.
 

Lemon Chicken With Olives and Capers

  • January 15, 2019

So many of our dinners come about simply because of grocery items that have been lingering too long in my refrigerator and need using before they go bad. Such was the case here, where I had some olives nearing their toss out point, and a bag of lemons that I’d never get through unless I whipped up lemon meringue pies for the whole neighborhood. Now, I do cook for my neighbors from time to time but in this case, I wanted something savory and less caloric for dinner, and something that included those lemons and olives.

This recipe, adapted from one I found in Food and Wine’s website, by Lidia Bastianich, fit the bill perfectly. I halved the amount of chicken, to serve only two people, but since I wanted more sauce, I kept the proportions for the sauce ingredients as if I were preparing the recipe with a larger amount of chicken. To see the original recipe, click here.

The original recipe asks you to drizzle the lemon slices with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake at 375 degrees, but to get that browned edge, I found that broiling them works best. Keep a close watch on them so they don’t burn. I didn’t bother with the salt, pepper or olive oil either, because there is plenty of seasoning in the recipe itself.

DO NOT buy thin chicken breast slices for this recipe. They’ll cook too quickly and dry out. Buy a boneless chicken breast. It will be too lumpy and uneven to cook as is, so you’ll need to slice through the thickest part to open it up and make it flatter, pounding a bit with a food mallet (the flat side, not the spiky side). Season with salt and pepper and dust lightly with flour.

Cook the chicken pieces in olive oil at high heat for a few minutes until they’re golden, flipping once, to brown the other side.

Make the sauce while the chicken is in the pan, adding the chicken broth, olives, capers, the lemon slices and the rest of the ingredients.

The original recipe doesn’t call for it, but I added some lemon juice at the end as well, to give it a really fresh taste, and increase the amount of sauce.

It’s a dish that’s fairly easy to prepare and good enough to impress company too.

When you slice into it, the meat is still juicy and tender, and picks up all those flavors that blend so well together. This was a recipe I’ll be making again and again, and next time I won’t wait until I have leftover olives and lemons sitting around.

Click here to find out what’s cooking in Ciao Chow Linda’s kitchen each day (and more).

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Lemon Chicken With Olives and Capers
Author: 
Cuisine: Italian
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lemon, sliced ¼-inch thick
  • Two 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour, for dusting
  • ¼ cup pitted olives, sliced (I used Kalamata olives, but you could use green olives as well)
  • 1 tablespoon drained capers
  • ¾ cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small dice
  • 1 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
  2. Arrange the lemon slices in a single layer.
  3. Broil for about five minutes, keeping a close eye on the lemons so they don't burn.
  4. Remove from the broiler when the lemons begin to brown around the edges.
  5. In a deep medium skillet, heat ¼ cup of oil.
  6. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dust with the flour, shaking off the excess.
  7. Cook the chicken over high heat, turning once, until golden, about 6 minutes.
  8. Add the olives, capers and stock and bring to a boil.
  9. Cook over high heat until the stock is reduced by about two-thirds, about 5 minutes.
  10. Add the roasted lemons, the lemon juice, butter and parsley, season with salt and pepper and simmer just until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute.
  11. Transfer the chicken to plates and spoon the sauce on top.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Pork Tenderloin with Figs and Olives

  • September 25, 2018

Looking for a delicious main course that’ll impress your guests, but is easy enough for an every day meal? Look no further than this pork tenderloin roast, cooked with figs and olives, a recipe inspired by my friend, Marie, whose blog, Proud Italian Cook, always leaves me hungry.

It’s near the end of fig season here in the Northeastern U.S., and if you don’t have your own fig tree, I hope you have FWF (friends with figs). My own fig tree, a new transplant that produced only one edible fig so far this year, was not up to the task, but fortunately I have a few FWFs, including my friend Dorothy, who invited me to help myself.

The recipe calls for some fig preserves, and fortunately, I still had some I made earlier in the year. But you can easily purchase fig preserves from the store.

I stewed them for a few minutes in port wine to soften them a bit. Careful not to cook them too long, or they’ll lose their shape since they cook further in the oven. Port wine and figs are a match made in heaven, but if you haven’t got port, you can use red wine, or even just water if you don’t imbibe at all. Add a cinnamon stick to the liquid for even more flavor.

Make a paste of fig preserves, garlic and some herbs and spread it over the roast. Surround it with the drained figs, scatter around some olives and sections of red onion. The first time I made this, I browned the meat, but much of the paste burned, causing me to scrape it all off. So I eliminated that browning procedure entirely the second time and it was delicious even without taking that step.

Roast it for about 20-30 minutes at 425 degrees, or until a thermometer reaches 145 degrees.

Let it rest for at least 5 – 10 minutes before slicing, then serve some of that luscious fig and port wine liquid on top.

It’s so tender and flavorful you’ll go back for seconds…. and thirds.

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Pork Tenderloin with Figs and Olives
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pork tenderloin, 1 to 1½ pounds
  • 1 dozen ripe figs, cut in half lengthwise
  • 1 large red onion, sectioned in pieces
  • about ½ cup green and black olives
  • MARINADE FOR THE PORK
  • 2 tablespoons fig preserves
  • 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1 tablespoon each minced rosemary and thyme
  • salt, pepper
  • POACHING LIQUID FOR FIGS
  • ½ cup port wine and ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ cup fig preserves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
  1. Place the port wine, water, honey, fig preserves and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
  2. Reduce the heat, add the figs and poach gently for about five minutes to soften and imbue the figs with more flavor.
  3. Mix the marinade ingredients together and smear over the pork in the roasting pan.
  4. Let the pork sit at room temperature with the marinade for about ½ hour.
  5. Fan out the onion sections around the pork, and also scatter the olives and drained figs in the pan.
  6. Spoon a little of the poaching liquid on the roast and place in a 425 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes or until a thermometer reads 145 degrees.
  7. Remove from the oven and cover with aluminum foil and let it rest 5-10 minutes.
  8. If the poaching liquid is not thick enough to your liking, reduce over high heat for a bit.
  9. Slice the roast and ladle some of the poaching liquid on top before serving.
 

 

Chicken with Olives and Figs

  • May 7, 2009

If you’ve ever eaten Chicken Marbella from “The Silver Palate Cookbook,” this recipe is somewhat similar in flavor, but with far fewer calories. It uses only two teaspoons of oil, rather than the 1/2 cup called for in the well-known recipe for Chicken Marbella. A few other things are different here. There’s cilantro, rather than parsley, balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, and most noteworthy – figs rather than prunes. Unless you’re Stacey, from Stacey Snacks, (a real figaholic if ever I met one) the jury is still out on the figs. I think the prunes melt more into the sauce, lending a sweetness that the more sturdy figs don’t. But change is good sometimes. Both recipes are great for make-ahead meals, since they can be assembled and marinated ahead of time, then baked right before serving.

I made this with boneless chicken breasts that weighed a total of about 1 1/4 pounds. It would easily have served three people. However, you can use as much as two pounds of chicken with the quantity of ingredients in the recipe below.

Chicken With Olives and Figs

Adapted from a recipe in the Oct. 2004 issue of Health Magazine

about 10 olives, sliced in half (I used kalamata olives)
about 10 dried figs (slice some in half)
3 T. light brown sugar
3 T. chopped fresh cilantro
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 t. dried basil
2 t. extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
boneless chicken breasts, cut into large pieces
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 c. chicken broth

1. Combine all the ingredients in a zip-lock plastic bag, except the white wine and chicken broth. Let it marinate in the refrigerator at least four hours, turning bag occasionally. Leave it overnight if you want.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. Remove chicken from bag. Place in a casserole or baking dish. Pour broth and wine over mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.

Olive and Ham Bread

  • April 5, 2009

“Le Matte,” the group of Italian women I’ve told you about, who meet each week to chit-chat in Italian, met at my home last week. Over the years, these gatherings have morphed from a simple coffee and cake gathering to an event with an intimidating array of savory and sweet treats. Recently, we’ve tried to limit the foods to two savory and two sweet items. Otherwise, the hostess has to spend too much time in preparation, a deterrent for many who might otherwise offer their homes for the meetings. It seems to be working, along with another new twist started in the last few months. We now team up with a partner and share the work. That makes it much easier and more fun too.

Last week I teamed up with my friend Anna, who hails from the Trentino region, and who also happens to be a great cook. (Well, actually most of the women in this group are terrific cooks.) I made the sweet things -a pastiera and lemon tiramisu – recipes I’ve already posted. Anna offered to make the savory foods and chose two different breads including this olive and ham loaf. It has a really tender crumb and it’s packed chockful with flavorful ingredients. After the group had dispersed, she left me a couple of slices which we ate for dinner that night, alongside some sauteed vegetables and couscous. But it’s also great all by itself if you’re having friends over for dinner and want a little something to serve beforehand with drinks.

One of the ingredients Anna uses in the recipe is mimolette cheese, something I had never heard of before. It’s a cow’s milk cheese that has a greyish crust and an orange-colored interior, and sort of resembles a cantaloupe. Anna said if you can’t find it, you can substitute a good quality aged cheddar cheese instead.

Mimolette cheese

Olive and Ham Bread

For the ham, ask the person at the deli counter to cut you a thick slice of baked ham, then dice it into small bits.

5 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
3 T. mixture of fresh herbs, minced: Italian parsley, basil leaves and chives
3 T. strong French mustard
salt, pepper

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup rye flour
1 T. baking powder

1 1/4 sticks melted butter
1 cup grated mimolette cheese or sharp aged cheddar cheese
1 7-ounce piece of baked ham
1 cup pitted green olives

Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
Butter a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan and coat lightly with flour.
Beat the eggs with a fork, then add the milk, herbs, mustard, salt and pepper to taste.

Sift the flour and the baking powder in a bowl; Add the melted butter, the grated cheese, the olives, the egg/milk mixture and the ham.

Blend the ingredients with a wooden spoon and transfer to the loaf pan. Bake for one hour. The cake is done when a sharp blade inserted in the center comes out dry. Wait 15 minutes before unmolding on a cake rack.